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Alyssa Underwood Jul 2017
The joyful heart is the buoyant heart—
empowered to rise above its circumstances,
unweighted, unburdened, unbound,
tied only to that which would lift it higher,
untethered from anything which would
pull it down, pull it under or suffocate it.

It's the free heart, quiet and at rest
yet jubilant and uncontained,
the celebrating heart, the praising heart,
the thankful heart, the heart set on pilgrimage,
bent on adventure, journey and romance.

All the while it's a waiting heart
because it's a yielded, led heart—
a heart which doesn't run ahead of the LORD
but willingly, quickly to the LORD—
a heart that though eagerly anticipating each
twisting turn, next horizon and changing path
keeps its eyes fixed not on the scenery
but forever on the Shepherd
because it's a heart persuaded
that He alone is the Great Reward
for which it has always been looking.

True joy is only ours when we find an endless
source of satisfaction, and of these I know only One!
The secret to all joy is to crave Him above all else.
The joyful heart is the one addicted fully to Him,
desperate for Him to the expense of all else,
willing to sacrifice everything to have that craving satisfied.

Joy and idols, I have learned,
do not easily reside together in the same heart.
So if I find that joy is chased away
the most likely culprits are my own desires.
What am I wanting more than Jesus?
For if intimacy with Him is the supreme goal of my life
then nothing can arise which I'm not enabled to bear with joy.
There is, I suppose, nothing so reliable as suffering and loss
to expose all of the hidden idols within me.

It's surely those who have suffered the greatest
and most frequent losses for Christ who are also
most capable of knowing the deepest and most abiding joy.
For it's when we've been stripped bare of everything else
that we begin to know for certain that our joy is based
not on the temporary blessings of our circumstances
but only on the presence of the Eternal Blesser Himself.

Sometimes He offers to us all that is in His right hand,
but for any with eyes truly opened to see
the most precious of times may be those
when He offers to us only the intimacy of His right hand.

Rivers of sadness can open up
into wide gulfs of endless delight and
are often the very courses needed to carry us there.
When all is lost, we find to our amazement
that, even so, we still have ALL
and no one can rob us of it.
When He takes everything from us
He proves Himself to be EVERYTHING to us.
~~~

"For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."
~ Philippians 1:21

"I want you to know how hard I am contending
for you...and for all who have not met me personally.
My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart
and united in love, so that they may have the full riches
of complete understanding, in order that they may know
the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge."
~ Colossians 2:1-3

"I say to the LORD, 'You are my Lord;
    apart from You I have no good thing.'...
Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more...
    LORD, You alone are my portion and my cup;
    You make my lot secure...
I will praise the LORD, who counsels me;
    even at night my heart instructs me.
I keep my eyes always on the LORD.
    With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
    my body also will rest secure...
You make known to me the path of life;
    You will fill me with joy in Your presence,
    with eternal pleasures at Your right hand."
~ Psalm 16:2,4a-5,7-9,11

"Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign LORD is my strength;
    He makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    He enables me to tread on the heights."
~ Habakkuk 3:17-19

"How lovely is Your dwelling place,
     O LORD Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
    for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
    for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
    and the swallow a nest for herself,
    where she may have her young—
a place near Your altar,
     O LORD Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in Your house;
    they are ever praising You.
Blessed are those whose strength is in You,
    whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
    they make it a place of springs;
    the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
    till each appears before God in Zion."
~ Psalm 84:1-7

~~~
Andre Baez Nov 2013
Beautiful soul
The carrier of hardships

You are the spawn
Of proud ancestry

The source of awe
The muse for my desire

Your dark skin
Is my heart's awakening

Yet you are not for me

You are not for me

You are not for me

Distance remains a consistent
Impediment to my sacrilege
Travesty of a face of empathy
Sadly I'm less than eyes can see

Yet more beneath is left to greet
My ears hear psalms mourning me
Tears leak upon my pale cheeks
Speeches are given casually

Venom spews through the loose
Vortexes of speaker-box booths
The black hole that once controlled
My inner intuitions and sold soul

The owner being you in truth
Sweetly scented lullabies shoo
Away doubtful tunes in bloom
The replacements are couth sleuths

