speaking truth in loveliness
(That really is all.:))
peace…
not an absence of pain or a
life full of sunbeams and clear
moonlit nights…
but a confidence that,
though the storms only swell,
my hand is in Yours…
with my soul it is well.
Photo by Zoltan Tasi on Unsplash
Hello, friends!
Today’s poem is actually from a few years ago…but I wanted to dig it out of the depths of the blog because I really enjoy the rhythm and the message it holds. Hope you enjoy!
two natures fight within me,
clawing for complete control
and the evil one is winning –
its dark reign I can’t o’erthrow,
for its grasp about my mind
has left an imprint stiff as stone,
and its chains about my heart
into my flesh o’er time have grown.
and I can’t break from these shackles
that hold all my habits tight,
for the rust of time has locked them
and I cry into the night
as I see the one You crafted
to be swift and strong for You
melted to the mess I am –
how could my heart be so untrue?
yet the dawn is breaking now,
and in the early morning rays
I see the promise of the future
and new mercies with new days.
and I see the power of Calvary
making chains and shackles null
as Your faithfulness transforms me
and my shell falls, dead and dull
as new life is pulsing through me –
though I’ve stumbled and I’ve failed,
still You tell me that renewal
is one humble step away.
Photo by Federico Respini on Unsplash
Hello, friends!
I dug out some of my old poetry the other day and found so many poems I’d forgotten…I touched one up and decided to share it with you here. I hope it blesses you like it did me.❤
oh, My child…
I see the pain in the way
you hold your head so high –
stiff, afraid of being weak,
vulnerable, for you feel that
another scar would be a thousand too many.
I see you, love,
when you’ve crawled to a secret place
to let out the grief
when the sobs rise without bidding,
and you trap the muffled wails deep in your throat.
even when you weep, you’re guarded…
but I see you.
I want you to know that
you can stop tracing the scars,
running your fingers through the pains in your past
as if they were pearls.
I want you to look up…
see Me, love.
aren’t I more to you than your broken dreams?
will you risk it all just to sail with Me?
I need you to trust Me when I say
this does not need to be your last chapter.
I promise…one day you will smile again
without brushing the ghost of this sorrow.
I’m wanting to read some more cozy poetry this autumn…do you have any favorite poets/collections you would recommend? Please drop any ideas in the comments!
Stay the course!
❤ Laurel
Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash
Hello, friends!
I’ve been hosting a poetry challenge over on Instagram with a dear friend…and man, challenge is the word for it! Some days it’s felt like pulling teeth to have to write another poem, but it’s stretched my creativity and given me some poems that I actually kind of love. Here are a few of them…
cinnamon
as the world slows down in
the north wind’s breath of
cinnamon and dust,
may my words fall short
and my life sing love
in each cozy autumn dawn.
sweater-weather
the wind bites hard,
swirling down from the north and
howling as it brings
a smattering of dry leaves and gravel dust.
I curl my arms around myself,
tucking reddened fingers into the sleeves of
my pilling sweater,
butting hard against the biting wind as
I walk a little slower.
(how delightful it is
to fight hard against something and
know that you’re stronger…)
mysteries
why the sky still blushes beauty at
the dawn on battlefields
why most of us have failed to
keep on crying at the headlines
why we say “you’ve got a lifetime yet”
when some girls die at 21
why we fight so hard for riches
we can’t take beyond the grave
Do you have a favorite of the three? If you’d love to be challenged yourself to write some more poetry, I’d love it if you would join the challenge!
Stay the course!
❤ Laurel
Photo by Kat von Wood on Unsplash
Hello, friends! I’m finally returning with one of my favorite poems from this summer…
Father, calm this raging soul…
speak peace above the whitecaps
lashing out upon the teeming shores.
hold fast this wandering heart;
bind it to Thy will in love, for
I’m tired
of telling myself the lie that
I’d be better off if only…
cut those bitter words off at the source:
this raging soul.
oh, speak peace above the whitecaps…
help me love the teeming shores.
Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash
the sun slips behind a glowing horizon,
weary of casting light upon
the wicked deeds of man.
perhaps…
in the morning…
but over and over
the sun rises and sets
on a world that crowns wickedness
and spits in the face of righteousness.
one day…
I know…
a greater Son will rise and
fall no more,
casting light on a throng of faithful men
who treasured the light of this Son
while others basked only in the glory of
the one that slips now beneath a glowing horizon.
Will I ever stop writing poetry that a.) contains sunset imagery, and b.) looks forward to eternity?
I think not.
❤ Laurel
Hello, friends!
Today I’ve got a poem for you inspired by some pretty awesome characters from literature…
I’m Lucy in the wardrobe,
Bilbo at his door,
Mary at the garden’s edge,
Jo longing for New York…
afraid to leave behind the world
and life I’ve always known,
afraid to lead a different life
than what this land has known…
but what songs will not be sung,
and what tales will not be told
if I venture not outside my door
to burgle dragons’ gold?
Fun fact: this poem stars in my latest poetry book, Clarion Hope!
What are some of your favorite classics, and who are some of your favorite characters from those books?
❤ Laurel
Three days to go!!
I let go
any rights I think I have to
resolution.
weeping,
I lay broken, untold stories
in Your hands,
Your promises of better tales
held close against
my racing heart.
I listen,
my ear pressed against
this shattered earth,
rumblings of hope
pulsing strong deep below.
I smile to know
there is more than meets the eye.
This poem comes from the second section of Clarion Hope: recovering Eden. Quite possibly my favorite section, it really hits on what Paul expresses in Romans 8 — “…the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now…even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.”
We see the brokenness of a sin-riddled world and we weep. Yet in the middle of that, we recognize that redemption is coming…that the perfect fellowship of Eden will one day be restored because of Christ’s perfect sacrifice.
Can you see why I titled it Clarion Hope?:)
If this sounds like something you’d like to have in poetry form, here’s the preorder link!
❤ Laurel
And so begins the countdown to Clarion Hope’s release day!
I’m going to be sharing a post a day until release day, so either buckle up or shut down your computer, depending on how you feel about Clarion Hope spam. XD
I wanted to kick it off by sharing a poem that comes from the first section of Clarion Hope.
The first section is titled fading scars, and it captures the emotions that fluctuate as we find ourselves to be broken people in need of healing…falling at the feet of the Healer. Regret, despair, gratitude, relinquishment…this section has it all.
Here’s one of my favorite poems from that first section.✨
ghosts
etch the tale in silver: how
we’ll break the chains of the past asunder,
and kindle a fire of
paper-thin ghosts
that once proudly bore our faces…
(for that’s you and me no longer.)
If you resonated with the themes of fading scars or enjoyed ghosts, you may want to get your hands on a copy of Clarion Hope. If you order today, it just may arrive in time for you to read it on release day!
If you’d like you can order your copy here. ✨
Stay the course!
❤ Laurel
Every now and then I write a poem that I just want to read over and over again. This is one of those poems.
they told me love lets go,
and I replied, “it can’t be so”,
for to love is to show the loved
how much you care…
how much you need them there.
but slowly I am learning…
love smiles and waves
as the loved one walks away
on a path marked “God’s clear calling”.
the songs were wrong –
love doesn’t long
for eternal nearness only…
love goes deeper
farther
wider…
longs for the good of the loved
even when the good of the loved is
goodbye.
they told me love lets go…
and I folded empty hands
and I replied,
“yes, it is so.”
Photo by Marc-Olivier Jodoin on Unsplash
Laurel Luehmann 