Refined Woman

Refined woman,

Refined woman you are.

You laugh quietly,

and all the world falls still.

There is a tenderness in you

that makes him want to slay dragons

and move mountains.

Refined woman,

Refined woman you are.

I wish I was more like you --

gentle and beautiful.

he would fill my hollowness with stars,

if only I were

the Refined woman,

Refined woman you are.

But see,

there is a new fire within me,

tempering me with an incomprehensible love.

I am quieted into a dance

that knows satisfaction

in One Man’s arms.

In Him I am not you,

but I am Woman --

I am His
and He is mine.

I am refined.

---------

This poem is inspired by my friend Shen who is being refined by the greatest love. 

Shen commented during one bible study about how we were "lacking in poise" unlike other girls. This made me think about the times i  felt insecure that i wasn't like other women. i laugh loudly, i'm not afraid of going off alone to who knows where, and i spend on books when i know i should be buying a new set of clothes or going to the salon for a haircut. Sometimes i want to pray to God to make me like the "refined" women I see guys always fall for. But then i realize, God has made ALL women special. We are captivating in our uniqueness, and there is no one that walks the world who is like me (thank God! haha).  Our beauty and "gentle spirit" primarily comes from the peace of knowing that our identity lies in Jesus who is the lover of our souls. I made this poem for all women out there who are struggling with feelings of insecurity. I want you to know that in your struggles, you are being refined by your Maker. I want you to know that are loved.

"This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, 'They are my people,' and they will say, 'The LORD is our God.'" ~ Zechariah 13:9

Hope

you fall like the stars expecting

he will be moved the same way

as you have been by beauty

There is nothing beyond what you perceive

And nothing beyond what you feel

And nothing beyond what he shows

One day, your tears will fall

for a Love much greater

than the love you have been hiding

He will let you take flight

He will give you wings like eagles

He will make you as surefooted as a deer

you will stand on the heights

you will conquer your fears

you will Know Love, Show Love, Be Love

you will be nothing

yet you will have Everything

you’ve ever Desired and More.

Today

Today
I come to You
emptied of all I am
to be filled with all You are.

Today
You come to me
removing all
that is not of You
transforming all
that is of me
endlessly flowing
into all
that is me
that is You.

The Day I Traded Work for Poetry

I was supposed to get some work done today (i.e. work that actually pays), but reading the poetry of Mary Oliver and Louis Gluck this morning seemed to have awakened the dormant poet within me.  When writers hear the metaphorical "siren's call", they have to write or the words are lost forever.  So I packed up my "real work" for a while and decided to write poetry today.

Suggested steps in reading poetry:

Read slowly and let each word roll in your mouth before swallowing.
Let the whole thing dwell where your heart beats.
Somewhat, but not all together forget.
One of these days, start again.

Reading Poetry

For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world  and lose his soul? - Mark 8:36

Reading poetry
is writing a poem
in your heart --

letting it beat into consciousness
and pour freely into the nothingness
of your very being.

It is finding your soul again,
becoming Love again
as you are when you see
with faith and are born again.

Reading poetry is renewing
oneness with what is Sacred --

you know joy;
you expect Grace

You breathe and awaken
to what had long been forgotten.

----

Viktor Shklovskly would say that poetic language defamiliarizes common things. It lets us look at this seemingly mundane world with fresh eyes. Sometimes faith seems boring compared to the lures of the world, and I pray that God will pour Himself out on me again in all His poetic splendor. I pray that I'll be reworked and reworded by grace to become His poetry.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us... John 1:14

By Richard Lyall from engageworship.org

While Waiting, a poem

There is a silence that stalls  --
clear rain water on narrow leafy veins;
dripping settling liquid space,
dreaming an empty craving that is you.


now my spirit is pregnant with sky.
it walks on water, is wide-eyed staring --
smelling touching laughing heaven;
breathlessly claimed into a wind that is You.


 The past days, I have been tempted to compromise God for my own worldly desires.  The last line of this poem was supposed to read, "breathless running into a wind that is You". But I didn't run into the Wind.  I was relentlessly pursued, wooed, won over, reined in, and reminded of  who I am.