Meetings seldom meet fruition
Meat meets my mouth in suspicion
Meaning I'm once again a victim
Meandering through prisms

Restaurant owners are slower
To greet me at the doorway
Knowing fulfillment of my order
Won't require a table for more

Not for the kind of man who
Stands and is hardly understood
Also seemingly oblivious to who
Is true and reluctant to face proof

That you are not for me

You are not for me

You are not for me

Beautiful girl
You are the grains

Beautiful girlfriend  
You are the coastline

Beautiful woman
You are the ocean

Beautiful wife
You are the Earth in whole  

Yet you are not for me

You are not for me

You are not for me

The tremors
The whispers
The night terrors
The torch bearers
The dark caresser
The static selector
The burnt dresser
The hell blesser

The black lipstick wearer

You are for me.
Floris Nov 2014
Je suis né ici, je suis un enfant de l'héraut
Un enfant de france et un enfant du monde.
Mais je ne suis plus un enfant,
Alors qui suis-je vraiment?
Je suis fils de mes parents,
Le fils d'une tragédie, le fils de l'eau et le frère d'un ange.
Mais je suis en vie,
Je suis le fils du terroir et de la pluie,
Des animaux et des plantes qui m'ont nourris
Mais le temps est passé et j'ai grandi,
Alors qui suis-je aujourd'hui?
Je suis un homme, de taille moyenne,
Avec une tête pleine de questions,
Avec une bouche qui souri souvent,
Et des yeux qui pleurent presque autant,
Parce qu'on m'a appris a avoir des sentiments,
Et a savoir être faible autant qu’être fort,
A partager toutes mes idées,
Et ne chercher que la vérité.
Je suis un élève du doute,
Et aujourd’hui plus que jamais,
Je me demande où mes pensées vont m'emmener.
On m'a enseigné l'harmonie et gentillesse,
Mais comment ne jamais blesser?
Comment se faire des amis
Sans se faire autant d'ennemis?
Quel que soit ce que je suis,
Quels que soient mes choix,
Quelqu'un les appelleras erreurs
Et me haïra pour ça.
Mais on m'a aussi dit que les choix ne sont pas des erreurs.
Alors qui suis-je? Je suis moi.
Je forge mon petit bout de miroir, et je l’appellerais vérité.
Et si quelqu'un viens me le reprocher,
Je lui dirais: "désolé,
Mais j'ai dû faire un choix."
This is a poem about me, about my origins, so it's written in my mothertongue. Sorry for those who won't understand it.
Devon Baker Apr 2013
gonna speak the words
that quake the christian
that crucify the jew,
it’s gonna bar the torah,
build bridges upon the hindu,
god and great power,
war of mortal
where is your father,
your creator,
mother,
blesser,
such sub-deity,
such inferior,
man manifests God,
constructs the divinity
to self satisfy,
I speak no lie,
speak no truth,
just the way
of our weakness,
just another
lost boy conveying,
just a repetition
rerunning,
solving nothing,
just an artist
poetic
playing out
the crumbs of
ideas long lost
and reborn,
living on
reincarnated
everliving,
just a philosopher
readvising,
just god in
meek
human
skin,
just no one,
another voice,
another name,
I’m just you,
and we are we
Invocation May 2014
Words
wantlikejustfeelwayhandknowpaintimeworldlovenightthinkalrig­htstopgoingwon'titchheartfasterlongeatgoodbreathingsmokedarklivin­gsoulwomensayokayrunohspacecoldsleepcloseblacktattoomushroomsself­truthpreferheavylostlongertodayfeedlatedrugs mean days hunger fine weight hair drawn teacher shaking promise bed feeling leave times spinning keeps songs *** abyss cares terrible tried bring bad voice laughter hurt gave guess apathy you've blood skin life left aware little away they're strength things hate doesn't whiskey pulsing ended breath returned men eyes inch turn hold kiss lips pull look joe control warming blame footsteps stuffed shroud shows horizons moral engulf someday understand stops blushing hush decide weapon describing pattern lover solace confident carefree addicted expect lucid absent appeal laying cleaning banished screaming honest diligent scrape disillusioned loneliness splitting stitch grief closer hug science animals smoking collars bud guilt rhythm steals company offered accepting **** bottles lend weather birthday exists ignored cooking admire tough darling mere steal knife affection lap wayside silently passes vision uncertainty guilty vivid bonfires recall hated instinct disaster madness hungry lyrics escape pains ******* necklace halt routines adopt invaded evolved spaghetti antisocial stash proximity manifestation vying comics eyeliner stashed flannels inked successfully batman spiderman faceless vibrato attentions skylines tattoos joker legion sanguine teetering unrequited complications artwork auras logos brother's shakira all-encompassing can- michelle's 15 18th m83 mcr dissmisser's blesser's terribleaspect voidof nobody's soul's day's fellers skewing fran dumbed underdogs gaming skype unshowered she's aren't what's they'll let's sinartra coagulate swallowing ammunition heartbeat ideas affirmation beard tempo brink slows gloat deer lace studded require throbs believes spectrum detached crescendos cheer favor foundations tugging forgiving ablaze gentlemen extended falseness convinced beasts normality saturday
*******
Brother Jimmy Aug 2015
+++



