Poem Response Number 10

 

  

Prettier Than Diamonds
-Kelsie Gustason

She’s been battling it for months,

Doesn’t know if she will win,

The cancer has made wounds,

She won’t be able to mend.

It’s made her body stick thin,

And it’s taken away her hair,

But her husband thinks she’s beautiful,

He’s always going to be there.

She’ll just sit alone and cry,

Doesn’t think she’s worth a thing,

Can’t believe that he still loves her,

Hasn’t taken away her ring.

Every day he’ll come up beside her,

Look her in the eye,

A smile on his face,

He tells her the truth, not a lie.

“You’re prettier than diamonds,

Eyes bluer than the sea,

I’m so luck that someone like you,

Would love somebody like me.

God has made you perfectly,

He doesn’t make mistakes,

Every time I see you,

I give Him thanks”

Found in: Our Poetry Book! “Words of Art”

This poem was written by a friend of mine, Kelsie Gustason, in which she several different things. When we feel like we could conquer the world it’s easier to find worth in who we are. But, when our bodies are broken, and we’re hurting, or sick and tired, it seems that we can feel almost as though the brokenness marks our worth.

But love sees past brokenness to the person underneath. Love doesn’t focus on the stumbles, it doesn’t leave when weakness shows its face, in fact, if anything, love grows because of those things. It strengthens. And that is captured beautiful in this poem.

Love of Sabby

Love of Sabby

The sun descends to the brilliant horizon

Casting the world in golden light

Everything gleams with a rich, auburn tint

As the moon and the sky reunite

The time of day when the world is still

For a moment, all is a hush

Even the pond stands in awe

And the dragonfly quiets its buzz

In one single voice the atmosphere calls

Goodbye to this treasured day

As it leaves on the wings of the breeze

A moment, too precious to stay

In class, we had to pick 4 words out of a group of 16 and write a poem from those words. The ones I picked were: Dragonfly, Voice, Silence, and Light. As I began jotting down ideas, a scene came to my mind… the time of day when the sun is setting, usually somewhere in the sky you see the moon, and everything is golden. One of my friends loves that time of day, so I wrote the poem for and named it after her.

I enjoy writing poetry without a format. I enjoy just… writing. So, this poem was really nice to write, simply because I could make it exactly the way I wanted it. It makes me happy.

Thank You, Jesus

Thank You, Jesus

I wish I could express

How Beautiful You are

You fill this whole world with life

The Universe with stars

Each and every whisper

That rustles any leaf
Before it ever touches us

From Your Mouth it leaves

Everything that sparkles

With the gleam of precious life

Was put here by Your Mighty Hand

And is guided by Your Sight

Nothing ever had to exist
Yet You made it all to be

So, Thank You, Jesus, for the gift

Of simply being me

I mentioned before that we were supposed to write a Psalm of our own. Well, this is mine. I had several different ones, some of which, (well, actually… Most of which) ended up being more personal, and to post it for the world to see would be sort of along the lines of allowing you to read a personal letter between me and a friend. But I felt fine sharing this one. You see sometimes I just love that I exist. Not in an,” I’m amazing. This world would totally stink if it weren’t for me” way… I mean I’m just me. But that sentence? I’m… Me! I’m alive! I love that some times.
            And the fact that the God Who created all of... everything? He saw that there were places in this world that I would fill up. He saw it fit that… I exist. That I live, and breathe, and make stupid mistakes, and hurt, and lean on Him to heal, and in some way touch the tiny corner of the world that He’s placed me in… Sometimes, I feel honored to be alive. Existing makes me happy. And that’s where this poem comes from, because there have been many times where I’ve gone outside, lifted my face up to the sky, spread out my arms wide, and just said, “Thank You, Jesus…” He knows what I mean….and now you do too.

Poem Response Number 9

Love

-Brenna Grant

I saw love clearly

She was small and delicate like a rose that could easily be broken

She slowly sneaked through people’s lives doing her

Beloved business with ease

I saw her blue sparkling eyes stare intently as excitement

Flushed her pale cheeks with color

And heard her quietly whispering my name with entrancing tones

And I felt a drowsy warmth creep over me as my heart smiled with happiness.

Found in: “Words of Art: GRACE Poetry Class” Book. (Our class’ book from last year! It’s on Amazon! You know, just in case if you wanna check it out… )

This poem was written by Brenna Grant, a lovely friend of mine. In it, she takes the feeling love and personifies it, (which basically means she gave something that is not alive human-like qualities.)

The adjectives she used were truly delightful. They made it so easy to see the little sparkle of excitement in the blue eyes of Love as her cheeks being to flush pink. In the second line, the way she describes the fragility of love! And in the last line, “I feel a drowsy warmth creep over me”, I mean… How great is that? A “drowsy warmth”.  That’s just a fantastic choice of words.

Aside from the beautiful imagery, and the story it told, this poem honestly made me a little excited about vocabulary in general. I like words. A lot. I’m pretty sure that wasn’t the point of the poem, but it’s what it did for me.

