Poetry thread anyone?

brain power

suggests a flower

after a shower

(in reference to Bianca's post of February 18th.. the flower in the dew)

I have been writing poetry since the age of three. This is one that I wrote not long after my cancer diagnosis.

CANCER
by Kimala Clark 12-14-2010

You lay so silently. Silent but not still.
Spreading your blackness, invading my will.
Engulfing me in darkness, devouring me whole.
Raping my body, scarring my soul.
My flesh, your trophy, your pride on my death.
What value can it hold for you upon my last breath?
My life, my future, in your grasp to hold.
You've taken the power and stolen control.
Baring your teeth, your hunger not met.
Greedily feasting. But still silent yet.
What do you win? How do you gain?
What is your benefit from all of my pain?
When I look in the mirror, it's not even me.
Your ugly reflection. It's all I can see.
I feel your presence, your breath on my skin.
I would shut you out, but you're already in.
So what's next? Damn you! Why was this to be?
When your lightening struck, why did you choose me?
Through a knife, I will cut you. Through my veins, I'll resist.
But your silence so deadly. So lethal your kiss.
Violently you conquer but don't make a sound.
Methodically you redeem your flesh by the pound.
Slowly you fill me. A victim, no choice.
But your silence will never quiet my voice!
I'm still strong you bastard! Do you hear me?
I'm screaming! I'm screaming!
Why aren't you listening?

The Trees

The darkness fears the light

Dastardly deeds are done at night

Or even in the brightest sun

Covering up devilish fun

Dressed in the whitest cloth

Yet no light to attract a moth

How to tell if the teeth glean white

From the jaws of a wolf gnawing

Or the good of a wholesome bite

A fruiting tree escapes the sawing

Look to the goods in the basket

Gathered from a good tree

Or are they poisoned apples

Dropped under the tempting tree

By Miss B

The Brokenhearted

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds

He soothes with His presence and peace in His care

Caught in silken webs, I lost strength to struggle

I cried at His feet, it was too much to bear

He gives hope to the hopeless and restores their souls

He leads us to quiet places lovely in sight

Caught in the beauty of sunbeam by day,

Caught in the wonder of moonbeam by night

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds

He died and rose and by His stripes we are healed

Caught lovingly from a stray roundabout

Worthy He says I am and to His glory I yield

---

- by Miss B

Psalm 147:3 He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds

Isaiah 53:5

But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him

And by His stripes we are healed

In the spiral of dark and light

Comes birth.

Silent.

Mingling of hot breath, searing light, dust, fire

Entanglements of filaments.

Again. Never ceasing.

Each new, each old like an ancient eye beholding a new face,

A spark, a holocaust, a ripple

A torrential rain of terror then the soft mist of sleep,

A long sleep.

Stars,

Like a string of pearls cast on an undulating darkness,

Moving, living, dying, then living,

Deep blue, violet, blinding white,

Red of the death throes

Yet,

Hidden,

A bright blue flame.

Waiting.

Silent.

Somewhere, it knows itself

Within a beating heart, a silken leaf,

The tendrils of ocean flotsam on beaches under orange skies,

It knows and waits

For the air and the eye,

The scale and the skin,

It waits a hundred million years here,

A billion years there,

A soft mist of yet-to-be in a torrential rain of what was.

Like a string of pearls beaded into cosmic lace,

The pattern emerges,

And changes.

And merges,

Entangling of filaments into phantom cathedrals,

Life and death,

New and old twins in the lightness and darkness

Reaching towards understanding itself by creating itself.

The blue flame burns brightly,

Here

There

Eventually, everywhere,

Then plummeting down the spiral of dark and light,

Forever.

Thank you so much Bluepearl! I don't know what will come out before I start, but I'll see a mental image, and that is my starting point. You have outstanding poetic language! I've read your poem several times, and it makes me think of the creation of the universe, of star nurseries that the Hubble telescope has captured images of, and of God's breath of life. So mysterious and exceptional!! Thank you for sharing that! I love it.

