Chronicles of the Sky
Green are the skies of Lonya
Laced with the living leaves
Branches locked in a graceful web
Slender and strong
Grown gently old
Smoothed by the hands of the children who hide
Searching for peace in the shade it provides
Lonya, my heart still aches for your green
Clear is the sky above Gazigway
Lit by the light of the beautiful stars
Rays spun into a shimmering net
Fiery diamonds
They sing as they dance
Sought by the eyes of the children who sing
Caught by the promise of peace gently bright
Gazigway, my heart keeps the tune of your light
Boundless the sky above Murnia
Loosed from constraints of all seeming time
Clouds scud across this steady ocean
Clearly lit blue
Turning thundercloud dark
Broken by the feet of the children who run
Cut off from peace by the blood all around
Murnia, my heart’s tears soak into your ground
Hard is the sky over Irwas
Left above the burnt-out dunes
Edges all sharply cutting
Burnished and bronzed
Relentlessly strong
Shaped by the will of the children who strive
Fighting for peace in an unfriendly land
Irwas, my heart laments your lost sands
Majestic the sky above Aynoli
Lightly spread to cover the kingdom
Colors woven in shimmering tapestry
Brilliant and bright
Soaring effortlessly above
Mourned by the tears of the children who know
Lamenting the peace that’s been choked by a lie
Aynoli, my heart will return when you learn how to cry
Lost is the sky above Riscon-Morg
Locked over a prisoning world
Invisible bars of a relentless trap
Stronger than steel
Sprung silently up
Challenged by the hearts of the children who hope
Bringing the peace for which the land groans
Riscon-Morg, my heart claims you as its own
Learning to Hide
Only a few words in
My heart stops, frozen
I feel where this is going
And every word confirms it
Not this story
Not today
The sunshine all turns to rain
The sky above is grey
It was years ago
But it may as well be right now
Your eyes blinded by the darkness
You’d never seen till now
Not so young
Not today
Because once you’ve learned to run
It’s hard to ever stay
You became strong
It was that or break
Forced to grow up too fast
To protect all you could
Not too far
Not today
Because if you hide so well
What if you fade away?
Attempt at Answering
The truth is that I cannot remember
As I cannot remember most of my life
Other paths were indeed open
But not marked for me
I can give you some reasons
But in the end, where else would I have gone?
Shadows wove in with the light
The dancing pattern called me in
I was younger and knew less
Yet it was still me
I do not believe it was accidental
You were on the way I explored
I was not consciously looking
But I enjoyed being with you
It was enough to pull me back
Caught in His guiding hand
Unknowing of what I was seeking
Drawn by what I could not explain
You were close to my place
Watching and waiting
Coming to know
With careful commitment
Invisible dancer
Fading away as attention shifts
You looked into my eyes
For more than I could bear
I knew nowhere else where I could have gone
Compelled to find you
Needing to know you’d be there
Because we are called to communion
Questions about Friendship
I do not understand
No matter how many times I remember
You had so many roads
So many paths you could have gone down
But you stubbornly followed this one
Though you could not see the end
You chose the way deep in shadows
Filled with unnamed challenges
Instead of the open rooms
Well-lit and welcoming
Why did you not enter them instead?
Why did you seek out darkness?
You consciously sought me out
For no reason I can see
You did not know me to know who I was
Why would I have pushed you away?
All who come, come for a reason
Strength enough is always given
I do not fit into a category
So why were you willing to stay?
The disappearing
The silence
The inscrutability
You continued to look for answers
You met my eyes and clung
For as long as you possibly could
Then you kept returning for more
Looking for yourself, looking for me
Needing to know that such will be done
In case one should wander too far
Lament for Atlantis
Mourn for the lands
Sunk beneath the sea
Lost below the roiling waves
Have you heard the gulls sing?
The sad aching cry
For the beauty which few can remember
Mourn for the land
Scorched beneath the sun
Desolate as the burning sand
Have you watched the sun rise?
The stark killing light
Over the beauty which few can live through
Mourn for the stars
Flung so far away
Spinning above the shattering earth
Have you danced to the song of their light?
The soft glowing music
Of the beauty which few can embrace
Mourn for hte fire
Choked by the fog
Sputtering in the ghostly half-light
Have you breathed with the shooting sparks?
The flames’ dancing passion
For the beauty which few can plunge into
Mourn for the wind
Lost among the clouds
Wandering amidst the mountains’ spires
Have you stood in its rushing maelstrom?
