Tomorrow crashing
Storm coming
Apathy’s reign building
Grave doubts becoming
Challenges brewing
Storm coming
Intensity building
Darkness incoming
Opinions clashing
Storm coming
Confusion keeps building
Future’s shortcomings
All nations trembling
Storm coming
World’s grim outlook building
Frightened and numbing
Trusted light glowing
Peace coming
Storm no longer building
Hope-filled homecoming
From Psalm 55:22: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved.”
Life’s stumbling footsteps
Sullen heart weighed down
Darkness at doorstep
Day’s final breakdown
Burdens never light
Load much too heavy
Collapsing at night
Floodwaters’ levee
Spirit’s tiresome tone
Christ walks alongside
Merciful seeds sown
Faith breathing, clear-eyed
Shelter’s welcome place
Prayer’s trusted reach
Overflowing grace
Christ’s faithful outreach
With every new day
Worry taking flight
Christ’s open gateway
Now traveling light
From Matthew 11:28-30: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.”
Anguishing
Heaven’s tears
Sheep without Shepherd
Savior’s final breath taken
Death
Mourning
Overwhelming sadness
Convicted by sinners
Witnessing Calvary’s bloodied cross
Darkness
Discovering
Empty tomb
Christ has risen!
Eyes opened to truth
Resurrection
This series of poems (written in the German-inspired style of Elfchen or Elevenie) shares a total of eleven words in each poem, with a sequence by line of one, two, three, four, and one words.
Journey’s destination
Seeking life’s unknown
Coming to night’s station
No one answers phone
Voices remain muted
Chasing shadow’s trace
Feeling spirit looted
Darkness giving chase
Freedom’s ember cloaked
Walking toward peace
Igniting flame, well-stoked
Distant voice won’t cease
Tomorrow offers hope
Hearing wartime’s calm
Grasping sunrise’s rope
Listen, no more bombs!
Leaves falling early
Nature witnesses drought
Farmers’ harvest dwindles
Future seeming in doubt
Nation in crisis
Hopeful news faces drought
Today fills with darkness
Tomorrow seeks fresh route
World’s chaos deepens
Suffocated in drought
Actions for peace missing
Voices of anguish sprout
Leaves filling with green
Rainfall erases drought
Farmers’ outlook restored
Future transformed from doubt
Nation’s common ground
Compromise quelling drought
Hope’s spirit rekindled
Tomorrow walks new route
World commits to peace
Goodwill overcomes drought
Togetherness . . . one goal
Voices of courage sprout
From 2 Corinthians 11:13-14: “For such boasters are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
Facing life’s harshest trials
Walking uphill in shadows
Keeping on the proper trail
Coveting greener meadows
Suffering darkest ordeals
Praying for divine advice
Listening for God’s response
Willing to pay any price
Hiding off the path, waiting
Offering cunning, false hope
Sliding into Satan’s net
Reaching up for rescue’s rope
Clutching God’s forgiving hand
Leaving the enemy’s grip
Finding new life with the Lord
Walking in His fellowship
From Romans 6:22-23: “But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Originally published September, 2020.
Traveling in darkness
Every winding road
Always going uphill
Bearing heavy loads
Filling with emptiness
Sadness ruptures heart
Simply seeking healing
Searching for fresh start
Collecting memories
Hope sheds one more tear
Often feeling numbness
Overwhelming fears
Witnessing tomorrow
Been here once before
Every step well-traveled
Waiting at backdoor
Envisioning sunrise
Source of everything
Yesterday forgotten
Knowing peace shall sing
From Lamentations 3:22-24: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in Him.'”
Life’s darkened landscape
Harvest empty of grain
Hope seems so distant
Forgotten in pain
Heart’s desolate scene
Hope’s answers in prayer
Now mercy arrives
Laden with love’s care
Family finds hope
Answers no longer wait
Body now healing
Doctor brings update
Scars from troubles heal
Set to travel hope’s road
Spirit strengthens heart
Faith harvests what’s sowed
Earth’s torrential flood
Faith anchored on firm ground
Noah’s dove soars free
Hope’s olive leaf found
From Genesis 8:10-11: “He waited another seven days, and again he sent out the dove from the ark, and the dove came back to him in the evening, and there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf; so Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth.”
Turning life’s empty page
Optimism running dry
Uncertainty arrives
Shifting darkness stands by
Flickering light of thoughts
Mind never seeking rest
Sporadic, impatient
Inviting nightly guest
Dreaming, story unfolds
Deeper into its script
Narrative continues
Typing empty transcript
Soothing spirit walks in
Please, please never depart
Stardust now raining down
Replacing mind with heart
Waking at early dawn
Empty page, still waiting
Writer’s pen left untouched
Seeing light, dictating
The darkest defeat turns to triumph if you trust in God’s wisdom and will.
From John 1:5: “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.”
Helen Steiner Rice (1900-1981) was an American writer who specialized in Christian and inspirational poetry.
Big Sky Buckeye 