Open our eyes to see
What is happening in our world
To see with eyes that care
About the suffering of others
To see the connections
And understand
Why these things are happening today
Give us insight
And vision
To see solutions beginning
Small and thin
That lengthen and thicken
Into strong ropes
Strong arms
To lift
To carry
To free
© 2021 Julie Clark
Let us
Search for the light
Like wise persons
Follow it
Come out of the blinding
Darkness
Shake it off
Shake ourselves awake
And free
Let love
Come down
Melt the hardness
In our hearts
Let the tears
Flow
Do their work
Break us open
Just as the rain
Finds a way
Through the earth’s
Hardened crust
Look up
Rise up
Follow the light
Our paths
Need examining
Need pondering
Where am I headed?
Who am I?
Who am I becoming?
Is this who I want to be?
Is this path leading to life?
Leading to light?
Leading to love?
If not
Step off
We can change our course
We can grow
We can choose
We still have breath
We are still alive
© 2021 Julie Clark
May this new year
Show the fruit of what we have learned
from the troubles and sorrows of the passing year
How we need each other
Always have, but somehow
Lost sight of our connection
To each other
To our earth home
To our heaven coming down home
May the fire
The flood
The hurricane force winds
The pandemic
Be used
To strengthen and straighten the bent and broken
Places in our hearts
To repair and renew
The moral compass
of all, including
The powers that rule
The powers that have crushed
The powers arising
Replacing the old
Bringing the new
Until, until
“The kingdom of this world
becomes the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ” *
How long
How long
How we long for that day
© 2020 Julie Clark
(*Revelations 11:15)
(This was a prayer/thought I had Saturday morning before we heard the results of our recent presidential election.)
Are you counting?
Like the votes are being counted
One by one, day after day?
Are you counting
My every thought
Every move
Every deed
Weighing on scales?
No, not counting
Loving
Pouring it out
Day after day
The love that covers
Every mistake
Wayward thought
Angry word
Unkind action
Hateful look
The self-pity
Self focus
The pride
All of it
Again and again
Until it is covered
Until I learn mercy
And do the same
© 2020 Julie Clark
After breakfast
The fog coming across the water
The ferry sounds its horn
The seals sun on the little dock
Set out for them
You could forget where you are
As the sound of waves distract you
And the surf laps against the shore
You could forget that you
Have to go home tomorrow
Back to those routines
Instead of these
And the gull cries
Calling you back to now
“Don’t worry we will be here
When you return”
And the fog keeps rolling
And blurs the seals
On their little rocking dock
I visited the Mukai Farm and Garden remembering and honoring the Japanese community that lived and farmed strawberries here before WWII. They were taken away during the war to internment camps. As I strolled the gardens there was a labyrinth with lanterns hung and intermittent Haiku streaming from pages strung with clothes pins as well. I was inspired to write these poems below.
I.
Immigrants settle
Growing fields of strawberries
Taken and interned
II.
War has many faces
Death and life roll through the land
Tears flow unending
III.
When will we return?
Children speak our unspoken words
Can hearts hope again?
IV.
Some return, rebuild
Life twists and turns with the sun
Trauma stays within
We took several hikes, this one runs along Shingle Mill Creek to Fern Cove.
They clear-cut cedar
Giants turned to roof shingles
The forest still grieves
Flew to the tip of the garage
Standing there now
In front of us
Outside our window
Your message from the One who loves:
I am here
Standing guard
Leading you
In this work
In this way
Pay attention
Step by step
Look for me
You will find me
When you search
With all your heart
I am for you
I am renewing the earth
And it’s peoples
Don’t be afraid
I am with you
I see you
Even when you
Cannot see me
Look for me
Pay attention
(I came to faith in the 1970’s with the Jesus People, we were sure Jesus was coming back – soon!)
I moan
I groan
I lament
Waiting for you to come
Hoping for you to intervene
To silence evil
To stop oppression
To hear the cry of the poor and needy
When will you
Remove the evil rulers
When will you come in the clouds
Set things right
Set up your throne
I long for that day
I long to see your face
In the silence
I hear your invitation
Your call
To join your work
To speak for the voiceless
To speak and live truth
To feed the hungry
To listen to the oppressed
To push back
Evil, oppression, racism, greed, violence
In my prayers, in my words, in my actions
I realize
I am not the only one waiting
You are waiting for us
© 2020 Julie Clark
Robins
Everywhere
On the wet grass
On the roof tops
In the air
Plenty of worms
For all
In this rich soil
On this fertile hill
No scarcity mentality
Just take what you need
For you and your family
Leave the rest
For the other birds
Residents and guest
Passing through
No need for hoarding
Or commodifying
These tasty treats
Oh that we would
Study the birds
And the fields
And the trees
Like our ancestors
Like Jesus
Learn a new way
An ancient way
Leading to
The path of life
The eagles on Sunday
Circling the waters
Taking turns
Diving for the fish
Over and over
Repeating the pattern
Again and again
The message is clear
Perseverance
Don’t give up.
© 2020 Julie Clark
The fruit trees
Have put on their new attire
Traded in the bare naked look
From buds to shawls of fragile blooms
Now with sturdy green working clothes
These garments will take them through the heat of summer
Their job, with branches stretching far into the sky
Collect all the glorious light coming their way
Transform the energy to feed the world
Fruit their goal, their hope, their song
No fruit, no life ahead
These trees will bear fruit
The leaves will do their job
And begin the cycle again
After the fruit is picked
Ripe and juicy
The old tired leaves will give
Their last hurrah
Decked out in the best of their colors
Gold, reds, oranges and yellows
The grand goodbye after all their labors
Before they fall to the ground
In storms of rain and wind
Will we like leaves
Live our lives
Dressed for the occasions
Of each stage of our being?
What are our goals, our passions?
Will they feed the lives coming after us?
How will we weather our storms and troubles?
Will we leave in a glorious hurrah
Having done all we can
To leave a rich inheritance
Of a life fully lived and a heart full of love
To the next generations?
© 2020 Julie Clark
What if we can’t go to church
To understand what the church really is?
What if the virus is showing us
The viruses in our hearts?
What if the worship of mammon*
Was just too much for the earth to bear?
What if our independence
Drives us to community?
What if all the grief and loss
Teaches us to love again?
*Matthew 6:24
© 2020 Julie Clark
