look out! they're back!

Now Playing: "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" soundtrack by Howard Shore. Track 17, "The Return of the King".

Before I lose my nerve, I'm going to post these, which is probably Bad Idea #1. I just wrote them, which is Bad Idea #2. They should be read with Psalm 119 in mind. I've tried to capture the goodness of God's Word which calls us from death to life, from darkness to light, and which urges us to rejoice in God more and more.

I wrote these poems with certain people in mind, so they are "for" those people, in Christ.

Tabitha

I loved my friends, Your people, and I sewed
Good clothes for them. You know, O Lord—I used
The hands You gave me to embroider rows
Of flowers on the hems, to knit child’s shoes.
I loved Your people, and that was my sin.
You prisoned me in death and made my hands
Fall frail and empty on the bed. Eyes dimmed.
Your glory blinded me, and made my end.
Gazelle who tried to slake her thirst in dust,
In rags that fade, has drunk from death—full cup—
And my feet stumbled on the road I trusted.
At last, You called my name and raised me up—
To serve You only and to seek Your face,
You set my feet again in Your high place.

The Lamppost

I push between the snowy firs. Warm wool
Gave way to needles just back there. I crawl
Beneath dark trunks. Then something soft and cool
Slips down my neck. I grin and scramble on.
Snowflakes catch in my lashes. Far ahead
I see a light high up among the trees,
Trapped like a moth between trees’ spiderwebs.
I walk toward it, sinking to my knees.
I crackle through a rhododendron. Then—
How odd! A lamppost in an empty wood?
Snow sparkles, stars that brush my open hands,
Falling through the light. I wonder: Could
This be more beautiful? The light snow whirls
On endless forest—oh, a lovely world!

The Rainbow

I walked through darkness, wind, a thunderstorm,
My fists like rain that beat against the glass.
I stumbled through the maze that I had sworn
I’d never see again—this emptiness.
Then You held up my head, and broke the dawn.
You barred my dark horizon with a bow,
A rainbow’s gate across clouds’ gonfalons,
Into the West. You took Your Word and showed
Me all Your promises ranged in their ranks,
Mounted like the clouds in endless heights. I stepped
On promises as on high waves, and drank
Them with my tears, with joy. O Lord, You let
Me fall in doubt so that I might upraise
My wings, hawk-wise, soar higher in Your praise.