The Road Taken (OctPoWriMo Day 7)

Today the prompt is to write a poem sharing a road in life that I took and am thankful that I took, based on the theme from Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken." Firstly, let me say that that poem has been an inspiration to me ever since high school. I think because I always knew my life would not be typical--that I would be following the road "less traveled by" and it really "has made all the difference."

The Road Taken

Two opposing paths, one of bamboo stalk
In contrast to the prairie grid,
So young, and desirous I did gawk
Down the foreign one and its long walk,
With thick undergrowth kept well hid.

I chose this other of tropic sun
and coral paths baked hard and fixed,
And Asian smiles speaking foreign tongue
With wonder greeting me one by one,
Acceptance and questions intermixed.

This lone path I took to heed a call
To teach downtrodden how to read,
To give identity-strength to all,
From nameless ones to proud and tall,
This my goal to plant a hopeful seed.

I traveled far to an unknown place
To give my life and love away,
But what I found from each stoic face
Was friendship, kindness, life and grace--
Now I view life in a different way.

(I challenged myself with this one to follow the same rhyme scheme and rhythm as Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken." It needs some work but I enjoyed the challenge.)
 

Freedom (OctPoWriMo Day 6)

Freedom

"Where the Spirit of
the Lord is there is freedom,"
though mankind shouts in
high platitudes of me, my-
self and I that God loves not.

God loves. God loves to
such extremes that He offers
freedom--to see, to
smell, to hear, to taste, to touch,
to think, to decide, to act.

We are free to choose
between love or hate, peace or
war, life or death. Not
without understanding, He
walked among us, one of us.

He knows. In our pain
He calls us to Himself, to
find rest and peace in
our hurt, our struggle, yet--with
freedom of choice. He loves us.

Four stanzas of 5,7,5,7,7 (Tanka-style poem)

Upside Down (OctPoWriMo Day 5)

Capturing in words a relationship where love runs deep is a challenge--NOT because there is nothing to say but because there is SO much to say and because, honestly, ANY one emotion could be pulled out of a bag and be used to describe any number of events and moments in that relationship. That's really the beauty of deep relationships.

I must admit, I did not write this poem today. I wrote it a few months ago--a poem about the relationship I have with my husband, the one constant love of my life. We've had our moments, our days of struggle, but these are insignificant compared to our years of living life together--from travelling and working overseas with minority language groups to raising kids and being forever parents. I am forever grateful to God for bringing him into my life.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall (OctPoWriMo Day 4)

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Why do these wrinkles come to call?

Throw to me some magic beans

That reverse time, give youthful sheen.

Or let me rub Aladdin’s lamp

To wipe off crow’s feet, time’s tell-tale stamp.

Perhaps the Fairy Godmother

Could wave them off like none other.

Or King Midas with his golden touch

Could fill them in with shimmer dust.

Call Jack to take his famous cloak

Swoosh them invisible with one stroke.

But note in fairy tales long told

There’s no discrimation between young and old

Age matters not in being bold

Or finding life’s worth in more than gold

Obsessions only turn hearts cold

So why obsess with growing old?

Mirror, mirror on the wall

I’ll keep these wrinkles, I’ll keep them all.

Showing Up to Discovery (OctPoWriMo Day 3)

It has been a difficult year for my family with a sick young-adult son. Some days were harder than others and sometimes I felt like I was all alone, carrying the weight of everyone else's despair--as if I wasn't allowed to get discouraged. Why did I have to be that one? Why did I always have to show up? And yet, all the while I was never alone. A rainbow that arrived in the sky at a crucial time reminded me of that.

                                                                       drained
                                                      sucked dry by the demands 
                             of the one who sees only despair--on verge of depression
                while I cling to hope--hope in                        Jesus' color-spectrumed gift,
       neonic reflection and refraction                                    in unseen raindrops flooding
  my soul with hope in His                                                              power, His presence, His love.
It can be my                                                                                                                      only response.

Movie Views (OctPoWriMo Day 2)

Movie Views--a Scene from the movie, "Short Term 12."

Child-like flowers, bright
and cheery encapsulate
her spirit, her soul.
He sees her inner self when
she cannot. Oh how he loves.

Clouds (OctPoWriMo Day 1)

Clouds

Cloud creations,

like mood formations,

“Both Sides Now”

falls short to try.

Cirrus feathers,

in happy weather

With cumulus popcorn

floating by.

Nimbostratus

gloomy-mood status,

when darkened thoughts

trouble my mind.

Cumulonimbus

intense, wild, harshness

cold-hearted pillars

release my cry.

Cloud formations

mood foundations

So many facets

to the one called “I.”