My Heart is Stirred by a Noble Theme...

Katie's Day

 Once she was a princess, her smiles could draw a crowd

Once she had a voice to speak, once her prayers were loud.

 

Once we packed a suitcase, placed it by the door

Sat on it to shut inside and speak of this no more.

Scuffed shoes sitting safe on top,

Once she thought to run,

Once she walked with confidence as ‘the pretty one’.

 

But when will it be Katie’s day? When will she emerge?

Through the love she strives to know, Is she still unheard?

 

Once she was the worst of all, once the favoured one,

Once she wondered who she was before this had begun.

Once she wondered what she did,

Causing all this pain

Once she felt mistreated, but soon accepted blame.

 

When will it be Katie’s day? Will she ever flee?

Will she meet the lovely girl she was made to be?

 

Once she thought she couldn’t leave

Who could change her mind?

Who could show her heart was made -

To beat without confines?

 

Once she thought her life would end

In this space and time

So she decided not to dream

Beyond the ties that bind.

 

But I am not content to sit beside

And watch her waste away,

So I will be a voice for her

To pray for Katie’s day.

 

Bloom - for Sue

A crushed flower, once so bright

Hidden, lost between two pages,

Unnoticed as the colour seeped away.

Dried of life and paper thin

Drained of fragrance from within

The petals wait.

 

Until a Saviour deftly turned

The pages yellowed yet with age,

And found the tiny stifled bloom

Within the paper walls of text.

Now see Him bend to gaze upon

Beauty buried for so long.

 

He lifts the fragile petals high

With expert care to hold them close.

And in His time, with healing touch

He tends the flower back to life

For other dried deserted lives

Need this flourishing of hope.

 

Poison

Give him an inch

And grasping greedily

Happily he

Will take a mile

Have and hold it close

Until inextricable

I can’t pull it back.

 

As compromise trickles unabated

The sign of a deeper wound

Shall I elastoplast this desire

Dulling it’s pain?

 

Until it seems I’m drowning

In my selfishness

And in these moments

I don’t care.

 

But there is too much to lose

Surely now, I have to swim against the tide

That tries to pull me under

I have to expose this unhealed scar

And the poison it infuses.

Promised Land - prose

 

You were pushed off from safe moorings, suddenly, without planning, with little time to gather cargo or prepare for the journey.

 

The oddments you did grab quickly were strewn across the deck, no order, you hardly gave them a second glance as you concentrated on steering the ship, staying afloat, finding out how everything worked.

 

Now those frantic moments have faded into memory, you have been at sea for a long time, moons have risen and waned while you sailed forwards, becoming used to the seasons, weathering the storms, at peace on the open water.

 

But now your ship draws near to shore again, you can see the faint outline of a coastline in the distance. You feel nervous because you thought you were happy just sailing, and now the sight of this new thing both excites you and terrifies you. What will land mean? How could you live there? How close is it?

 

But this isn’t just any coastline. It isn’t some shapeless bit of land, empty and desolate.

 

It is uncharted territory, unclaimed ground, a place you were destined to discover, not to glorify your own ability, but as part of a bigger picture. This is the promised land you were made to explore, boundaries set for you to step over, sights no eye has seen or identified, this was a space I set for you to walk into.

 

Don’t be afraid of stepping off from the comfort and familiarity of the ship. True, this new land will hold challenge; true, there remain giants there. But your time at sea has taught you about Me, and now you know to call on Me. I have given you the authority to drive the giants from the land; I have given you the weapons for your warfare. I will not abandon you to this; I stand around and about you on every side. It is not only your fight but the fight of your generation.

 

So, in these remaining days, consider all you have learnt, for the time is coming when teaching and theory will become practice and daily necessity. Remember the lessons of intimacy, found in solitude on the open seas, this will be key in the intensity of battle. Remember this new land belongs to me, you are my explorer. Give me the glory for the things you see around you, communicate constantly as I reveal the layout of this new territory.

 

I know you want to know how many days it will be before your ship finds the nearing sands, before you step onto solid ground again. I know the questions in your heart, and the excitement too. Remember we are in this together, trust me to sort the timescale and guide you to shore, enjoy these last nights on the open water, watch the stars, swim, talk with me, these are key moments.

Veteren

I’m braced for the blows in this hidden war zone, 

Where rules are uncertain and reasons unknown 

The damage runs deeper than yet I can tell-  

The memories are etched, of each new time you fell. 

How could I escape when your time bomb of pain, 

Exploded with anger again and again? 

 

With shrapnel words screeching, still seeking me out, 

And barbed wire opening veins full of doubt,  

I’m tempted to give up and sink in despair, 

So fatigued from the search light’s flickering flare, 

Lit bright for a moment then fading away, 

As hope glimmers briefly returning to grey. 

 

So long locked away so the bruises could fade  

Dismissing the truth with this neat masquerade  

Long after impact, internally bleeding,   

Used to the ache, but I’m shaking and needing-   

Someone to stand for me and fight at my side, 

I prayed for an ally to comfort and guide. 

 

Now there is victory, everything’s changing,  

The smoke from the guns is clearing and fading, 

And Love once more triumphs, expressed in my tears, 

He’s burning away all the taunting of years-  

Residing in trenches, so used to their mud, 

With cold dampness creeping, and chilling my blood.   

 

This morning I realise my heart’s not failing, 

Always prepared for the sirens tired wailing,        

Or safe in the light now, relying on gleams-  

From matches that burn out extinguishing dreams, 

I find I can breathe now, inhale deep and clear, 

No shallow gasps gulped as the poison drew near. 

 

So as the sun rises, lest I will forget, 

The Saviour Redeemer who rescues me yet, 

It wasn’t my bravery, some feat of skill, 

But One Father’s gift and His Son’s act of will. 

I’m freed from the past. with a future secure

And living in freedom of life after war.

 

 

 

 

 

 

1000 Words

1000 Words

 

With one thousand words inside my mind

Phrases unshaped, I struggle to find

A place to begin as I stutter and speak

I’m scrabbling around for a background or beat

Where is the tone to accompany the tale

I’ve always shrunk down, reducing the scale?

How do I express the consistent struggle

Searching for reason through chaos and rubble.

The rubbish that piles up obscuring the path

That chokes me inside while I stumble and laugh

Seeming so carefree I carry a load

That still seeks to pull me offside and off-road

And bury me deep so I can’t grasp for air

I’m tempted to throw it all in – I don’t care

Where this path is leading – its stripping me down

Till I can’t rely on the masks that I’ve found

Successful before but now they wear thin

I have to admit, I’m used to acting

I pick up the part and play the role well

Forgetting there’s still a real story to tell

That somewhere beneath all these costumes and light

My heart is in pieces kept out of sight.

 

There’s one thousand words inside my mind

But I’m tired of excuses I’ve hidden behind

So I’m walking outside – its time to be real

And that means accepting the fact that I feel

A mixture of things from the great to the broken

A fusion of feelings, a mystery unspoken

I’ve been mute too long now I’m talking again

These sentences speak of embracing the pain

Accepting the good and the bad of these days

An end to pretending I don’t need to say

And in this expression I’m sure there is joy

Beyond that I’ve known as I’ve sought to employ

These alternate faces, distractions they’ve bought

Deep down I knew their relief was too short

And that times would come where they wouldn’t be needed

As I opened up, I found love exceeded

The tiny small space I had made for a Saviour

Instead of avoiding, I’ve flourished in favour

Now is the time for new inspiration

Flooding my heart the truth of creation

So I’ll sing from now a song shaped by praise

Safe in his hands, encompassed by grace.