I deduced that hearty sighs were not enough to lift the grief of sin.
So, ceasing from sighs and wearing my lackluster grin,
I turned my face to the grand, old facade
Poking out of the earth like the spire of a steeple.
I shook my mind and self and thought, "What's with these people?"
Women and purses and cars and kids.
I hear the click of their high-heels on the hot parking lot.
Soul creeping forward, crawling with a tail between my legs,
Slinking over to the awning where the door burst open and a greeting.
They slipped a card of paper in my hand, patted me on the shoulder,
Told me where my rear should land.
The pews like planks on a ship were laid out all within and all without.
To settle and perch with uncertainty, I wilted there on the farthest end.
I shielded myself from faces that would see me alone with no friend.
But when the music played, my heart cracked open.
The bleeding would not stop.
And light illumined all my frame, my eyes -
I could see past weights of sin and sighs.
There was a tree shaped like a T, a man with arms outstretched.
His heart beat there like a red fire and His love did mine inspire.
To die there, to live again,
My deepest places poured out their guile
And wave upon wave rushed in, rushed in -
A river began welling up within.
To sing! My heart, to sing!
The end of the world and of death and of pain!
He came with His love and my heart He claimed.
Blinking, tear-rimmed eyes gawked at the sight of the fading vision.
When gone all that remained were women and purses and children
Who sang rhythmic hymns with noses in hymnals.
And all faded. The preacher stood.
But by then, I knew it all and understood that my salvation was sure and good.
I saw a face turn and wink and smile
And was then beside myself again for quite a while.
"And sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee: how great Thou art,
How great Thou art."
Copyright Samantha Lindholm, May 29, 2012 Experiment with rhyme, rhythm, and story telling in a poem.
I read my poem for youuuu! Wanna hear? Take a listen.
Sorry if the picture is confusing. It's just there so that I could make this a video. It's an unfinished drawing.
Today smells like swimming pools and lip balm and
lemonade.
Today smells like a suntan lotion parade and sounds like
The swirling of that artificial ocean we call the water
park.
Today tastes like Razzmatazz smoothies and the
Beaches of Florida. The umbrellas are planted,
Slanting this way and that way in the burning sand.
Well, it’s not really sand – cement, yes.
After all, this is our red, Oklahoman land.
But today still smells like the tang of lemons and limes,
Oranges, and coconut shavings.
Today feels like the kiss of sunlight on all-too-pale
skin.
Today is the rush of the wind through stringy, wet hair.
Today we shed our American care and breathe humid air.
Today, it is summer again.
By Samantha Lindholm
Written May 29, 2012
Written in anticipation of the summer season! O how many memories summer brings of the months of my childhood summers spent living, like a mermaid, at the local swimming pool.
Tell me
What is He like, who is He
Describe the nature you see
In my Beloved and King
He is so kind
He's always faithful
Meek and lowly,
His heart is gentle
Rich in love
Full of mercy
He's beautiful
He desires none should perish
This is my Beloved
This is my Friend
Tell me
O You whom I love
Where You feed Your flock
And where You cause it to rest at noon
You will be the primary custodian of a human soul and body. This is an exciting opportunity to shape the course of the known world, using your unique knowledge of the universe and intelligence.
This is a senior position, no experience required. Even if you have experience, it probably won’t help. It is a lifetime appointment.
Key requirements, both built-in and acquired:
• Availability: you must be able to be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for an indeterminate amount of years. You will have a sleeping room, but it will be public access and will be shared in cases of stomachaches, shadows, moths, nightmares, sibling-imposed injuries and hunger or thirst, and in any other potential circumstance.
• Flexibility: you must be able to make a plan without expecting that plan to be accomplished in the manner in which you planned, i.e., 3 toddlers vomiting simultaneously en route to your long-awaited, savings-emptying trip to Disney World. Also see: dinner.
• Patience: you will endure rigorous tests like enduring 45 minutes of putting on shoes, 1 hour to eat 2 “dinosaur” bites of carrots, and infinite years-long descriptions of triumphs over video game challenges. You will also be responsible for maintaining a professional air while changing the Bob the Builder bedding thousands of times because bladder control is considered optional.
• Diplomacy: you will be required to show appropriate enthusiasm over any and all artwork, even when said artwork is a Scotch tape sculpture. You will also need negotiation skills to navigate sibling disputes over hot topics like who is in fact touching the wrong side of the van seat. You will be frequently required to bring a cease-fire to physical violence. Occasionally, you will sustain injuries. No one will give you a band-aid.
• Proper sense distribution: you will need a magnified ability to see what is in front of you, as well as behind doors, up stairs, and behind the back of your children. Your sense of hearing will need to be maximized, to hear even the smallest whisper of “Let’s swordfight with KNIVES,” and then to be minimized to not hear the roars of the crowd of 5 year olds running through McDonald’s. A weak sense of smell is an asset for this position. Your sense of humor will need to be the most highly developed of all of your senses.
Benefits:
You will lose: your body, your appetite (many times), your patience (all the time), your plans, your inhibitions, many of your fears and your selfishness.
You will gain children: and everything you give up will pale in the light of what you gain. You will gain the aching sweetness of loving someone more than you thought possible. You will gain the pride and the heartbreak of watching them grow. You gain their dreams, and the joy of dreaming with them.
Apply anytime, and shape the future
Posted by Jess Clark on Bound4Life.com on May 13, 2012
The heroic soul waits.
And waits. And waits.
She passes up the fleeting dates
Of half-loves and false-loves.
She sees her life through eyes of faith.
Beauty, you move the world
With the wait you wait.
Feel it - a soon-coming, immeasurable weight of glory;
You're turning the first few pages
Of your own love story.
I'm working on my final paper for my Composition II class - a comparative analysis of Hamlet by William Shakespeare and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard. I felt like sharing some of the funnier quotes I found in my reading.
COLORS "The colors red, blue, and green are real. The colour yellow is a mystical experience shared by everybody..." -Guildenstern, Act 1
TRYING TO FIGURE OUT THE DIRECTION OF THE WIND "GUIL: I'm trying to establish the direction of the wind. ROS: There isn't any wind. Draught, yes. GUIL: In that case, the origin. Trace it to its source and it might give us a rough idea of the way we came in - rough idea of south, for further reference. ROS: It's coming up throughout the floor. (He studies the floor.) That can't be south, can it? GUIL: That's not a direction. Lick your toe and wave it around a bit.
ROS considers the distance of his foot.
ROS: No, I think you'd have to lick it for me.
Pause.
GUIL: I'm prepared to let the whole matter drop."
BRAINPOWER
"GUIL: You can still think, can't you?
ROS: I think so."
ENGLAND?
"ROS: I don't believe in it anyway.
GUIL: What?
ROS: England.
GUIL: Just a conspiracy of cartographers, then?"
THE QUESTION GAME
"ROS: Do you want to play questions?
GUIL: How do you play that?
ROS: You have to ask a question.
GUIL: Statement. One - love.
ROS: Cheating.
GUIL: How?
ROS: I haven't started yet.
GUIL: Statement. Two - love.
ROS: Are you counting that?
GUIL: What?
ROS: Are you counting that?
GUIL: Foul. No repetition. Three - love and game.
ROS: I'm not going to play if you're going to be like that."
PIRATES "PLAYER: Pirates could happen to anyone..."
My goodness, a few of the scenes in this play crack me up! I hope you enjoyed them.
