writing in the margins
so much more to say
images collide
cold and cloudy day
filling up the pages
lost amidst the line
start where ended
fretful is my mind
notes are merging
losing the details
misty is the matter
flattened now my scales
Alzheimer’s is a debilitating disease for the elderly. People working in the filed have found that music helps retain some connections to life’s memories.
meld rosewood and sinew to one
harp knowing each caress
stroke fire into song
fingers, loving press
practice lasting long
night melody persists
moonlit arias never gone
pause for noted rest
crescendo dance with dawn
musician and instrument one
***
Tension in the strings
notes crash against the shore
concentric circles
*
Today’s prompt at Poet’s United is Marriage. How many know of the beauty (and tension) of marriage?
“Let there be spaces in your togetherness, And let the winds of the heavens dance between you. Love one another but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls. Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup. Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf. Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone, Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music. Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping. For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts. And stand together, yet not too near together: For the pillars of the temple stand apart, And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.”
― Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
Deep within my soul
there flows a faithful song
it started as a child
like a friend it tagged along
Whispers in the leaves
and echoes in my head
lingers in heart’s dreams
where daily it was fed
Growing like the falls
music’s river rushes on
deep within my soul
there flows a faithful song
stopped midstream
notes drown out the chaos
brass makes waves
*
the musical challenge
merge voices into one
I weave with a blue thread
you weave with a red
the result is wild purple
the moment pulls at you
when perfect harmony meets
anticipation grew
the moment hot with fury
the crowd, none can speak
notes soar for a moment
rise are at their peak
there is in that moment
wave’s untapped energy
voices in perfect satisfaction
base clef synergy
For any of you who have been musicians there is that bubble that you are in when the baton is raised – the world is suspended and you the musician have this magical power for one endless moment..
This poem is written for Poets United the prompt for the week is Power.
shaded by blossoms
it is like song in a play
resting on a journey
© Basho (Tr. Jane Reichhold)
rays burst in music
blossoms lite on sleepy lashes
spring notes are pink
The prompt from Carpe Diem Haiku Kai is Shaded by Blossoms
a season past where tears formed streams
cherry blossoms now burst in spring
where lightening seared a rift in oak
the vine is mending a path of hope
the winter offered barren cold
there’s feasting in our forest I’m told
voices seek two hearts to mend
harmonic tones a heavenly blend
dawn’s release of sun to sky
a tear emerges from my eye
all the words that will ever be
cannot express nature’s beauty
The poet’s united prompt for the day is Enlightenment. How are you enlightened?
(If you click the dove, she looks up close and personal)
This week at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai, Kristjaan is again challenging our writing with another Haiku lesson:
“Maybe this episode had to be our first Haiku Writing Techniques episode, because this week it’s all about one of the basic writing techniques of haiku, the surprise, that one moment as long as the sound of a pebble thrown into water. That moment we have to catch in three lines, three lines which have to tell the whole story of that one moment, that surprise. That one moment is the essence of haiku. It’s an impression caught in three lines and (mostly) seventeen syllables.”
rapture’s crescendo
one tear of understanding
momentary captive
Please enjoy the creative work by fellow haiku poets at Carpe Diem Haiku Kai.
Heart of a Poet ~ Eyes of an Artist
For Rascals, and Failures, Clumsy Disciples, the Addicted, and the Physically and Mentally Ill Believer
"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." (Romans 12:2)
Atomic Stories and Lovecraftian Writings.
A Word Press Blog Which Will Make You Smile
Author of suspense novels Search For Maylee, Aggravated Momentum, New Age Lamians, and a medley of short story anthologies.
