88/100 days of summer devotional thought

Pride and Humility

Pride disguises

as humility

with words such as “I can’t,”

“I’m nothing,” “I’m weak,”

“I’m incompetent.”

With Pride it’s all about “I,”

leaving God out of the picture.

True humility says,

“I’m weak, but God is powerful,”

“I can’t, but God can.”

“My knowledge is limited,

but God knows all.”

True Humility

steps out hand in hand with Faith

knowing a strong powerful loving God

desires to work through

limited humans.

87/100 days of summer Wordle: memorize, sharp, boat, fabric, draw, lift, amber, heart, motions, dripping, path, joints

The Harpist

(an alouette)

Swim motions on harp

Melodic not sharp

Memorized by clever trick

Like honey dripping

Rowboat oars slipping

Or rustle of silk fabric

Subtle draw and shift

Faintly then a lift

Like amber lake shimmering

By a golden path

Though joints suffer wrath

A hopeful heart’s glimmering

86/100 days of summer Morning at My House

7:56

Hallway and stove lights

grow dimmer as sunshine brightens.

Dogs bark in the distance and cars roar.

Kitty sits on my lap underneath an afghan,

occasionally moving like a fetus in a womb.

Drawers thump and plastic and pills click,

as Hubby pulls the medicine.

Our man shuffles out with M & M man

smiling and soliciting kisses.

Our woman moans at morning commotion.

Now 8: 06 time to get breakfast.

85/100 Poetic Asides Prompt Trespass #2

Roots

I trespass

In the neighbor’s yard

To cut the roots of the tree

Of which its branches trespassed in mine

Our problems

May originate

In distant places or time

And we busy ourselves plucking leaves

84/100 days of summer Poetic Asides and Poetic Bloomings

Like Adventurous Children

Children like adventure, to roam and wander.

W hen we were little we’d venture through hills

A nd woods and come upon no-trespassing signs

N ailed to trees or hanging on fences. We weren’t

D isturbed because many acres were free to

E xplore. To country kids, creeks, vines, trees and

R ocks were like playgrounds were to town kids. 

 

Kids like to go here and there and where

W onders await. For endless hours, we

H ad fun climbing, swinging, sliding until

E xhausted. We’d soar in pretend jets and

R ockets and fight villains, monsters and

E vil men to protect our part of the woods—

Woods where we were allowed—always.

A t times we’d be enticed by the forbidden,

L ike a decrepit house surrounded by

W eeds, a hidden monastery or other

A ssorted private properties. But we knew

Y ou got in enough trouble even where we were

S upposed to be. We knew, firsthand, it was so.

So we stuck to where we were welcome. I

W ish, in this life, we’d remember to

E ngage in the opportunites our

L oving God has for us. At times we stay too

C lose to the fences, not venturing out.

O beying His no-trespassing signs, we

M ight have more fun and adventure

E xploring all of the wonders He offers.

83/100 days of summer

Morning tea

Chatting with a friend

One rainy autumn morning

We talk about our summer

Brace ourselves for snow

Encourage

82/100 Devotional Thought

 

Agreement

 

Sometimes, we try to please God

in our own ways

and we actually say no to His blessings,

but instead get into a whole pile of trouble.

He lets us experience this bondage,

in hope we will turn around
and walk in the freedom He has for us.

 

From head to heart,

from in to out,

God wants us to know Him,

walk in His overcoming power,

and receive His blessings
in His way,

in Jesus Christ.

 

Religious practice is not true humility,

but acknowledging who God is

and who we are in Christ—

beloved, accepted, blessed, forgiven,

set apart for Him, children of God—

able to go boldly to the throne of grace

to find help in time of need.

81/100 days of summer Poetic Bloomings Prompt My Love Affair with..

Hiking

Hiking in the desert

With a water jug or two

Hiking up a mountain

Exclaiming at the view

Hiking in the forest

Midst moss and feathery ferns

Hiking along the ocean beach

Until my pale skin burns

Hiking down a pebbled creek

Ducking under bridges

Hiking around a clean blue lake

Admiring rough ridges

Hiking in a cavern

Getting cold and muddy

Hiking hills and broad cornfields

Chatting with a buddy

Hiking by the river’s edge

Across the stepping stones

Hiking by the geysers
Adventure in my bones

Hiking in deep canyons

Scrambling up the rocks

Hiking along the ocean bays

Smelling fishy docks

Listening to the great outdoors

Boldly tell its story

Of the wondrous Creator,

His beauty and His glory

80/100 days of summer haiku

Jesus, my first love

All I think, say, write and do

I devote to You

79/100 days of summer poetic asides prompt worst thing that happened

A Bad Day

 

Mom, a long time diabetic,

developed a sore on her foot

and needed an amputation.

