Poetry

Musings of a Mother

 

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Musings of a Mother (Revised for Advent 2015)

 

He’s a puzzle, a mystery, a riddle

This person I know so well yet not at all

I only see a part not the whole

I can’t get inside his head or his heart

I don’t know why he does this or that

Says it that way instead of this way

He could avoid a lot of conflict

if he said things a little differently

or not at all

 

I admit I am perplexed and mystified

I even wonder at times if his mind is overloaded

Some what imbalanced

He always has so many people

clamoring about him

he doesn’t take care of himself

What’s a mother to do?

 

Yet, he is the one the angel

called me to bear

The one we have been waiting for

I know

I said yes, and I did what I was asked

I was not ashamed

I knew where he came from

 

But what kind of deliverer will he be?

How is he going to save us from our enemies?

He says we should love them!

He is so gentle and kind

This babe I once wrapped in rags

Where were the angels when I wreathed in pain

like every other woman?

I heard later they were off singing to some shepherds

sending them to us

They worshipped him and

mentioned peace on earth

I wish I could have heard the angels sing

 

The angels did come again

Just in time to warn us to get out of Bethlehem

before Harod’s treachery

A terrorist slaughter of babes

Then we were refugees in Egypt

until the angels came again to send us back to Israel

 

Those were somewhat ordinary times

under the heel of Rome in Nazareth

We lost our precious Joseph in those years

broke our hearts

We made it somehow

until the day cousin John by the river

pointed to the Lamb of God

 

I will continue my daily watch

Pack up and move with him

as any mother would

He is so weary and spent

He may need me again

Before this day is through

 

 

Categories: Advent, Faith, God, Hope, Love, Poetry, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | 2 Comments

In This World…

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I came across this fitting poem by Wendell Berry in “Farming, A Hand Book”. It reminds me that this generation is not the only one that has seen the world on fire.  I read it to our guests at our Thanksgiving table.  We had a beautiful, but small representation of our world with Central Asians, Libyans and Americans, Muslims and Christians breaking bread together and giving thanks. The phrase “In this World” comes from the New Testament.  Jesus to his disciples:  “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

 

Here is the poem.

 

The hill pasture, an open place among the trees,

tilts into the valley. The clovers and tall grasses

are in bloom. Along the foot of the hill

dark floodwater moves down the river.

The sun sets. Ahead of the nightfall the birds sing.

I have climbed up to water the horses

and now sit and rest, high on the hillside,

letting the day gather and pass. Below me

cattle graze out across the wide fields of the bottomlands,

slow and preoccupied as stars. In this world

men are making plans, wearing themselves out,

spending their lives, in order to kill each other.

 

Wendell Berry

 

Categories: beauty, Faith, God, Hope, Hospitality, Life, Love, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry, Seasons, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Remember Me (Communion Song)

Sunset After the Rain

This is my body – broken for you

I gave it freely – for you

Remember Me

This my blood – poured out for you

I gave it freely – for you

Remember Me

As the Father sent me – so send I you

As I laid down my life – lay yours down too

Remember Me

Freely you have received – freely give

I am Emanuel – always with you

On your journey towards Home

Remember Me

In your struggle to make sense – In your struggle to make peace

Remember the poor, the sick, the imprisoned

In all that you do – in the work I have given you

Remember Me

Categories: Faith, God, Hope, Love, Paths, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , | 2 Comments

Greenlake

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Greenlake

Rain washing our faces

as we curve around the lake

A favorite city walk

for man and beast

Algae blooms

in the water,

so beautiful to see, yet

toxic

keeping swimmers

at bay

Not that many are interested

this time of year

The trees are

really turning now

in full fall gala

Nothing can stop them

(only a lightning bolt or

a person

with an ax who hates beauty,

driven to stamp out glory

wherever it is found)

Are there such people?

Yes, but they are few

in the minority –

don’t vote for them!

or sell them a gun!

Pray for them instead,

help them up

out of despair

Then tend to the remnants

of the garden we have left

Gently coax it back to life

The meek will, someday,

inherit the earth, after all.

