I wrote this etheree today, inspired by the psalms and gospel. It also reminded me of the poem The Dove of Peace, which I wrote a while ago. I wrote a series of 3 poems based on one picture, but I’ll only link to the first one. 🙂
If
Only
I could have
Wings like a dove,
Like the dove of peace,
Like the dove alighting
On Jesus — and those white wings
Shall open wide and welcoming,
Finding rest in the depths of my heart,
Where even there will be found living peace.
For FOWC: Bamboozle and inspired by Jeremiah 20:7. I had been waiting for a chance to use that verse in a poem, and this was the perfect opportunity. I’m also glad to have written something for such a fun word. 🙂 I love being a Catholic, but sometimes, like the prophet Jeremiah, I want to tell God, “Hey, this isn’t what I signed up for!”
“You duped me and I let myself be duped” —
Bamboozled Jeremiah was, and yet,
He could not run away. He could not let
Prophetic words from God remain unsaid.
Even if countrymen preferred him dead,
Even if he lamented near despair,
He could not flee his call, nor falsehood bear.
Just something I wrote this morning…
Blessed are the pure of heart,
For they shall see God:
They shall see God
In the morning sunrise, and
In the midnight starlight;
They shall see God
In times of strenuous work, and
In much-welcomes rest;
They shall see God
In their neighbor’s eyes, and
In their very life –
Make me pure of heart.
Today, on Sunday, I am writing for the Saturday Mix at MLMM. This week we are challenged to write a nonet, which I had done before but not for a while. It is similar to an etheree except one line shorter. Since today is the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, that was the topic I chose for my nonet today.
Jesus’s precious Blessèd Mother,
At the end of her earthly life,
Was taken up to Heaven,
Her body glorified.
Mary, Queen Mother,
Crowned with 12 stars,
Intercede:
Pray for
Us!
Image from image search (i.e. not mine)
For Fandango’s Flashback Friday, I am sharing a haibun that I wrote 3 years ago, since August 6th is both the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, and it is the feast of the Transfiguration, when Jesus goes up on a mountain with Peter, James, and John and is “transfigured” so that they are briefly able to see Jesus’s divinity revealed. The original post is here.
In an island nation in the Pacific, a city is transfigured in a flash of light — complete destruction in an instant.
On a mountain in the Middle East, Jesus is transfigured in a flash of light — our hope of glory and eternal life.
Oh God, transfigure hearts — that we may find and bring peace.
Change may come slowly:
Tiny blossoms’ aroma,
While snowfall lingers
Today’s FOWC is Idiom, and I wasn’t sure if it was possible to use the actual word “idiom” in a poem, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone and participate in Fandango’s Flashback Friday. 😀
This is a poem that I posted exactly 5 years ago. The original post is here. I’m grateful for this one. Good job, Jenna from 5 years ago!
When life is hard and full of sorrows,
You hold them in Your hand.
You, who with all grief acquainted,
Are stronger than this world’s sand.
Hold me tightly my dear Savior,
And redeem this day,
May I be safe in the Beloved,
And in Your goodness stay.
Jenna from 5 years ago then adds, “There is always, always hope.”
This is a little silly, but it happened the other day. I may have hundreds of dollars in unused gift cards at this point. For FOWC: Redeem.
Unused
Gift cards waiting
Hidden, to be redeemed:
Forgotten in my old wallet
Now seen.
P.S. Before posting this, I was thinking about how I’m kind of surprised I didn’t write anything about Jesus. 🙂 “Redeem” is an easy word to use on that topic. One of the major themes of Christianity is redeeming a broken life (and we all have a broken life to some extent) so that even one’s mistakes, when admitted, can be used for good. (see Romans 8:28). Okay, my sermon is over. 🙂
I colored the picture below for Linda H. Hill’s coloring club for June. A sonnet, which I’m sharing below, was inspired by the picture. 😊 I intend also to write other types of poems about that Bible verse, which I did with a different picture a few months ago. See here, here, and here.
May feet be like those of a nimble deer,
Upon the heights enabled now to tread,
With simple courage pushing through all fear,
Out of the comfort zone gradually led.
Out of the valleys of despair and death
Up to a place of rest, more solid ground.
No longer so afraid of height nor breadth
Of paths ahead, nor challenges around.
A fawn becomes a deer as legs grow strong,
Its mother helps at first to stand up tall:
Immediate it’s not – can take a long
Adventure to at last no longer fall.
Stability of earth, be under me,
Until I reach heights of eternity.
This poem, a Diamante inspired by last Sunday’s Gospel reading, about the “mustard seed” of faith creating a much larger plant, is built on contrast, so I’m linking it here.
Seed
Tiny, insignificant
Waiting, germinating, sprouting
Container, power, trunk, sapling
Growing, reaching, leafing
Tall, strong
Tree
For FOWC: Transitory. Shared with the Writers’ Pantry at PSU. Today, we Catholics celebrate Trinity Sunday, so I have been thinking a lot about the transitory nature of time and of this life, as compared with the permanence of eternity. One of the 6 or so poems that I wrote is a Diamante.
