“Lament”

I grieve with you

my ancient cousins…

in soulful horror

twelve thousand miles away.

My mind runs on a reel

of viscous helplessness,

a horror film in real time.

There is no earthly speech

nor lofty language—

The sweetest notes on earth

would not suffice—

to ease your aching sorrow,

my impotent inertia. 

Can “my thoughts are with you”

scatter your grief or meet your needs?

No, they are like chaff in the wind,

a mindless banality.

I give the dust of my wealth,

a drop in your desert of parched tongues.

In my impotence, my anger unfolds

towards your futile leaders

 and I spit on their neglect.

For they have sat, smug and glib–

acting important and doing little–

While you, the soul of your country,

are crushed under wobbly foundations

thinly built through greed and avarice!

These tentacles of the wicked

clench your native balls

as the ground rumbles beneath.

All I can do, in every prayerful breath,

is remind you of your ancestors,

who cradled the infancy of Christianity

in their hearts and lives,

 and inspire you to cry out to Jehovah

 in the name of Yeshua the Messiah—

the most powerful prayer in any language.

I lift you up in my prayers,

away from political harangues,

human to human, soul to soul.

What does it take to move us out of our collective inertia? Does human suffering need to be at a level “10” to be noticed in the cacophany of media? Am I just adding to it or adding something raw and meaningful? I hope it is the latter, and that you will immerse yourself in my feelings of impotent empathy for these people. If you can do nothing, you can pray actively and creatively, give resources and raise these people up to your churches and meeting places.

I, in horror, sit here in puzzlement over some really bad decisions by the leaders of Turkey. Why do leaders sit on something so important as safety? Your people are only as strong as the foundations on which they rest! But do not allow indignation to subside into smug indifference. Yes, using precious resources to attack Kurds is representative of these foolish leaders. But as to any indifference to the suffering of the people, I will remind you of what happened to the great city of Tyre, whose people dared to rejoice in the sufferings of Jerusalem in Ezekiel. For this, over time, the Lord caused nations to sweep over them in waves upon waves of invasion before their final destruction in, I believe, the middle ages. Never rejoice in another country who is suffering, for the Lord will not stay His hand long before striking yours. I fear our time is around the corner.

There are those who say the Old Testament is not for us, and I will reply with Solomon’s “what has once come will come again”. The principles of good living and what is right and wrong will never be outdated. Christianity swept the world through the Messiah (whose ancient promise is most prominently outlined in the OT Septuigint, the version most read by gentiles of the day) and through the power that Jesus gave to believers in the first century. It will never be outdated to those with eyes to see.

Found Poem: Dancing to a tune

I will never be adept

to dancing to a tune

that can change in a measure.

I will never get used

to those 180 ° turns,

those subtle slaps

that some people can deal

just because they can

The thirst for absolute power

corrupts….. absolutely.

∞

I actually found this in a comment of mine, and I liked the poetic images so I am claiming it as a Found Poem.

Found Poem is the idea that poetic verse hides in many speeches.  Finding these gems and changing the sentence structure can bring new insight.

Viral Warfare

Surrounded, my war-painted spirit flinches

as your jagged temper serrades my bones.

Minutes morph into miles

in this marathon inside my mind,

as weeping walls will their way, ever closer,

and closed cubbords hoard threadbare wares

once fattened with short-order convenience.

YOUR hateful words pierce their way

through my hunger-worn bowels;

MY hangry mood feebly deflects

darts dipped in sweetly-poisoned jibes.

I claim my territory with warrior yells

as our marriage vows dissolve

into an acrid covenant of fear….

an uncounted tragedy of viral warfare.

∞

I have been deeply saddened that many couples in China have survived the horror of long quarantine only to succomb to the pain of divorce.  I woke up with some of these words in my head, only imagining the stressful events that led to this decision.  I pray for healing and hope to come to our lands soon.  But more import

 

 

Whisper in my Mind

There is a whisper in my mind that tempts me to fear….

….as death grips its silent hold

…..and governments slide on their lies

There is a whisper in my mind that tells me to flee….

….as locusts munch us into famine

….and the earth quakes with premonition

There is a whisper in my mind that trains me to follow….

…as whispy markets crash

…and  panicked buyers hoard

Oh rage RAGE against this exponential storm!