© 2015 Julie Clark

Categories: beauty, Faith, Hope, Life, Paths, Poetry, Prayer, Seasons, Trees | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Troubled

Troubled Sky

Troubled

Woke up to an empty house

Troubles in this world

troubling my soul

Down by the water

should cheer me up

I’m searching for those messages

Flowers planted along Sunset Drive

Some still holding summer’s smile

others faded and shrivelled

I wish the eagles would come and chase away

my melancholy

Container ship passing by

What will it take to wean us from some of our comforts

so that others would be less poor?

Just giving up a cup of coffee causes major

upheaval in my head and heart

A tree is cut down

apparently because the roots are pulling up the sidewalk

Why don’t they just move the sidewalk?

They do in India

Inconvenient, yes, but spares the life of a tree

What is life worth to us anyways?

I feel we are mixed up about that question

I remember a wise man once said

“one’s life does not consist

in the abundance of his possessions”

He was warning us about greed

It’s a time in history again

where we need to be inconvenienced

stretched and changed

It is a time to value life and protect it

Desperate refugees

Unborn children

Trees

Our very planet

What will we do?

Will we listen to the voices of the wise

or close our ears and hearts

and hope it will all go away?

Oh, it will all go away

Quickly if we don’t do something

about our destructive ways

Life is fragile

delicate as

a butterfly’s wings

yet resilient

able to heal and restore

Let’s not push things beyond

the limit here

We still have time

© 2015 Julie Clark

Categories: Faith, Hope, Life, Peace and Reconciliation, Poetry, Seasons, Trees | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Thoughts on Belonging

Be. Long.

Longing to

Belong.

Yearning

to be

Home.

To love

and be loved.

Accepted.

Welcomed.

Free to be

planted

nourished

and grow

in this

rich soil.

II.

I belong to God.

He belongs to me.

I belong to this earth.

I am made from it.

The earth belongs to me,

not to exploit but to care for and use as needed.

I belong to heaven.

I have the breath God breathed in me.

Heaven belongs to me.

This breath of God is my down deposit.

© 2015 Julie Clark

Categories: Faith, God, Love, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Summer Chimes

Poplar

 

Along ancient paths

newly surfaced again and again

poplars, descendants of

the Aged Ones,

are whispering

in the warm summer breeze

 

Will i stop and listen?

Autumn will come

soon enough

and lash these chimes,

winter will find them gone

 

Now in this warmth only

is their message heard

for this season,

later the falling leaves

and bleak branches

will have another message

 

Life presses in

with it’s pressures

do this, do that

and hurry up

you are late again,

fill every moment

with a call or a text

until the pulse races

and the poplars

playful message of

peace and joy

cannot be heard

for another year

 

© 2015 Julie Clark

Categories: beauty, Faith, Life, Paths, Poetry, Seasons, Trees | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Growing Pains

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This chaos

on the edge of growth

painful

unnerving

face to face

with my lack or gap

hang on

rather

be hung on to

this is

the knife edge

to the other side

of this messy process

of becoming

more of who

I am destined to be

(c) 2015 Julie Clark

Categories: Faith, God, Hope, Life, Paths, Poetry, Seasons | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Recommendation

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Muster up your strength

gather your wits

grab a bike

hop a bus

catch the ferry

book a flight

or just put on

your shoes

follow the signs

and get out-of-town

 

It’ll do you a world of good

to slow down

change your point of view

breathe some fresh air

hear the wind in the trees

or the call of the gulls

 

Stop, look, and listen

 for signs and messages

take beauty personally

this is for me

I too am beloved

 

© 2015 Julie Clark

Categories: beauty, Faith, Hope, Life, Love, Poetry, Travel, Trees | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Waiting

sun breaking thru on pier

When I find myself

daydreaming

about another

place to live

quiet, peaceful

clean and uncluttered

wrapped in beauty

like a multicolored scarf

from India

and start searching

the island websites

for the latest

houses on the market

I know it’s time to

rest again

to

wait

for something to change

the wind to shift its course

strength to gather in my bones

a new burst of energy

to finish a task

long calling for my attention

for thoughts to string together

to make sense of this season

for gratefulness to replace

lethargy

I’ve been told

“Strength will come

for those who wait.”

© 2015 Julie Clark

Categories: beauty, Faith, Hope, Life, Poetry, Seasons | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

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