Poem Response 8: Psalm 63

Psalm 63

English Standard Version (ESV)My Soul Thirsts for You
A Psalm of David

O God, You are my God; earnestly I seek you;
    my soul thirsts for You;
my flesh faints for You,
    as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
 So I have looked upon You in the sanctuary,
    beholding Your power and glory.
 Because Your steadfast love is better than life,
    my lips will praise You.
 So I will bless You as long as I live;
    in Your Name I will lift up my hands.

My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise You with joyful lips,
 when I remember You upon my bed,
    and meditate on You in the watches of the night;
for You have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
My soul clings to you;
    Your right hand upholds me.

But those who seek to destroy my life
    shall go down into the depths of the earth;
 they shall be given over to the power of the sword;
    they shall be a portion for jackals.
 But the king shall rejoice in God;
    all who swear by him shall exult,
    for the mouths of liars will be stopped.

            In class this week, we’re supposed to write a Psalm, which means we’re also supposed to read a Psalm! A Psalm is… Hard to explain. To me, it’s a letter to God. And David’s Psalms were actually songs too! Which is so neat to me… Sometimes I’ll actually take Psalms from the Bible and write songs using David’s own words as a part of my own personal worship time… (Yeah, that’s right, I totally plagiarize...)

             This Psalm in particular is one of my favorites, because of certain phrases like, “earnestly I seek You, my soul thirsts for You… as in a dry and weary land where there is no water…”; “Because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You. So, I will bless You as long as I live; in Your Name I will lift up my hands”; “for You have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to You; Your right hand upholds me.”

            I love the imagery! And honestly, I feel like God deserves to be desired like this. God deserves to be fallen in love with! And… The joy that David seems to be expressing through desiring God this much? It amazes me! And I love it! And I have experienced this same kind of love for God before! And it’s… indescribably wonderful.

The Start

The Start

Boy sees girl- it's the typical story

He, with sensitive eyes and charming wit

Enthralled, as she stands in all her glory

Wishing to approach, yet he can't commit

Her green eyes lock onto his baby blues

Her lips curve into an enchanting smile

Gracing him with the confidence to move

Together, they talk and laugh for a while

Easily discovering things to say

Contemplating silly, everyday things

Laughing beneath the sun's warm, golden ray

Love began fluttering its fragile wings

Time slipped away, their hearts grew together

Neither knew t'was the start of forever

I wrote this Sonnet to express an idea that I’ve always been fascinated with: we never really know when the start of a relationship is. Only looking back can we know that this particular day, or that exact moment was the start of something… beautiful! Whether the relationship is a friendship, or the relationship between a mother and her child, or a man and his wife, the relationship has a start! And that mysterious point of beginning, the start of something that had not existed before, always interested me…

            I said this poem is a Sonnet, basically what that means, (in case you want to feel enlightened) is a 14 line poem, and I used the form that called for 3 stanzas that are 4 lines long, finishing with 1 stanza that is 2 lines long. The rhyme scheme is abab-cdcd-efef-gg.

            And now you know.

            Have a beautiful day, and thank you so much for reading.

Glimmers Contained

Glimmers Contained

Galloping haphazardly in twilight’s glow

Diving for the golden glints

That made up the firefly show

There were 5 of us loud children-

-No two were the same-

We were the proud adolescents

Of our precious Briarwood Lane

Muddy Tennis shoes

Darted that way and this

Believing we’d caught the floating light

‘Till we realized we had missed

Laughter and shouts filled the

Warm summer night

The sun continued melting

‘Till moon was our only light

Mama’s voice was heard,

So, we said goodnight to the stars

And each fell asleep that night

Beside a small twinkling jar

            We were supposed to write a Childhood Memory Poem, which is a poem using: A memory from our childhood, a pair of shoes, a color, a sound, and the name of a street or the name of a person. Yeah. It was a little random, but… that was the poem! So, this is my Childhood Memory Poem!

            So, my childhood was littered with summers full of firefly catching. This night specifically was the night where my brother’s friend decided to show me something “cool”… he said, “Hey Melissa, look at this... Stand still”. I did what he said, watching the little firefly that he had caught in his hand. Very quickly, he took the little bug, and smeared it on my blue tee shirt; killing the bug and leaving behind a glow-in-the-dark trail.

            This was a bad choice on his part, because…  I was, at least in my mind, practically in charge of my own personal PETA organization, and as far as I was concerned a lightning bug was just as much an animal as a bunny rabbit, which was just as much a living being as you or I, and should therefore be treated with the utmost love and respect. Killing a bug so you can admire a trail of glowing green slime did not seem like a respectful, loving thing to do.

            This boy spent the next few moments being screamed at by an extraordinarily angry me. I might have even cried because I felt so bad for the lightning bug… I’m not completely sure though…

            But, as I was writing, that scene just didn’t quite fit, so instead, I just wrote about the nights of lightning bug catching in general. It’s one of the things I absolutely love about summer… Watching the fireflies, catching them, having a jar of them to light up my room at night… It makes my heart happy. And now you know.