Tongue, curser, kisser, blesser,
Hold thyself firm and still,
Enough! Insulter, and confessor,
For cruel and bitter you can be,
Away with thee, arrogant professor,
Professing truths you think you see,
Fumbling clod, ye ought be acquiescer


+++
N'aimez plus tant, Phylis, à vous voir adorée :
Le plus ardent amour n'a pas grande durée ;
Les nœuds les plus serrés sont le plus tôt rompus ;
A force d'aimer trop, souvent on n'aime plus,
Et ces liens si forts ont des lois si sévères
Que toutes leurs douceurs en deviennent amères.

Je sais qu'il vous est doux d'asservir tous nos soins :
Mais qui se donne entier n'en exige pas moins ;
Sans réserve il se rend, sans réserve il se livre,
Hors de votre présence il doute s'il peut vivre :
Mais il veut la pareille, et son attachement
Prend compte de chaque heure et de chaque moment.
C'est un esclave fier qui veut régler son maître,
Un censeur complaisant qui cherche à trop connaître,
Un tyran déguisé qui s'attache à vos pas,
Un dangereux Argus qui voit ce qui n'est pas ;
Sans cesse il importune, et sans cesse il assiège,
Importun par devoir, fâcheux par privilège,
Ardent à vous servir jusqu'à vous en lasser,
Mais au reste un peu tendre et facile à blesser.
Le plus léger chagrin d'une humeur inégale,
Le moindre égarement d'un mauvais intervalle,
Un sourire par mégarde à ses yeux dérobé,
Un coup d'œil par hasard sur un autre tombé,
Le plus faible dehors de cette complaisance
Que se permet pour tous la même indifférence ;
Tout cela fait pour lui de grands crimes d'état ;
Et plus l'amour est fort, plus il est délicat.
Vous avez vu, Phylis, comme il brise sa chaîne
Sitôt qu'auprès de vous quelque chose le gêne ;
Et comme vos bontés ne sont qu'un faible appui
Contre un murmure sourd qui s'épand jusqu'à lui.
Que ce soit vérité, que ce soit calomnie,
Pour vous voir en coupable il suffit qu'on le dit ;
Et lorsqu'une imposture a quelque fondement
Sur un peu d'imprudence, ou sur trop d'enjouement,
Tout ce qu'il sait de vous et de votre innocence
N'ose le révolter contre cette apparence,
Et souffre qu'elle expose à cent fausses clartés
Votre humeur sociable et vos civilités.
Sa raison au dedans vous fait en vain justice,
Sa raison au dehors respecte son caprice ;
La peur de sembler dupe aux yeux de quelques fous
Etouffe cette voix qui parle trop pour vous.
La part qu'il prend sur lui de votre renommée
Forme un sombre dépit de vous avoir aimée ;
Et, comme il n'est plus temps d'en faire un désaveu,
Il fait gloire partout d'éteindre un si beau feu :
Du moins s'il ne l'éteint, il l'empêche de luire,
Et brave le pouvoir qu'il ne saurait détruire.