I stood there staring

at the spot

where Mom’s leg should have been. 

At her home, I received a call from my husband.

When his mom took her daily walk,

two chows attacked nearly killing her.

I stared at my computer screen

of news photos

looking like a murder scene.  

It wasn’t a good day for mothers.

78/100 days of summer Poetic Asides prompt your worst thing

Bound and Determined

The bond of marriage

frees when

your heart’s desire

is to be permanently attached,

To love

To depend on

To respect

To support

To cherish
To be friends and lovers.
But when your spouse
loses touch with reality,
and you feel widowed
though your spouse is still alive,
and then repeatedly widowed
with every episode,
the marriage vow
truly becomes a bond.
The bond restrains
until healing begins
and freedom returns.

77/100 days of summer Poetic Bloomings Swap Quatrain

When it Storms

When the skies are gray, the air grows cool

The wind picks up, the shadows rule

The water laps, the pine trees sway

The air grows cool when the skies are gray

When the thunder rolls, the lightning splits

The animals hide, and the downpour hits

The campers run as the weather controls

The lightning splits when the thunder rolls

On our journey here, the storms will come

We’ll want to hide, we’ll want to run

But in our God, we have no fear

The storms will come on our journey here

76/100 choka

 

Wonders

Huge hot-air balloons

Capturing our attention

Bright colors floating in peace

No longer earth bound

What wonders humans can do

Ah, yes, but look at the clouds!

75/100 days of summer Skeletons in the Closet

Past Secrets

 

Perfectly hidden,

percolating under the surface,

poisonous like cancer,

piranha-like eating away spirit, not flesh,

persistent, until one day, their existence is

proved, diagnosed.

Persuaded, you face reality.

Pushing through it.

Persevering, you survive.

Powerfully thrive. Or

perhaps you don’t. But
perchance you don’t,

positively your loved ones know, you

passionately did the best you could.

74/100 days of summer Poetic Bloomings prompt death

Poetic Bloomings Prompt Death

Immunization and Cure

I suppose I became somewhat immune to death as a child.

Dad was a hunter

Dead animals everywhere

Their deaths helped us live

My grandmother on my mother’s side was the first to go. I was only five. Mom would take me down to her house and I would play in my world while Grandma was in the adult world. Pappap and Mom must have worked hard taking care of her, but it was all in my peripheral. When she died I just thought that’s what old people do. It was a part of life to me, like dead fish in the frig.

My red boots dangled

When Dad lifted me to see

Grandma’s still, white face

In my teen years my grandfather on my dad’s side and my mom’s sister passed away. It was odd that the first time I saw my Dad cry was when my aunt died. I wasn’t all that sure he even liked her since Dad criticized a lot. That’s when death first touched my feelings, not because of my loss, but because it made my Dad cry.

When my Aunt Marg died

Dad sat hunched over and sobbed

I stared in wonder

When I was a young adult, death’s painful emotions caught up with me for the first time, when my friend’s baby died. We had prayed for little Bethany when she was born with a defective heart. She only lived a few weeks. Her parents’ grief saturated the air making it difficult to breathe.

Baby doll in lace

Sorrow and grief sting and claw

We live on, with scars

They say the care-giving spouse goes first, which was the case with my mom and dad. Alzheimer’s rendered Dad unaware when Mom died. He died two months later. I gain comfort knowing that neither one of them had to grieve each other’s death. I often picture Dad spying Mom at heaven’s gates and exclaiming, “What are you doing here?” My four sisters and I painfully plowed through each first holiday without them.

Without Mom and Dad

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day

Celebrate with tears

And now death has touched my generation. On a demolition job, tons of steel and concrete fell on my brother-in-law. Our last family reunion included a memorial.

Husband died, sis crushed

Said goodbyes through coffin lid

Full reunion waits

I am not immune to death. I feel it with all my senses. But I count on Christ, the one who rose from the dead, to be the cure. His death helps me live.