The Gate

Tumultuous clouds shift our perceptions

Hues of black pearl, swirled with opalescent hope

A single ray shines down like a radiant beam

Then the stormfront approaches from the south

The blackened skies unleash the fury

And what looked like a narrow escape

Is flooded with unanticipated abandon and darkness

Such are the opposing forces of hope and despair

The trees torn from the roots, dwellings laid bare

Ravages from the pounding, destructive forces

Leave us looking only heaven bound

There is a time for everything under the sun

The sky clears and the robin's song announces rebirth

I see clearly a narrow road near the sheep's gate

For wide is the path to destruction

Narrow is the path to follow the Shepherd's voice

To green pastures and still waters He leads

To hope radiant from the raised Son

From the Sheep's Gate to the Gate of Pearl

My soul rises to enveloping love and joy not yet known

Uplifted. Redeemed. Welcomed. Received.

No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets

---

William Borden wrote these words in his Holy Book

No reserves. (Pops, I will follow my God given path)

No retreats. (In bible study at Yale in leadership I took)

No regrets. (As I die in Cairo, a fulfilled vow I hath)

Twenty-five years young, a mining tycoon's son

Ivy League field of dreams, his life had just begun

Father wants best, a moratorium for world travel

But young William sees another path

His father's plan unravels

He visits Japan, India, Syria, and Turkey,

No Light of the World in this stricken poverty

On a ship bound to Asia, to the province

Of China's Gansu

He planned to talk about the Prince of Peace

And serve, live, and love as Christ's example, too

A stopoff in Egypt, to study Islam and Arabic

Not but a month there, he became deathly sick

Why, Lord, take away a voice of devotion

As our country was swept away in mournful emotion

A light in this world, both alive and in legend

Young men and women followed his God given errand

Not the wide and easy path

But the long, narrow road hard driven

They walked away

From comfortable lives they were given

To give their light high up on a hill

To follow where William meant to serve and stay

To shine on those still in darkness

In poverty of spirit, with no voices to pray

For God so loved the whole world

That He gave His only begotten son

That whosoever believes in Him

Will be welcomed with joyful shouts

On that gloriously Heavenly day

By Miss B

Inspired by the life of William Whiting Borden

1887-1913

Tonight it was pressed upon my heart to share part of a letter and poem I wrote my pastor last September 2018. His sermon had been on a series called "Fully Alive"; he spoke of desire. I want to live a purpose driven life, and realize I have more to share than I have been doing so. I want to share my truth, my faith, and my hope, to uplift the hearts and souls of all my beautiful BCO sisters. ❤️

A poem: Fully Alive

• Dear Pastor,

The scriptures were inspiring, you articulated them well, and they breathed the Living Life into your sermon. You were beaming with joy with a smile I hadn't seen, and it was a pleasure to see you with your son. Your son gave you an answer filled with the abundancy of life Jesus gives us: grace, hope, and joy.

I had been pondering the difference between physical need, spiritual longing, and carnal desire. They all seem to be in the category of want, yet the differences are crucial. Satan preys upon our longings, needs, and desires, and if we do not wait patiently for the Lord to fulfill the promises He writes on our hearts, Satan offers us a fast, counterfeit fulfillment, using this door for temptation and sin.

Even Abraham and Sarah took it upon themselves not to wait for God's promise, so Sarah led Abraham into sin by offering her slave to him, bearing him Ishmael. God took so long to fulfill this promise that Sarah laughed in her old age, asking, "Now, when I am old and worn out?" Isaac's name means laughter. God does really take His time fulfilling promises, because there is a test of faith in patient waiting!

Also, as much as Jesus did talk about spiritual fulfillment, he did come to a geographical place and point in time when people had dire physical needs. He fulfilled them both, and often used the literal and the metaphorical simultaneously, such as the water at the Samaritan's well.

I went to the Saturday night service, and the next day, I took my son to the Orlando Science Center. Your words were on my mind, and as my son played in the exploratory rooms in between the movie show times, and I followed him around and sat on benches, the Holy Spirit was at work, and I wrote on my phone what turned into this poem. The Holy Spirit stirred these scriptures in my heart, and brought them to remembrance. Other scriptures I had not heard, but found out after they were written as I referenced the Bible. I looked them up after for easy reference for you. It came to me in first person, so this is how I wrote it down.

There is more, and I'll use what I was given in another poem, but it seemed to reach a completion point for now.