Voilà ce que produit le don de trop charmer.
Pour garder vos amants faites-vous moins aimer ;
Un amour médiocre est souvent plus traitable :
Mais pourriez-vous, Phylis, vous rendre moins aimable ?
Pensez-y, je vous prie, et n'oubliez jamais,
Quand on vous aimera, que l'amour est doux ; mais...
The North Star Feb 2021
Pourquoi cet amour n'est-il pas facile Pourquoi est-ce que quand l'amour est là, ce n'est pas facile

Pourquoi cette douleur vient-elle facilement Et la douleur est un fruit défendu

Pourquoi est-ce que ce qui n'est pas pour nous, nous attire le plus Pourquoi est-il si difficile de partir Encore plus difficile de rester

Pourquoi ai-je peur de te blesser Pourquoi ai-je besoin de te blesser
pour moi
Syzygy May 2016
"On ne voit bien qu'avec le cœur."*
Mais, à mon avis, quand j'ai vu quelquechose avec mon cœur,
Quand j'ai décidé
ou j'ai entendu
Les choses devinnent malheureux pour moi.
Pourquoi je choisirais quelquechose
ou quelqu'un
que voulait me blesser?
my grammar's probably really bad whoopsy daisy
Invocation Apr 2014
Be confident. Know that now is only a moment, and that if today is as bad as it gets, understand that by tomorrow, today will have ended. Be gracious. Accept each extended hand offered, to pull you back from the somewhere you cannot escape. Be diligent. Scrape the gray sky clean. Realize every dark cloud is a smoke screen meant to blind us from the truth, and the truth is whether we see them or not - the sun and moon are still there and always there is light. Be forthright. Despite your instinct to say "it's alright, I'm okay" - be honest. Say how you feel without fear or guilt, without remorse or complexity. Be lucid in your explanation, be sterling in your oppose. If you think for one second no one knows what you've been going through; be accepting of the fact that you are wrong, that the long drawn and heavy breaths of despair have at times been felt by everyone - that pain is part of the human condition and that alone makes you a legion. We hungry underdogs, we risers with dawn, we dissmisser's of odds, we blesser's of on – we will station ourselves to the calm. We will hold ourselves to the steady, be ready player one. Life is going to come at you armed with hard times and tough choices, your voice is your weapon, your thoughts ammunition – there are no free extra men, be aware that as the instant now passes, it exists now as then.
Be forgiving. Living with the burden of anger, is not living. Giving your focus to wrath will leave your entire self absent of what you need. Love and hate are beasts and the one that grows is the one you feed.
My friend Tim wrote this.
Feedback is welcome
g clair Sep 2013
through Your eyes
I am magnified
through Your eyes
all the best and all the worst
and in between
and in the quiet places waiting
You could hear me when I cried
in the darkest times relating
understanding what's inside

through Your eyes
every dark and desperate move
and all the lies
and all the places I've been in
though a sin
but you're a real and present savior
and blesser of my sneeze
and so here I am Lord, once again
asking on my knees

Through your eyes
just see me through this storm
and be my guide,
I can't really see through
to the other side
only you,
You know currents
and the depth of every tide
and you promised to be with me
and i know you've never ever lied

and in the smallest seed of faith
you see the tree it will become
you're making something out of nothing
chose the lowly and the ***
and if my trusting you
is foolish
than I'd rather be that too
than pretend I'm strong and wise enough
to make it without you.

and then when my little faith is tested
when I'm down here in the deep
when it's getting late
and I can't wait
you help me get to sleep.
and when I fall down you are with me
like you fell down with that cross
and you lift the burden
from my back
and help me with the sauce
and with the words all wrong
you show me
just how to wrap it up
and you meet all my needs
bring me right through the weeds
Dear God that I'll see
through your eyes.
Il est deux Amitiés comme il est deux Amours.
L'une ressemble à l'imprudence ;
Faite pour l'âge heureux dont elle a l'ignorance,
C'est une enfant qui rit toujours.
Bruyante, naïve, légère,
Elle éclate en transports joyeux.
Aux préjugés du monde indocile, étrangère,
Elle confond les rangs et folâtre avec eux.
L'instinct du cœur est sa science,
Et son guide est la confiance.
L'enfance ne sait point haïr ;
Elle ignore qu'on peut trahir.
Si l'ennui dans ses yeux (on l'éprouve à tout âge)
Fait rouler quelques pleurs,
L'Amitié les arrête, et couvre ce nuage
D'un nuage de fleurs.
On la voit s'élancer près de l'enfant qu'elle aime,
Caresser la douleur sans la comprendre encor,
Lui jeter des bouquets moins riants qu'elle-même,
L'obliger à la fuite et reprendre l'essor.