73/100 days of summer Knock Out

Knock Out
 

K nock out gorgeous

N ot shy, audaciously flirting

O ranges, golds, greens

C olorado fall, seductive and sexy

K nock out gorgeous
 

O penly, unabashedly daring

U nder a bright blue sky, alluring

T imbered mountains, dressed to kill

72/100 days of summer rictameter

 

 

October in Colorado

Mountains

Crisp autumn air

Shimmering gold aspens

Pines sway about in rustling wind

Bold rocky-walled backdrop

Lake of colors

Mountains

71/100 days of summer

Actors murmuring

Unseen in theatre’s wings

Daily tasks waiting

70/100 days of summer Poetic Asides prompt- interview

An Interview with Daniel

This is Curi Ositiy with

Time Traveler News

here with Daniel

in Babylon, Sixth Century.
 

Daniel, how did it feel

to be thrown into the lion’s den?

I was worried more for the king.

He was tricked into signing the order
to not pray to God for thirty days,
which led to my sentence of death,
and he was greatly distressed.

Weren’t you afraid?
 

Yes, but I knew God would either protect me

or take me to be with Him.
My emotions just had to catch up.
 

Tell me what it was like facing hungry lions?

 

Dark, stinky and I was hungry, too.

They didn’t plan for a last meal,

since I was supposed to be it.

What was it like when you realized

the lions wouldn’t hurt you?

Kind of nice.

Have you ever heard lions purr?

Lulled me right to sleep.

And they made for comfy pillows.

And when they freed you, what was that like?
 

A relief but it was also tragic

since the men who framed me

and their families

were thrown into the den.

They died before they hit bottom.

It’s not a sound I’ll soon forget.

 

Terrible! What would you like to say

to those who are listening?

This is for future people, correct?
 

Yes, it's airing in 2012.
 

I’ll echo my good friend King Darius,

 “Worship the living God, the eternal ruler.
He saves, rescues, and
performs astounding miracles

in heaven and on earth.”
 

He saved me from the power of the lions.
 

Thank you Daniel. Remarkable story.

Next in the news,
Children in public schools
forbidden to pray or read Bible stories.

69/100 days of summer

Cool, quiet morning

Clock ticking, kitty purring

Tea whistles, “It’s time!”

68/100

Persistent kitty

Prancing, nudging, purring, stop

Settles on my lap

67/100 days of summer Poetic Bloomings First Love

Kissing

You were seventeen, I was fourteen.

I loved how your deep voice boomed in the night,

even though you were describing an x-rated movie scene.

One evening, you drove me home, driving like a maniac,

but I loved how it felt to fly down Pennsylvania roads.

For fourteen months, we were inseparable,

playing basketball, kissing, walking in the woods,

kissing, going bowling, kissing, watching movies,

kissing, going to church, kissing, hanging out with friends,

kissing, tinkering with ham radio in your shop,

kissing, painting your MGB bright orange, kissing.

After dates, huddled in a kitchen corner,

we sipped mint tea, munched cinnamon toast,

talked and kissed with an eye toward my parents’ room.

We spent the next three years trying to break up

but always getting back together,

until we just got sick of each other. Fast forwarding

almost three years, you met my fiancé and you hit it off.

Somehow you ended up in our wedding party
and our wedding was on your birthday.

Every once in awhile you pop up in my dreams

and we’re usually kissing.

66/100

Tiger Lilies

Lining the country road,

freckled, orange trumpets

on long slender stems,

cheering and encouraging me

as I got on and off the school bus

for twelve years,

yet I was unaware.

65/100 halibun

Isolation 

A mountain lake mirrors golden aspen, emerald pines and sapphire sky. An upside-down row boat rests on the rocky shore.

Bejeweled mountain scene

Millions scurry in city

And I wonder why

64/100 prayer poem

Not David and Goliath

Lord, I’m not facing any giants

Like David against Goliath

Just a bunch of angry dwarves

Like a cow versus fire ants

So please help me not get nibbled

To death by all my problems

But walk in victory even over

The little nuisances in my life

63/100 Poetic Asides Memory

Memory

M ay remember it, may not

E very day’s a guessing game

M ay remember it, may not

O ften he doesn’t know my name

R emembering is like fishing

Y ou catch some, but most get away

62/100 days of summer my first halibun

Treasured

I have always held disdain for flowery poems about mother, exalting them for their love, hard work and perfection. No angel shines brighter. No martyr sacrificed with such conviction. No humanitarian served with such compassion. Gag me.

Son gave me bronze plaque

Mother poem gushing praises

Treasure forever