The fast frightening thrill
Of the beauty which few can stare into
[This poem goes along with Lament for the Stars. Maybe they ought to be combined, but I don't think so. They just go together. The influences aren't hard to name -- Lewis, Tolkien, Bryana and Raora, Chesterton... also Ereb Nan, and most particularly for "the girl who sits quietly". Her poetry cries out to me to write, write, write, in hopes of recapturing some of what she captures. Her prose also calls for poetry, as her laughter rises in the most unexpected times, adding delight to many a long day at school.]
The Eternal Weight of Glory
We’re not afraid
Although sometimes we get tired
Running into the darkness
Wearing the armor of light
But some days it gets heavy
And we start to wonder…
The eternal weight of glory
You stumble underneath it
Falling and you fear
That we are losing you
There are arms that can carry you
For the glory is His own
Do not lose heart
Fighting in the dark
Don’t lose sight of the glory
Highest of standards
Triumphing by the cross
And sometimes we don’t see it
Following the Victor
But some days we fall short
And we start to doubt…
The eternal weight of glory
You stumble underneath it
Falling and you fear
That we are losing you
There are arms that can carry you
For the glory is His own
Do not lose heart
Fighting in the dark
Don’t lose sight of the glory
Dying on the outside
And sometimes our focus is all wrong
Looking at the transient
Missing the eternal
But some days He afflicts us
And we are prepared for…
The eternal weight of glory
You stumble underneath it
Falling and you fear
That we are losing you
There are arms that can carry you
For the glory is His own
Do not lose heart
Fighting in the dark
Don’t lose sight of the glory
[This is an older one, I think written about a year ago? Scripture references scribbled in the margin are: II Cor 4:17, Eph 6:10-18, Rom 13:12, and II Cor 3:12-18. Thanks to Doug Snyder and Jeremiah Montgomery and all the quizzing people -- especially Jake (I think that is his name?) who missed a question about the armor of light in Romans, leading to me challenging, leading to me remembering that verse. Also thanks to Griffin, who discussed the whole eternal-weight-of-glory with me, even if we were not talking about the same thing at all.]
This glory shines around me
The sword in its sheath
Autumn laughter, kicking leaves
Interlaced with darker dreams
Preserved for another day
This life has never been less my own
Goodnight, you say, and goodbye
But can’t bring yourself to walk away
I am crying out for you
Warmth against the cold
But you need to go home
[October 08, I think]
Crash and burn or gentle death
Tonight it ends with words and tears
But without anger
Slip away
You know we’ve drifted
Is this the sundering?
You still know my mind
Better than I do myself
Goodbye, goodnight
All these words in my eyes
Goodnight, goodbye
Tomorrow will dry the tears
[October 08]
Lament for the Stars
I mourn for the stars thrown so far away
And the song of the sinking sea
For the lands of the West fading away
And for the pain that is yet to come
Underneath the blood-red sun
Come the cries of battle
Swords swing on the plains
Gold and green before the stain
In the middle of the river is a rock
And a girl sits quietly on it
Sometimes a moment is a lifetime
And everything sings in her golden-brown eyes
Deep beneath the living earth
Hide the broken weary armies
Sleeping in the caverns
Stumbling through the darkness
I sing for the lands lost depths below
And I soar above their shadows
For the mystery and the longing
And the sunbeams streaming down
Above the clouds runs the wind
Flying fast and free
I stood high on the mountain peak
Letting it carry me
[7.19.09]
Blood
Que es sangre?
The words dance in my heart
What is blood after all?
Nothing, everything
Who are my mother and brothers and sisters?
The ones who have been chosen
But without Your blood
Covering me
I’d have no hope at all
Nor could I belong to you
What is blood after all?
Red life, pouring from open veins
Trying to find a way to let go of all the pain
And without the shedding of blood
There can be no forgiveness of sins
Knowing that my own blood
Could never suffice
Draining every drop
Would never be enough
Even for myself
Shamed and broken, I lay at the feet of my King
Then feel His hand raising me
As His blood streams over me
And I learn that’s what You see
When You look at me
What is blood after all?
My own is nothing
But Yours is everything
Redeeming all of ours
All the pain
All the life
Blood bought
[This had a lot of different sources. Conversations with Jordan, a sermon by Titus, Ted Dekker's Circle Trilogy, Plumb's song Cut... written at RP Family Camp.]