Each day comes
With thoughts and news
Little things
To bring to you
Like gathering flowers
Picked as I go
I gathered them up
Waiting to show you
Funny or sad
Mundane or rare
Our daily existence
Always shared
Hearts intertwined
An unparalleled linked
Your fabric is mine
What I feel and think
A part of each other
Mother and child
Deepest connection
Melded for life
Agony now
Torn and raw
But enemy death
You are horribly wrong
This sacred love
It cannot die
It lives despite you
Separation’s a lie
Eternally bonded
My mother and me
Soon back together
You wait and see
I’ll be there with her
In paradise, home
Life everlasting
I’ll know and be known
Closer than ever
Death just a door
Into a new realm
More than before
Nearness unshackled
By sin and shame
Two souls communing
My loss is my gain
Only a breath
Between here and there
Until then collecting
Flowers to share
I’m gathering up, Mom
What I know you would like
How my family’s doing
What I’ve done with my life
You told me to write
To enjoy each new day
Good things are coming
You always would say
Grandchildren will bless you
Retirement, too
You and Daryl will prosper
You’ll see it’s true
Mama, I’ll cherish
Your words and your heart
Our special connection
Will carry me far
You’re now there waiting
To share with me
Your daily existence
In a land that is free
Unfettered devotion
Unexplainable love
You long to tell me
What it’s like up above
How Jesus has loved you
Just like I said
How every heartache
Every pain, every dread
Was gone in an instant
When you saw His face
Entering heaven
A miraculous place
I’ll be there shortly
My mother, dear friend
We’ll be together
Sharing life once again
June 20, 2021
Month: November 2021
The Enemy
Death is an enemy
With a dark, evil face
A crusty old demon
With insatiable taste
For blood and gore
And fear and pain
He strikes fatal blows
Then laughs in disdain
Death is the enemy
Evil his tool
Suffering his pleasure
By it he rules
Over all men and beasts
Over all living things
He crushes and jabs
Pierces and stings
But death fools himself
He does not know
His sinister plans
Have nowhere to go
He afflicts for a while
He sneers and scoffs
But his wicked schemes
Will soon be cut off
Flailing and grasping
Doing his best
To bring us to hell
Along with the rest
Of frail humankind
Caught up in the fray
Of selfish pleasures
And hedonist ways
Try as he will
For ultimate gain
There is another
With opposite aims
Jesus is life
Joy, hope and peace
He brought it all
To give us release
From death and his minions
From pain, fear and dread
He won the battle
Death is now dead
Glorious parade
Of final victory
Exposing the enemy’s
Blatant defeat
Death had been routed
His plans are displayed
As impotent failures
Temporary graves
God in the heavens
Now laughs at death’s tries
To steal his beloved
From under His eyes
No one can snatch them
Not even death
God has the last word
He holds every breath
He fashioned each life
His heart sets the time
Of our departure
From under these skies
His children can trust him
With each new day
He calls the shots
He has the last say
Into the heavens
Paradise home
We’re going soon
But not alone
Beloved companions
Family and friends
Waiting to meet us
When this era ends
God, our dear father
Jesus, his Son
Will run to embrace us
When our lives are done
Death is a demon
That thinks it has won
Ugly and sneering
Its time will come
Into the pit
Of stench and fire
Deserved retribution
For all his ire
Against all the chosen
But we are immune
From death’s devices
He’ll find out soon
We’ll be in heaven
He’ll be in hell
Goodness will rule
And all will be well
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Her Light
When she died I died. Not literally, but in many ways.
The light went out. The light that had kept me warm.
Night and day that light was there to shine on me, bringing love and joy and encouragement.
And now it’s gone dark. But not literally.
In reality, her light is shining brighter than ever in a place where there is no night.
No shadow. No darkness at all.
Just light.
Where her light is subsumed in that greater light.
Of God.
Of love.
For a time I can no longer feel its warmth. That light that was with me all my life.
But it still glows. Ever brighter and clearer and fuller.
Just not here.
With me.
Which is all I can see.
So darkness hovers.
Just there.
Haunting.
Taunting.
Tempting to despair.
Her light would show me a better way. Even now.
Look up.
Can you glimpse her light there?
Somewhere?
Just out of reach.
Behind the veil.
Of tears.
And time.
This life of mine.
Treading on in spite of the absence of that light.
That love.
It’s left me.
But above it shines. So bright.
And one day that light will shine on me again.
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When God Comes Near
When God comes near
He wounds you
You don’t get what
You expect
Ease and strength
Are absent
Disappointment
In their stead
Confused you ask
The question
Why does this
Hurt so much?
You went to Him
For comfort
But left wounded
By His touch
Jacob asked for blessing
But pain was the result
He wanted God to help him
But it ended in assault
Jesus asked for blessing
Remove this cup from me
The father denied his pleading
And hung him from a tree
When God comes near he wounds you
Ignores cries for relief
But in the end the blessing
Beyond what you can see
Jacob’s sons God honored
Forever to be seen
No way to know Jacob’s wounding
Would lead to prosperity
Jesus scorned and beaten
Undeservedly
But he knew what was coming
Life for you and me
When God comes near
He wounds you
When God comes near
There’s pain
But if you accept
The suffering and death
Your loss will be
Great gain
A Settled Heart 