Starlit Love

Starlit Love

The lump of laughter sits soundlessly

Caught up within my throat

The atmosphere feels so alive

Filled with my heartsong’s note

On this night the world’s aglow

The air feels extra warm

The stars are twinkling merrily

He and I are alone

Dancing to our secret tune

In the middle of this field

Never before has My Love felt

So close… so real

My gaze pointing heavenward

My arms stretched open wide

Feeling so perfect, here with Him

The Apple of His Eye

My smile’s not just a smile

It’s so much more than that

And He, My God, my One True Love

Hears the praise within my laugh

For in this moment, twirling

Under His canopy of stars,

I have fallen more in love

With the Maker of my heart

            I wrote this poem simply because I could!

            I began thinking about one day at camp this summer when I felt really close with God. I went beside one of the buildings, on top of this delightful hill. I looked up and just… the stars! Oh, they were beautiful. This summer at camp, I really fell in love with the stars…

            And while I was up there, I had a truly intimate moment with God, where He was… so there. And I couldn’t stop smiling. There weren’t, and aren’t, words to express the joy I felt, being in His Presence like that.

            It was true joy.

             

7: The Response About the Future Man

One Day You'll See

-LoveBugg

The first time I saw you,
I knew you were the one.
There was no question in my mind,
after having that much fun.

There's just something about you,
that I've never found before.
And now that we're good friends,
I find myself wanting more.

I never thought it possible,
to care for one so much.
But everyday that passes,
I long to feel your touch.

To look into your eyes,
would make my day complete,
cause every time you look at me,
my heart just skips a beat.

Everything I'd wished for,
every dream I'd hope come true,
I never thought would happen,
until the day that I met you.

I know that your not ready,
for the kind of commitment that I am,
but for you I'd wait forever,
there's nothing I can't stand.

Although it hurts to know,
that you don't feel the same as me,
hopefully one day you'll realize,
one day you'll wake up and see.

Found at: http://100-poems.com/poems/love/0077001.htm

            There's definitely a part of me that's chanting for the person. I think that moment when someone finally loves you back would be one of the hardest things in the entire world to wait for. And while you are waiting, there is always that possibility of rejection. Maybe that day when they’ll “wake up and see" will never come, and you'll have to stand by and watch as they fall in love with someone else. And then you'll have to deal with the realization that maybe they weren't your person after all...

            And maybe something that makes it a little harder, and maybe a little easier at the same time, is the realization that if they weren't your person... Then you were never really theirs either…

            I've never been in love, and I've been fortunate enough to never have had my heart broken in that way before. And if I'm going to be honest, the idea of being rejected when I finally do put my heart on the line scares me a little bit.
            But I rest in the knowledge that (I think) I have someone in this world, and they will be my person. I think God has someone for me. I don't know who he will be, if I've met him, or if he is simply a figure in my distant future. And… I think that one day a fear of rejection won't be a realistic option. He and I will both know, we will both "see". I look forward to that day...

            And I also look forward to the journey to that day. I think the road I'll take to get there will determine the person I am when I finally am there. If I just knew who and where he was, then... mystery over! I wouldn't have to trust God with the unknown, because the unknown would be known to me. But, since I don't know, I do have to trust God. It's hard, but... He knows. He knows who is best. He knows who is mine. And I love the fact that I can rest in His knowledge and enjoy the journey to the day where His knowledge becomes my knowledge and I finally can "see"...

Half a Dozen Responses!

Forgotten Name

-Lynn Barany

 He sat alone on the park bench
keeping to himself
watching the frozen river
wishing the snow would melt

He used to be so famous
powerful, and rich
he always though his golden years
would come without a hitch.

He thought he was immortal
one of the chosen few.
Now he can't pay his rents
Which for months is overdue

Where did everything go wrong?
Why did his family leave?
why he had been abusive
never whispered, only screamed.

A street light on the river
said it was time that he should go.
So he gets up very slowly
But he falls into the snow.

The next day's daily paper
mentioned something of the news.
A one time famous fellow
but nobody had a clue.

So if you're such a person
who lives only for your fame,
remember it doesn't take too long
before folks forget your name.

Found at : http://www.freewebs.com/meowycat313/sillypoems.htm

            There is definitely a sad aspect to this poem. Or, not a sad aspect, just a general feel of sadness. This man used to be somebody huge, but now... Now he is nothing more than another face. He is described as one who was abusive, who screamed, whose family left him all alone... I think sometimes it does take losing everything to truly realize what you had. And when you become wrapped up in gaining everything, you miss out on what you've had all along. This man didn't treasure what he had, instead he abused it, and so he lost it.

            Now, there he sits, all alone... The money is gone. Whatever fancy clothes he had are now probably nothing more than under priced garments at a secondhand shop, the promotions at his work place no longer hold any meaning… Those things have come and gone. And while pursuing these things that left him empty-handed, he pushed aside all who offered him love simply because at the time, love wasn't what he was seeking And now that he's lost his chance, he probably realizes that love is all he has ever really needed.