Like Glue

Sitting in the house,
The food covered,
The fireworks done,
Someone decided to watch
Independence Day -- usually you.
You made the same comments,
All of the same jokes and asides,
Every time, since you were five.
So did they. So did I. We all did.
Christmas and birthdays? The same.
Our dads having the same conversations
In the same order, every single time.
I never realized, until you were gone,
That you were like glue.
You kept us together
I can't explain it, but you did.
Reminding us to laugh.
Breaking up tension with a joke.
Your smile, like dawn and sunset,
All at once. You lightened every mood.
You kept us together.
Happy. Smiling.
But suddenly -- darkness.
You were gone.
Now we're broken,
And we have no glue.

Take a Moment and Consider

Take a moment and consider

The perfection of a puppy nose,

Damp and sensitive and cold.

The sun rising on a pallet of color,

Artfully blended from shade to shade.

A leaf as it unfurls in the spring,

Growing no thicker than paper,

But breathing life into a tree.

The velvet ears of a horse,

Expressive as eyes.

Stop and consider

Each of your surroundings as art.

Think of their beauty and delicacy,

Their artistry and their creator.

Don’t be afraid to be amazed

And even bewildered by the Creator

Who crafted all this and more:

This beauty and the beauty of you.

Heir to Brokenness

Humanity is in my genes

I'm heir to its every flaw

Selfishness runs through my veins

So does love...

But that can be selfish too.

Insult and offence await within,

My mind wraps around slights

Imagined and real

I relive them, daily,

And floating around my brain

Are things I should have said

Things that I shouldn't have 

And in that diseased miasma 

Of thought and emotion,

Things I maybe, possibly,

Might not should've said.

I tell myself how horrible I am

Because someone may take it wrong.

I'm an emotional masochist

Flogging myself over worries

Of thoughts. Of words.

Of possibilities that I imagine.

Humanity is in my blood

I feel it beating with my heart

Creating a million, billion flaws

Mistakes I make 

Others I imagine making

Mistakes in themselves.

I can't seem to remember 

Not to worry

I'm too busy creating worries

So that I can worry some more

My imaginings are havoc within

My heart and soul,

And yet, in this noise of thought

There is the reminder

That though I'm heir to brokenness,

I'm heir to the forgiveness, 

The charity, and the grace

Of my heavenly father.

And He is an expert at quietening

All of my frantic thoughts,

Loving me past my ability

To love myself,

And forgiving me 

Even when I seem 

The least forgivable in my own eyes.

Yes, I'm heir to brokenness,

But I'm heir to things far greater too.

Left Whole

I was broken when I came
Wearing my pain like a winter coat

Held back with the weight of sorrow

Feeling the desolation of the broken

Weariness and depression were my shoes

In my hands I held tight to my sorrow

Like precious gems set in gold

Wishing for death to hold me as close

I was broken when I came.

But when I came to You,

You took my coat of pain,

The weights I carried,

Game me shoes of preparation and peace,

And opened my eyes to see --

My sorrow-gems were paste and fools-gold

I was broken when I came,

But I left whole and complete.

Broken Places

I try to hide my broken places,
Keep them secret...keep them safe.
Hidden in the dark,
In the forbidden room of my heart.
It's a dark and angry place,
With cries I let no one hear.
The broken places are all mine
I own them.
I live and relive them.
But in secret.
No one else should ever see
The broken places
Inside of me.
I hide the hurt...hide the pain.
Hold them back from Your light.
Even as I cry Your name.
Then You come in and change me.
Shining Your light inside-out
Without pretense,
You find my broken places,
Clear my shadows, and dry my tears.

Change My Story

Broken pieces, glued together,
Reflecting like a shattered mirror,
Ugly and irregular
Slivers of their origin.
Heart on hold -- or overload --
That's all I have to give,
Change my story, my brokenness.
Renew my soul in You.
Take my pages, ripped and torn,
Pasted with this child's careless hand,
Reform them as You will,
And make me whole again.
Change my story, my torn up heart.
Make me new in You.

Reflected

She walked to the edge of the water,

Her face was reflected in it,

Yet she could almost see his,

Reflected just past her own.
He was THE ONE. She knew
She thought she could almost see
His face just there.
She imagined him gazing back
Just looking intently at her
She waved, and he waved too
But then the wind blew
Rippling the waters
And he was gone again
She sighed and smiled
One day she'd see his face
Not reflected in a pool,
But reflected in her eyes
As she was in his.


Yes, my inner romantic was showing when I wrote this one.