Poetry – Page 3 – Laurel Luehmann

topsy-turvy year – a poem

January 8, 2024by Laurel Luehmann5 Comments

Hello, friends!

I shared this poem on Instagram last month and still really appreciate it…so I thought I’d share it here, too.:) I hope you enjoy!

at the end of this topsy-turvy year, I find myself

crumpled, wrapping the pages of truth around my shaking body as

I brace myself for

one more disappointment,

one more slaughtered dream,

one more “no, not yet…”

and I’m afraid.

I’m afraid of crumbling

beneath the weight of all that’s missing.

why, God?

I know the words are foolish, but

I voice them with Habbakkuk,

sobbing at the feet of Christ as

I wait for His answer,

for I know that He is

good,

never late,

ever-seeing.

He has not forgotten me and my bruised heart.

I am only blinded…

blinded to the mercy of this day,

blinded to the wisdom of this way.

oh, my Lover, open my eyes so that I may see

the beauty You’ve unfurled before me!

bandage this heart and carry it along,

filling it with the strength to

love the unloved,

bind up the wounded,

carry the weary

just as You have done for me, for

even when this heart is broken, it is still

the hands and feet of Christ.

even if I’m limping, You still want my all.

oh, give me strength for today

just as You hold out bright hope for tomorrow.

Poetry

walk with me – a poem

December 11, 2023by Laurel Luehmann2 Comments

Hello, friends!

I wrote this poem after reading Psalm 103, specifically verse 14. I guess this is my shoutout across the centuries to David.:)

walk with me, Father, for

I don’t know well this road I’m on.

You alone know how many times I’ve begged

for deportation,

for transplant,

for rescue…from what?

a rescue from Your will?

You know my frame, my Builder.

You know that this atmosphere

should have crushed me long ago…and yet…

Your breath in my gasping lungs is

the only oxygen I need to survive

in this world that’s so foreign to

this blood-washed soul…

so I plead,

not for rescue,

nor for transplant,

nor for deportation, but for

more of You within me.

melt my inward dross with Your holy flame,

and weld this identity to Your name until

I know

I am nothing without You,

and all that I need is within You.

Poetry

counting stars – a poem

November 27, 2023by Laurel Luehmann2 Comments

Hello, friends!

I wrote this poem several months ago as my brother and I were teaching through Genesis in Sunday School. The account of Abraham’s complete trust in God’s ability and commitment to keep His promises struck me so much that I wrote a poem about it.:) This one is based in Genesis 15.

my Shield and

my exceedingly great Reward…

I see no way from here to

what You have promised.

I ask for answers, and

You hold out the impossible,

asking only that

I count stars like a child…

that I wait in quiet trust,

believing the impossible as easily as

a child counting stars.

Music, Poetry

the dark before the dawn – a tiny collection of longing and hope

October 30, 2023by Laurel Luehmann6 Comments

Hello, friends!

Sometimes it can feel as if the darkness in the world and within our flawed natures is so weighty, and nearly too heavy to bear. The shorter days and the gloomy skies can exacerbate the soul-weariness, and so I wanted to share with you some of my favorite lyrics/poems/quotes that acknowledge the ache and frustration without glossing it over, and yet point to the light so tangibly, giving an extra dose of courage to keep on standing against the darkness! I hope they can bless you as much as they’ve encouraged me. ❤

I’ve been waiting for the sun
to come blazing up out of the night like a bullet from a gun
till every shadow is scattered, every dragon’s on the run
oh, I believe, I believe that the light is gonna come…
from “The dark before the dawn” by Andrew peterson

send out the light

please

let it pierce this

darkness shrouding my soul

don’t let me sit here

all alone

memories haunting me

“could have been”s taunting me

pulling me

deeper and

deeper into

the darkest parts of myself

send out the light

please

don’t leave me here

all alone

– poem xix from my poetry collection, This Will Not Last

…you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
1 peter 2:9-10

and she knew that this pain –

so deep,

so ravaging,

so unpredictable in its

brutal attacks,

would not last forever.

that its strength would only

strengthen her

if only she would let Him

carry her through

those hardest nights…

…and she knew that He would.

poem xxi from my poetry collection This Will Not Last

may you find Hope somewhere unexpected;
may the Thing you’re dreading fade like mist & leave something Beautiful in its place;
may your heart beat again;
may you get warm in places that have been cold for far too long;
may you shift your eyes from the perils before you & remember all the fair things you’ve
seen,
heard,
tasted,
touched,
& made;

may Christ reach into the dusty corners of your soul,
clear out the cobwebs,
blow out the fog,
open the shutters,
& let in His healing light.
Tabby RH

with You, I can see beyond this desert –

on Your shoulders,

I see hope dancing on the horizon,

the truth that

there is more than this suffering…

and this pain will turn to gold

in the furnaces of time.

“furnaces” from my poetry collection Clarion Hope

Do you have any favorite songs/poems/Scriptures/quotes you turn to when you need an extra dose of courage? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

Stay the course!

❤ Laurel

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you purchase something through one of the links I share in this post, I receive a small commission…at no extra cost to you.:)

Poetry

injustice – a poem

October 23, 2023October 21, 2023by Laurel Luehmann3 Comments

I saw You in the lilies

and I saw You in the waves,

and I saw You in the smile that

stretched across my sister’s face,

but I can’t find You in the bloodstains;

I can’t feel You through the scars…

and I remember that You wore them both

to heal this aching heart.

This is the slightly revised version of the poem I shared last Friday on Instagram. I needed this reminder, and I hope it can bless you, too! Brokenness has never been the end of God’s story. ❤

Poetry

just a little poem about peace

October 16, 2023by Laurel Luehmann4 Comments

(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

Poetry

one humble step away – a poem

October 9, 2023by Laurel Luehmann6 Comments

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

Poetry

a poem from the archives (a.k.a. last year)

September 25, 2023by Laurel Luehmann7 Comments

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

Uncategorized

some more autumn-inspired poetry (pt. 2)

September 18, 2023by Laurel Luehmann8 Comments

Hello, friends! Here are a few more little poems that I wrote this week…hope you enjoy! ❤

haunted

my rearview mirror

is covered in dust because

I won’t live haunted.

tea

like the tea she loved,

steeped in boiling water she

only grew stronger.

shadows

don’t let the shadows win…

they dance across my path and

try to smother me in darkness.

(oh, why am I so weak??)

Father, I don’t have the strength

(or light) within this heaving chest

to let the light shine brighter than

the fear they throw around me.

Father, p l e a s e

dispel this night

and hold me tight

within the light.

Stay the course!

❤ Laurel

Photo by Taylor Wright on Unsplash

Poetry

some autumn-inspired poetry (pt. 1)

September 11, 2023by Laurel Luehmann6 Comments

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.