For its ever etched trickle,

moves with ominous pace,

ever faster,

collecting inexorably

into a raging waterfall

Obsession (free verse)

I am seized with ailing thoughts

as my synapses loop masochistic hindsight.

I drift in hazy dreams of If-Then……

Oh! Tether present day

to hopeful tomorrow

or I shall drift

into meaningless past

undone by its incomplete script

or tomorrow shall see today’s loss!

These layers on layers

of half written plays gather dust

and I cannot brush away the scattered pages.

Fragmented sentences and words unsaid

give weight to thoughts forever unanswered.

I glide through present day

untouched by feeling for fear

of feeling the pain of a life shattered

as it slowly circles the drain.

I must release this unchangeable past

or go mad from wasted hope.

Part of my obsession is an uncontrolled looping journey into the past.  If I am to overcome it I must break its’ hold over me.

Picture: psychology today

Obsession (Free Verse)

I am seized with ailing thoughts

as my synapses loop masochistic hindsight.

I drift in hazy dreams of If-Then……

These fragmented sentences and words unsaid

give weight to thoughts forever unanswered.

These layers-on-layers of half-written plays gather dust

and I cannot brush away the scattered pages.

I glide through present day untouched by feeling,

for fear of feeling the pain of a life shattered

as it slowly circles the drain.

Oh! Tether present day to hopeful tomorrow!

Or I shall drift into meaningless past,

undone by its incomplete script

and tomorrow shall see today’s loss.

I must release this unchangeable past

or go mad from wasted hope.

♦♦♦

For introtopoetry, Day Nine: Apostrophe.  An apostrophe is an exclamatory figure of speech, sometime started with “O”, often directed to a third party.  Im not sure if this “hits the mark” but it suited my plea.

I wrote this some time ago, in a state of passionate exasperation, in less then five minutes one day when I was just fed up with ruminating over what was and creating dreams of what could have been.  My struggles with obsessive thoughts have, thankfully, softened with time.

Picture: psychology today

The Sinews of Peace

A shadow has fallen

upon the scenes so lately lighted;

an iron curtain has descended

but now war can find any nation,

wherever it may dwell

between dusk and dawn

∞

For Intro to Poetry: day seven, Found Poem.  From the lips of my hero, the incomparible Sir Winston Churchill.

Found Poem is the idea that poetic verse hides in many speeches.  Finding these gems and changing the sentence structure can bring new insight.

Passing Through

My misty life,

whispy as a cloud,

swirls on air-tossed eddies.

Directionless,

unfavored and invisible,

I turn toward and away,

unweighted by resolute boldness,

unchartered by Divine Hand.

I drift, ever seeking

my lodestone, my compass,

that elusive guide,

that unswerving arrow

pointing to my True North.

 

I feel that my purpose will always elude me……

Written for Intro to Poetry Day Four:  Journey.

 

 

A Dance with Poetry

POETRY IS:

–<-o-o->-

A Hormonal Surge of Intense Feeling

A Free-Flowing Concise Dance with Words

A Short Burst of Beauty-Sorrow-Drama or Humor

A Heady Metaphorical Mix of Incense, Perfume and Poppies

A Literary High Calorie Delight….. to be Savored in Small Bites

A License for Ideas–Thoughts–Topics not Otherwise Well Received

A Tidal Flow that Inspires–Provokes–Symbolizes and Addicts the Reader

                              –<-o-o->-

 It Evokes Maximum Feeling with Tightly Controlled Language

It Demands a More Precise Word;  a Better Turn of Phrase;  a Higher Degree of Feeling

–<-o-o->-

Poetry is a Sinuous, Sensuous, Symbolic

journey through fine language

a peek into the poet’s soul

–<-o-o->-

Poetry’s finished product rarely satisfies the poet

yet poetry’s creation calls to us

a succubis muse.

♦♦♦

I decided to engage in Intro to Poetry series at wordpress and while this is not strictly alliterative I think it evokes the feeling of alliteration….but you decide!

Lament

I conscripted you

with immersive

 yet spurious

love,

a tsunami of

concocted affection,

as I swept away

your torrents of resentment

with false pretense.

Now our relationship,

a farcical lean-to,

an unbolted façade,

sways precariously

with each mendacious huff,

each empty puff of air.

We shore up our fragile shelter

and bolt down empty promises

with the brightness of “someday”.