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Sharing the insights I discover as I explore and experience the mystery that is our reality. Join me in my journey and share yours.




Friday, July 15, 2011

Poe-A-Tree Hop




I am participating in my first  "Poe-a-tree Hop"! It is an activity where bloggers participate in writing poems based on a certain theme and then leave the links of fellow participants on their post so that those who are interested could "hop" from post to post and enjoy each blog's content regarding that theme.

Last week's theme was "rainbows" which elicited many joyful and colorful poems. This week we are looking at the antithesis of joy, sorrow and what sorrow oftentime produces: tears.  Crying can be a very cleansing process, bringing much healing to the individual who opens up the pathways to their emotions and lets their free range of expressions take form.

In my poem, below, I am trying to express that to fully appreciate joy we must come to know sorrow. We know and experience concepts fully by their contrasts.  I am not really a poet, but I thought this would be fun. I hope you enjoy and would love your thoughts in the comments section. Thank you!


Sorrow
So drunk in wonder we become once our souls find Love’s light
For first we must stumble and crawl through sorrow’s dark night.
Oh, what wonder so bitter-sweet is joy once found,
For to have our eyes feast on the star’s bright light,
we must first take our gaze off of the ground.

What casts our heads down in doom and dismay?
Threatening us to not see the world as it is, surely so gay?
I know not your reasons but I can speak of memories both near and far
That have blurried my eyes, blocking me from seeing the most brightest of stars.

Watching those who I love be chiseled down by time,
Eventually hollow vessels of what they once were,
Knowing not me, nor reason nor rhyme.

A friend so young, just barely seventeen years,
Being taken by cancer, fulfilling all of my fears.
Another, a frail soul who understood me and was like a brother,
Overdosing on drugs one morning, dying alone,
sharing his last moments with no other.

Having to tell dreadful news to my tiny daughter
Hearing her soul cry out as, in its net, grief caught her.
Feeling my faith so far from me it didn't seem real,
Seeking God with all my might, feeling nothing as I bent down to kneel.

With life come experiences that can cause our hearts to shatter
They also can be great teachers, showing us what really matters.
Not things made of cloth or those formed from gold
But those lives that enter our own that God gives us to laugh with and to hold.

When grief catches me and I lose sight of joy and of love,
I think of the holy sacrifice God made from above,
He sent down His only son, so precious, with him at the world's first breath,
And had him be tortured and die with humility an agonizing death.

God knows our grief for he felt it through His son,
His love poured out a sacrifice for each and every one.
He promises healing to each soul laboring in pain
May our tears turn to those of joy,
As His love cleanses our heart's from sorrow's stain.




Here are the other blog participants. Feel free to visit their blogs and see what they came up with!

Bonnie Parker Gayadeen http://bongoisme.blogspot.com/
Sarah Jane Klemis http://almostthere.biz/


16 comments:

  1. i thought you said you were not a poet. this is one heck of a good one. that any poet would be prod to share. thank you for the poem and sharing it on this hop. again thank you and god bless

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  2. Thank you Roy! You are too kind! And thank you for organizing this writing venture for us bloggers...it was fun! I can't wait to read everyone else's...I loved yours and SJ's!

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  3. Jessica this is an excellent poem! You are good! Well done :)

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  4. Sure wish I could again fine the faith you have ..you are a lucky one...As always..XOXOXOX

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  5. You are one of the best Jessica. You wrote your poem so well and it has evidenced your faith and the power every tear can bring.

    Beautiful heart wrenching poem!

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  6. The best tears are those I found inside God's heart because it is filled with compassion. It's something that's rooted inside and brings all the people around one in your sorrow. Very moving Jessica!

    I love the tears of a mother for her child...Mama Mary's silent tears at the foot of the cross... God's rain showers of blessings and sorrow for His people's need for healing.

    I love your post and I entered into it...very powerful!

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  7. Beautiful poem, I love the last paragraph. So glad you wrote this lovely poem, tears are precious.

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  8. I love how you said you weren't a poet to us, and just look at what you pull out. Jessica you are a musician when you write, whether it be factual, story, poetry or just thoughts - it's always a perfect harmony of words.

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  9. Jessica, it is amazing to look back over the years and see the pain one has had in their life. But, there are so many times of happiness as well. Without sorrow, how would we recognize happiness?

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  10. A great poem that was very moving and heartfelt. You touched upon many things that I could certainly relate to; with love comes grief and that is the price we pay to participate. Loved the finale regarding God's sacrifice of his only son...he knows grief too well and what humans experience everyday. Thanks for sharing!!

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  11. I love your post,u always have a powerful message with it..I too pray that all tears turn to those of joy..love u always.

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  12. YOUR POEM WAS SOMETHING THAT CARRIED ME AWAY WITH TEARS ROLLING DOWN. WE CANNOT ACCEPT DEATH IN ANY FORM. AND UNTIMELY DEATH WITH ALL IT'S SUFFERING CAUSING A GIVING UP OF LIFE IS JUST NOT ACCEPTABLE. I WISH THERE WAS SOME HOPE TO HEAL AND UNLEASH THE SEVERE TRAUMATIC PAIN OF CANCER. STILL I PRAY FOR THE RESTING SOUL, LET HIM BE IN PEACE.

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  13. You’ve captured in verse the essence of grief and pain, and yet the hope that God is touched by our suffering and never leaves us without the hope of healing. Well done Jess.

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  14. Your poem talked about loss, pain and yet did not falter from your faith in God. If only tears were of only joy then I suppose there would be no balance in this world. Everyone cries tears of pain to appreciate tears of joy. Lovely Jessica.

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  15. this is nice meaningful poem. I never heard of a Poe-a-tree before, this is new. I wanna join :)

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  16. Beautiful poem, Jessica! My heart is definitely being chiseled these days, but I'm trying to look forward to the lesson / light at the end of the tunnel. xo

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