The mindset in postmodernism is that objective truth does not exist. But in post-truth, the person believes that objective truth exists, but they subordinate truth to their preferences, or their comfort. In other words, one doesn’t care that truth exists or what the truth is if it doesn’t line up with one’s preferences. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" - George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. Faith in Jesus Christ is our response to God's elective purpose in our life. These two truths--God's initiative and man's response--co-exist throughout the Bible. The gospel is "the message of truth" because truth is its predominant characteristic. Salvation was conceived by the God of truth (Ps. 31:5); purchased by the Son, who is the truth (John 14:6); and is applied by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). To know it is to know the truth that sets men free (John 8:32). Believers are people of the truth (John 18:37), who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and who obey the Word of truth (John 17:17). People have rejected, neglected, redefined, and opposed God’s truth for centuries. Some cynically deny that truth even exists or that it can be known by men (John 18:38). Others foolishly think that denying truth will somehow make it go away. Truth determines the validity of one's belief. Believing a lie doesn't make it true. Conversely, failing to believe the truth doesn't make it a lie. The gospel is true because Jesus is true, not simply because Christians believe in Him. His resurrection proved the truth of His claims and constitutes the objective basis of our faith (Rom. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:3). Truth is our protection and strength (Eph. 6:14). Throughout history, people have tried everything imaginable to gain favor with God. Most turn to religion, but religion apart from Christ is merely a satanic counterfeit of the truth. At the heart of every false religion is the notion that man can come to God by any means he chooses--by meditating, doing good deeds, and so on. But Scripture says, "There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). That name is Jesus Christ, and we come to Him by confessing and repenting of our sin, trusting in His atoning death on the cross, and affirming His bodily resurrection from the grave (cf. Rom. 10:9-10). There is no other way to God. False religious leaders and teachers talk much about God’s love, but not His wrath and holiness; much about how deprived of good things people are, but not about their depravity; much about God’s universal fatherhood toward everyone, but not much about his unique fatherhood toward all who believe in His Son; much about what God wants to give to us, but nothing about the necessity of obedience to Him; much about health and happiness, but nothing about holiness and sacrifice. Their message is full of gaps, the greatest of which leaves out a biblical worldview of the saving gospel and replaces it with the worldview of postmodernism with its dominant ethical system of relativism. The Bible describes mankind in the end times: “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Spiritual answers cannot be deduced by human reason alone (1 Cor. 2:14). It’s not that spiritual truth is irrational or illogical, but that human wisdom is defective, because it’s tainted by man’s sinfulness, and unable to perceive the things of God. That is why the Bible is so important. It gives us the answers we can’t find on our own. It is God’s Word to mankind. Scripture is divinely revealed truth that fills the vacuum of spiritual ignorance in all of us. Post-truth is the word of the year for 2016 and also the philosophy of the day, According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. In a “post-truth” world, people make choices based on emotion and experience rather than objective fact. So in a post-truth world, truth is irrelevant. What exactly is a post-truth culture? It’s a culture where truth is no longer an objective reality. It has become subjective. It’s what’s true for me—my beliefs, my opinions, determine my truth. So in our post-truth culture, man determines truth. Man makes himself the ultimate authority. This starting point, which rejects God’s Word and the idea of moral absolutes, makes truth subjective. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Christianity is grounded in objective truth. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Objective truth exists because we have God’s Word. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Thy word is truth” (John 17:17), and Paul and James describe the Bible as “the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:18). The Psalmist says, “The entirety of your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). Jesus Himself said, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). When Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6), He wasn’t expressing His personal belief or opinion. He was speaking the truth, a fundamental reality that doesn’t change from person to person. It doesn’t matter if our culture thinks all roads lead to God. The truth of the matter is “no one comes to the Father but by [Jesus].” This blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." - George Orwell
a Devotional Blog by Roy McMillan
Ellen Grace Olinger
Sharing self help tips/advice/blogs on how to make your life beautifully positive!
Destination Dreams
All about the sorts of places we like to explore
Your second chance to be creative. .
publishing in just the right places
Teaching children the Word of God through fun and creative crafts.
A Space for Practicing Poets
Join us here for a wide-ranging and impressive array of writing
WITH BISHOP JULIUS OKARIKE MINISTRIES, ASSEMBLIES OF CHIRIST MISSION INT'L
Gathering up life's lessons.
