Mother Guilt

Let me go here once in a while

Not often or too long

Only we mothers know

What we could have been

Had we been whole

What we missed

When we weren’t there

Spoke too soon

Or not enough

Over protected

Or neglected

Too harsh

Too lax

Too busy

Too tired

We know

So let us alone

To grieve for a while

I promise

I won’t stay too long

Or I might drown

I won’t medicate it

Numb it or

Meditate it away

Instead it’s good

To face it

Then super grace it

With God’s love

Move on

There are more

Children, teens or

Young adults

To love and care for

If not my own

Then another mother’s

We need each other

We mothers

We don’t have enough

Of all we need

For this job

© 2013 Julie Clark

Categories: Love, Parenting, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Unresolved

We are Unresolved

A discordant note

A work in progress

Something still missing

Wet clay on the wheel

Longing to be complete

This is the time

Between times

When all is given

Yet  not all received

On our way

Moving forward

Everyday

Stopping means sinking

Sinking means drowning

Inertia is not our friend

Lord have mercy

Pull us up again

 

© 2013 Julie Clark

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

Blind Spots

It is painful when I trip

Over my blind spots

They show up this way

In the dark

It is only through

The pain

That they get

My attention

Now I know

It is time to grow

Again

 

© 2013 Julie Clark

Categories: Faith, Life, Poetry | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

The Path of Peace

Guide my feet

In the path of peace

May I do my part

That war may cease

 

Teach me how

To listen well

To refrain from judgment

Sending others to hell

 

It’s not my place

It’s not my call

Judgment stirs up strife

It builds a wall

 

May I understand

What it is to be

In another’s place

Not obsessed with me

 

Lean into You

Sit at Your feet

See through Your eyes

Everyone I meet

 

Invite the stranger in

Share a meal

Enjoy diversity

Let kindness heal

 

Fear will die

I can lay it to rest

When I choose love

It is the very best

 

Love will do the job

It will get to work

Root out the darkness

Wherever it may lurk

 

© 2013 Julie Clark

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

My Auntie and Me

My Auntie was an artist

A painter and a teacher

My favorites were her fabrics

Sewed into billowing curtains and

Textured table clothes and pillows

Scattered throughout the house

In vibrant colors

As the sea breezes breathed in and out

For she always lived by the sea

With her thoughtful face

And twinkling eyes

She loved the child I was

I wished I had asked her

To tell me stories of her beatnik life

And how she adored her policeman father

I was a passive child

Observing life around me

Absorbing some of it

Rather than taking it

In my two hands

And bringing it in close

To examine in the light

I missed so much by not

Asking my questions

Some one kissed that girl

And woke her up

She is learning how to ask

Her questions now

Who and what formed

These beautiful creatures

My Auntie and me

© 2013 Julie Clark

Categories: beauty, Faith, Life, Love, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

A Long Walk

I am in the middle

Of a long walk

With God

A journey

A pilgrimage

From those ahead

I receive these assurances

“Yes, it gets

Sweeter and sweeter

His face

Becomes clearer

His love

Thickens the air”

I have already

Tasted

That thickened air

And I give those same

Assurances

Back down the path

Behind me

A few warnings as well

Watch that curve

Slow down and rest

I have crashed right there

And stay clear of that

Mud hole

I was stuck there for a while

Don’t give up

It’s worth the climb

Green pastures

And still waters up here

The view is spectacular

The air is sweet

© 2013 Julie Clark

Categories: beauty, Faith, God, Life, Love, Paths, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Morning Psalm

Arise O God

Come into your resting place –

Me

Holy Spirit come fill –

Me

Some mornings –this morning

Flat

A bicycle tire leaking through the night

Flat

Blank

A sheet of paper

With a few undecipherable pencil scribbles fading away

Blank

 

Life of God

Love of God

Fill my spaces

Contemplation, meditation

Remembering

You don’t sleep

You never leave

Your presence not dependent

On my feelings

But on your faithfulness

I’m waiting

Your waiting

Heaven touch earth again

As I pray

“Your kingdom come

Your will be done

One earth as it is in heaven”

 

© 2013 Julie Clark

Categories: Faith, God, Life, Poetry, Prayer | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Paint Me in the Picture

Paint me in the picture

And leave me hanging

Near the corner of my mind

All year around

Paint me with

The photosynthesis

Bursting in every leaf

With the heavens

Erupting like it never

Had a worry in its life

With all the blooms and blossoms

Grinning from ear to ear

And the water

All a-dazzle

Dancing in sequined shimmers

And don’t forget old Baldy

Keeping an eye on us all

From his lofty perch

Making sure my

Ten pound pup

Doesn’t stray too far from me

I’ll need some audio nearby

Of the gulls and lap lap lapping

Of tinkling birch

And surging stream

Can you paint in the perfect

70 degree’s as well?

Categories: beauty, Life, Poetry, Trees | Tags: , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Welcoming the Blues

Welcoming the Blues

Categories: Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Decide

Close all other doors

But one

Step through that one

And watch

The infinite amount

Of possibilities

Arise and emerge

Unfolding as

You move

Forward

Categories: Faith, Life, Paths, Poetry | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

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