C'est elle, ô ma première amie !
Dont la chaîne s'étend pour nous unir toujours.
Elle embellit par toi l'aurore de ma vie,
Elle en doit embellir encor les derniers jours.
Oh ! que son empire est aimable !
Qu'il répand un charme ineffable
Sur la jeunesse et l'avenir,
Ce doux reflet du souvenir !
Ce rêve pur de notre enfance
En a prolongé l'innocence ;
L'Amour, le temps, l'absence, le malheur,
Semblent le respecter dans le fond de mon cœur.
Il traverse avec nous la saison des orages,
Comme un rayon du ciel qui nous guide et nous luit :
C'est, ma chère, un jour sans nuages
Qui prépare une douce nuit.

L'autre Amitié, plus grave, plus austère,
Se donne avec lenteur, choisit avec mystère ;
Elle observe en silence et craint de s'avancer ;
Elle écarte les fleurs, de peur de s'y blesser.
Choisissant la raison pour conseil et pour guide,
Elle voit par ses yeux et marche sur ses pas :
Son abord est craintif, son regard est timide ;
Elle attend, et ne prévient pas.
What's that?
In the distance?
A life?
That's distant.
That's different.
That's dumb.
Existence.
Just finish this.
Where am I?
Why am I here?
Where all I know is to cry...
And also to fear.
Where all I see...
Is the end is near.
Over here,
Over there.
Overgrowth.
Taken unfair.
New.
A smoky rising.
To corrupt the lesser.
New.
A ideal rising.
To corrupt the blesser.
It's not a rue.
There is more than a few.
So call to the angels.
Call to the gods.
Call to whatever,
Even if it's not a facaude.
You see me staring off,
Something in the distance.
The fake ideal,
Of love and praise.
Falling out,
Through the haze.
My ideals and desires,
Floating down.
Paper scraps.
They make me frown.
So what do I see,
Just barely in the distance.
Me.
I tried to be more poetic.
Sonnet.


La pudeur n'a pas de clémence,
Nul aveu ne reste impuni,
Et c'est par le premier nenni
Que l'ère des douleurs commence.

De ta bouche où ton cœur s'élance
Que l'aveu reste donc banni !
Le cœur peut offrir l'infini
Dans la profondeur du silence.

Baise sa main sans la presser
Comme un lis facile à blesser,
Qui tremble à la moindre secousse ;

Et l'aimant sans nommer l'amour,
Tais-lui que sa présence est douce,
La tienne sera douce un jour.
Thando Apr 2018
Black, Foes standing Cold
Young And Old
Gazzing Around White Doors
Cleaning Dishes, some Floors
For Her Family To eat at night
Now She's The Man of the House
The Head Of Her 3 some.
-
Now Grown Up, they Do drugs
Some turing into Thugs
forgetting Black Poverty Is still On
Their Mothers are Gone.
-
She's Stripping Naked, In the street
Selling Her Flesh
To the King
(Blesser with Cash).
-
Growing Up In shrinking World;
Mothers Working Hard
Kids Dreaming Right
While Fathers Are on the Run
Teeangers die
In their early Ages.
-
It's like being trapped in some Cages;
No future, No Peace.
Whose Holding The Keys
Of this Daily shrinking World?
-
I wish to ascape.
Dawnstar Jul 2019
I am the lion, the wolf, and the horse,
Rainbow and *** of gold, river and source.
I am a windstorm of passion and rain,
Thresher of tangleweed, drummer of pain.

Flocks of the autumn air dance on my wing,
Soldiers and statesmen both bow heads and sing,
Fireflies synchronize hearts to my beat,
Churchimes clap triumphal rings down the street.

I am an echo in dancehalls of old,
I am the fever that comes with the cold,
I am the soul of the goodness of Earth,
Guardian and blesser of every new birth.

I am the mother bird, high in her nest,
All of the creatures are under my breast.
I am the white dove that flies from the strife,
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

— The End —