Daedalus reached for the sky
To Icarus’s great cost
Babel’s tower built toward Heaven
Scattered mankind in chaos
Each time man’s balloon ascends,
It ultimately bursts
Yet God reaches out
Set down His Son
His life offered for ours
To finally raise us up
a quadrille (44 words) written in response to prompt #29 at the dVerse Poets’ Pub
Pilgrims of democracy
Alight ‘twixt London’s spires,
Cameras flashing souvenir snaps;
Cursed moments pass,
Shattering the peace,
Awe displaced by shock.
A lone wolf paints terror,
No value for life;
A city loses a servant,
A family loses one they loved;
Memory will not relent,
Terror shall not prevail.
French brushstrokes of old,
Cede to current tracks of tears,
Amongst English riverflow –
Equalled in pain,
A brotherhood of suffering,
La solidarité dure
Sun’s light sets, giving way
To sorrowed mourning stars;
Yet Westminster stands defiant,
Bloodied but unbowed;
The Mother of Parliaments
Stands, testimony to the free
The River shall Flow Out from God’s Temple
Mark well, Son of Man –
Waters flow from the Temple
At each compass point;
Steady trickles, torrents form –
A mighty river!
Verdant banks shall be nourished,
Salt waters made fresh;
Swarms and shoals made to flourish –
Son of Man, do you yet see?
The breath of life blows
Wherever the river flows –
Fishermen, prepare!
Cast your nets, bring home the catch!
Vines and trees abide,
Bearing vibrant abundance –
Fruit of ev’ry kind:
The river’s flow brings forth life!
Do you see, the Son of Man?
written in response to the dVerse Poets’ Pun Poetics prompt – “the river”, and inspired by Ezekiel 47:1-12
Dare to dream
I dream of difference
Dare to be the difference
Dream of daring
Dream of making a difference
Dare to be different
Dream of diversity
Daring to differentiate
Declare diversity’s beauty
Daring to make a difference
I dream diverse dreams
Where is Joseph?
Where is Daniel?
Called to dream
Called to be different
Called
To make a difference
Give me a dream today
inspired by a week in Brussels, in particular by the creativity on display in its museums and galleries, and written (too late) for OpenLinkNight #190 at dVerse ~ Poets’ Pub
vanish dark night,
end your sojourn;
succumb you stars
to the echoes
of the Creator’s whisper;
set Moon, you lesser light,
give way to the glorious Sun;
come silence, still my heart,
claim your hollow victory;
for when the dawn comes,
I shall arise
written in response to this week’s Quadrille challenge at dVerse Poets
through our God’s mercy,
His Spirit of righteousness –
we shall not lose heart;
we do not use deception,
employ secret ways,
nor do we distort His words –
truth set forth plainly;
commend ourselves to conscience
in the sight of God;
to those who are perishing,
the gospel is veiled –
unbelieving minds blinded,
unable to see the light –
the glory of Christ,
the very image of God;
we preach Christ as Lord,
submit ourselves as servants
for Jesus’s sake;
‘Let light shine out of darkness,’
God’s glory displayed;
His light shines in our hearts –
the knowledge of Him,
the face of Jesus Christ;
So then fix your eyes
upon the unseen;
what is seen on earth passes,
what is unseen is eternal
written in the style of a ‘Choka’ as suggested by the dVerse Poets’ Pub:
“The Choka or ‘Long Poem’ is believed to be the most intricate of Japanese poetry and was used to tell a story; many were epic with over 100 lines. This form was popular between the 1st and 13th centuries, the earliest example was discovered in the 1st century and described a battle. It was 149 lines long. The Choka had a tradition of being recited in a high-pitched voice. This form is based on a series of Katauta joined together. The Katauta is considered the basic unit of Japanese poetry using either the 17 (5-7-5) unit onji or the 19 (5-7-7) unit onji. In Western terms an onji is what we call a syllable. Many of us are familiar with these particular onji as we have used them in writing haiku, tanka and sedoka. The Choka is an unrhymed poem alternating five and seven syllables that ends with an extra seven syllable line. You can use the 17 or 19 onji (syllable) style. It can be any number of lines that you choose.”
This Choka also draws on yesterday’s prompt at The Daily Post: “unseen”, and is inspired by 2 Corinthians 4.
Life’s seas rise up in rage,
pounding waves rip and curl.
yet the Lord’s voice is there,
mightier than thunder and lightning;
mightier than Maelstrom’s fierce breakers,
the Lord on high is mighty;
stilling the storm to a whisper,
chaos’ tumultuous waves lie hushed.
written in late response to the Quadrille prompt ( #23) at dVerse poets
My identity is in Christ.
Not by vain proclamation,
Nor by abstract assumption;
But by divine adoption
Through sacrificial salvation;
By the grace of a loving Father,
By the obedience of His almighty Son:
Now and for eternity,
I am a child of God
written in response to a dVerse Poets Pub challenge – to write a Quadrille – 44 words – depicting a self-portrait
written in response to a dVerse Poets Pub challenge – to write a Quadrille – 44 words – articulating a ‘breeze’
With a sudden sound
Like the baritone of an irrepressible wind
The persistent sigh of a perpetual breeze
God sang and His breath filled the place
Gifts of fire separated and came to rest
Unifying power and a unifying language
Spoken in ultimate love
– inspired by Acts 2:1-6
O the merry thwack
Of willow upon leather
Until rain stops play
Many happy summer moments have involved cricket matches, whether playing or observing, regardless of the pace or quality of play; where the measure of time is the company of friends, rest and reassurance, anecdote and amusement; on village greens or international stadia, the enjoyment of a game threading through the centuries across the world.
a haibun written in response to dVerse’s Haibun Monday challenge #14 – “Too Many Mind…”
Cricket Explained to a Foreigner
You have two sides, one out in the field and one in.
Each man that’s in the side that’s in goes out, and when he’s out he comes in and the next man goes in until he’s out.
When they are all out, the side that’s out comes in and the side that’s been in goes out and tries to get those coming in, out.
Sometimes you get men still in and not out.
When a man goes out to go in, the men who are out try to get him out, and when he is out he goes in and the next man in goes out and goes in.
There are two men called umpires who stay all out all the time and they decide when the men who are in are out.
When both sides have been in and all the men have been out, and both sides have been out twice after all the men have been in, including those who are not out, that is the end of the game!
Faith Unlocked 