Fully Alive


A Shepherd for My fold
Blessed be your life ( Hebrews 13:7)
Searching for treasures untold (Isaiah 45:3)
Along the long and tested road (Isaiah 40:3)

And now I have opened your eyes ( Ephesians 1:18, Psalm 34:8, Psalm18)
Living Waters seeped so deep (Isaiah 44:3)
Do you see the Tree of Life (Proverbs 11:30)
Have I awakened you from sleep ( Ephesians 5:14)

From storms you could not assuage
A Living Tree with roots so deep (Ephesians 3:17)
A storm could not blow down
On the narrow road your life I'll keep ( Matthew 7:14)

For Living Waters the roots have found
Seeped in the soil of My love (Ephesians 3:17-18)
Living Water in a desolate land (Isaiah 51:3)
Come take shade from the scorching sun (Isaiah 58:11)
Rest, and eat its bountiful fruit (Proverbs 11:30)
Offered up from My right hand (Psalm 16:11)

Only a good tree can offer its fruit ( Matthew 7:17)
Of love, forgiveness, service, and truth
Only a bad tree bears bad fruit (Matthew 7:18)
Fated to gallows, the preacher's lament
Love has not tapped its root (Mark 4:17)

With baskets tossed empty and strewn
Or none at all to show its worth
The barren tree bearing no fruit ( Matthew 21:19)
From the axe at its root will not have rebirth (Matthew 3:10)

From here I will make a way
In this forsaken desolate land
Follow the narrow path
by the stream I have made (Isaiah 43:19)
In the land of the scorching sand

Do you not perceive it?
I have begun a new thing!
It springs up, making a way (Isaiah 43:19)
Giving you reason to rejoice and sing (Psalm 9:2)

To a land where flocks
Shall eat in green pastures
And trees will bear fruit
Because of the hive (Ezekiel 20:6)

The dance of the bees
Is the Beekeeper's Delight
Milk and honey will drip from your lips (Song of Solomon 4:11)
Me in you makes you fully alive (Colossians 2:10-11, John 1:4)

Trust me, ye who doubt
That I shall show you the Way (Psalm 32:8)
To the Promised Land, not of old
But to the Heavenly Open Gate

For I know your needs, I know your thirst
Out of rocks, Holy Waters gush forth (Exodus 7:6, Numbers 20:11)
But only if you live your lives
Fully Alive by placing me first (Matthew 6:33, Proverbs 3:6)

Narrow is the path (Matthew 7:14)
That leads to Heavenly streams (Revelation 22:1)
From your rest in the Tree of Life
From thirst, desolation, and heat
You must faithfully follow me (John 12:26)

Walk along the narrow road (Psalm 16:11)
It leads to your inheritance
Not the alluring, worldly path
Denying Me, and denying wrath (Revelation 21:6-8)

For the road that is wide (Matthew 7:13)
Is for the wise in their own eyes
False gold and silver idols of the created
They worship inciting the Creator's hatred (Deuteronomy 7:25)

In the shadows of the valley (Psalm 23)
Away from the Shepherd, but grasses for herds
The mountains that are treacherous
House and hide cadaver birds

They do not know (Psalms 107:10-11)
We have been warned from days of old
The valley of the shadow of death
Is where the unsaved tremble when fear takes hold

They do not know
They will take their eternal breath
In the stench of the hot, dry pit (Revelation 14:10 -
brimstone is highly odiferous)
With the wicked fallen angels
They will live in darkness unlit (Matthew 35:41)

I came to fulfill the Old Law (Matthew 5:17)
And give you a New Commandment: ( John 13:34)
Love one another
As I have loved you (John 13:34)
Love one another
With vibrancy honest and true

If you have loved me,
You will take my free saving gift
But as your Lord, if you do not follow (Luke 6:46)
You will be set adrift

Lord, Lord, I will hear you cry
I do not know you, I will answer
As my final goodbye ( Matthew 7: 21-23)

For the faithful and rebellious
In separation I sift (Matthew 3:12)
For the lukewarm Christian
From my mouth I will spit (Revelation 3:16)

For it has been said
From those who die
And come back again (Ezekiel 37-10)
Though their bodies
In deathly stillness lie

My witnesses will testify
Dead, dead to the doctor
Dead, dead to the beloved
Dead to the scientist, dead to the nurse

In the Age of Resuscitation
I have urgent messages to send:

The same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13-8)
I raise the rightous dead
Or unrepentent sinners I will no longer tend (Matthew 7:23)

Alive, alive, yes truly alive!
They see the Loving Light
And listen and are witness
To an eternal Holy City
A sunless Heaven ( Revelation 7:16-17)
With Godly light so bright!

They behold the Risen King
With keys to all the kingdoms (Matthew 28:18)
Even to the dark realms
Beyond the dragon's gate (Revelation 1:18, Job 17:16)

And also to the Kingdom of Heaven
His redeemed children
Have mansions prepared (John 14:2)
But to the chained souls
Chamber cells and lava await (Proverbs 7:27)
For they lived their lives with vitriolic hate

Some are given a tour of both realms
And sent back as witnesses upon the Earth
Or lifted up by My Grace
Out of the devil's lair (Daniel 3:17, Job 33:28, Jonah 2:2)
For a second chance upon the Earth
To witness to the Good Shepherd's care

They are told to go and give their testimony
For the Lord Christ Jesus weeps
For millions of humans He created (Romans 9:8)
But only His children He keeps (Galatians 3:26)

They stand before the Loving Light
Many are asked the same three questions
And then they give account (Romans 14:12)
To the inquiries He mentions

Have you loved? He asks(1 Corinthians 13:2-3)
Have you forgiven?
Or have you kept a ledger? (1Corinthians 13:15)
If you have one, how can I forgive and forget (Matthew 6:15)
If you offer your works as a hedger?

I forgive as far as
The East is from the West (Psalm 103:12)
An infinite line of eternity
Is any grudge worth this very test?

Have you produced good fruit (Luke 6:43)
And served your fellow man
If you fed the hungry (Matthew 25:35-40)
Gave drink to the thirsty

If you gave shelter and clothing
And cared for the sick
Or visited the prisoner
Then you for eternity will I pick

The King will reply,
Truly I tell you,
Whatever you have done
For the least of these
Brothers and Sisters
You have done for me (Matthew 25:36)

Lord, if whom I have served (Matthew 12:48-60)
Is the King's brother
Or the King's sister
And I have done unto them
As I have done unto Thee
I am in service of the King's Royalty

Standing in My encompassing love
They are shown an account of their lives (Romans 14:12)
Have you loved and forgiven?
Or have you lived selfishly driven?

Lord, please tell me what is love?
I gave you a Book and wrote on your heart (Proverbs 3:3)
It does not swell in passion
Then ebb and tear families apart

Love is patient, kind, not covetous or proud (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
Love is respectful, loving, with no records of wrongs
Love does not delight in evil
Or follow the lascivious throngs

But rejoices with the Truth
For that, too, I Am ( John 8:58)
And also the Way and the Life (John 14:6)

To lead you into the full measure of joy (John 17:13)
With My peace, provision,
And protection from strife (John 17:12)

Love protects, trusts, and always hopes
As Paul had lived, it perseveres
Have I not told you while I was on Earth?
I have opened your ears so that you may hear (Job 33:16)

Whatever is true, noble, and right (Philippians 4:8)
Pure, lovely, admirable with light
Excellent, praiseworthy, think about such things
The fullness of life will this love bring (Psalms 36: 8-9)

Have I not commanded you
To meditate on attributes of love (1 John 4:7-12)
I am preparing you
For the ways of Heaven above

Do you not know? Life is lessons in love
In love are lessons of life! (Proverbs 21:21)
My Messengers have been told it
It is the simple answer that confounds the masses

What is the meaning of life?
It is grasped for a moment
Then the thought passes

These are heavenly answers
I have given my servants
Write them on your hearts (Proverbs 3:3)
Tell all the masses

I give Life in full, ransomed for eternity (1 Timothy 2:6)
In love, you will find life in abundancy ( John 10:10)
For in My Joy, you will have strength ( Nehemiah 8:10)
For anything is possible with Hope's infinite length (Romans 15:13)

When you acknowledge me
You will have my strength (Exodus 15:2)
In all of your ways
I will set your path straight (Proverbs 3:6)

Fully engage in love and in service
For my purpose and plans
I have for you are great (Jeremiah 29:11)
I will vibrantly live in you (Colossians 2:10-11, John 1:4)
You will share in the abundance
Of My overflowing cup and plate (Psalm 23:5)

I will not revive your former self (2 Corinthians 5:17)
From my cup of Living Waters
Your soul's longing will be quenched ( John 4:13-14)
Reborn you will be in eternal promise
Then you will be fully alive
It is the will of my Father's (Ephesians 2:4-5)

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