Hidden Sun Above Frozen Branches

There is a beauty found amidst this forest of ice

the heavy branches bow in submission

To the storm which left its imprisoning remains

As the sun flares down the branches shimmer with delight

Then a cloud passes eliminating the glint

If the frozen branches had voice-would they speak of pain?

There have been creatures before that were in such a state

Living, growing as they reach out for more

Until the unavoidable took hold with its cold grasp

So numerous; you may not recognize them alongside the others

Their voices frozen in the shame of lost hope's shadow in the past

Allure unmatched has a breath frozen in time, 

Why the fascination with the remnant of an event endured?

Could it be the hearts empathy for renewal on the other side? 

When clouds clear, the hope and clarity come alive

then is when the frozen one in the Son is able to abide.

There is a beauty found amidst the forest of ice

There have been creatures before that were in such a state

Allure unmatched has a breath frozen in time

Still, ice melts

Hearts remain,

Just hold on.

Photo by Twelve13 Photography/ Ashley Porter

Common Place Grace

Common place grace, a phrase too familiar.
Steps I take just shatter the display.
The pieces carefully crafted,
colors decisively chosen to create
a picture that will pacify the every day.

If we would realize the awe beneath,
then maybe we'd see the amazement
engraved an ancient scrolls.
Words build up the stage so pretty.
Actions an agent of decay.

The stands we take look more like promises that we love to break.
Amazing grace, once was a sweet sound
a wretch I may have remained to be
Who have we left unclaimed at the lost and found
Why are so many too blind to see?

The blood that flowed to the ground
Should forever be enough
But the power endowed gets lost in the crowd
Miracles only a show,
provision just false gain

May tears fall and soften the faint hearts
Where moss has covered
the foretold testimonies of the saints.
Altars built must be revisited
Binding their words around our necks.

May the grace once shown
Never be forgotten, overlooked or disdained
Instead may the Light
shining through the colored glass
Be a reminder of the awe to which I will forever lay claim.

Journey Through A Window

The snowflakes fall outside the window
Emerging from the solid white sky
Until they break with the horizon
You can't see their form as they cry
Once apart form the mass
The individual design takes flight
Bouncing and flitting the flakes come
Large and beautiful-you'd swear fluffy
They sway in the wake of their kin's path
Until, the cluster gets close
Though you'd rather catch it on your tongue-
It instead finds its way to the window pane
I watch with interest as the cold friend meets its end.
For that moment
I hold my breath,
As I watch the flakes cling
To the cold for just an instant
Before it conforms to its creation
The flake met by a surface unfamiliar-
Folds
Wiggles
Melts
The once solid, now just a droplet
Awaits further addition
I watch the drop-
I look through the small display
To the cloudy white heaven above
I see the snowflakes fall outside the window.
Their journey has just begun.

Continuous Destination

Where are you going and where have you been is more than a life question
its a continuous destination
we travel along on the fast passing train with
abrupt stops
that sometimes linger with pain
Yet we go forward slowly making our way
to the place we think we will stay.
But do we ever come to complete stop?
And if we do is that really where you want to be?
Never growing
only wishing for a location in your dreams?
Get on here
Stop at this terminus
you may not forsee the things you could miss
people pass by-- cities they melt
but all I want to do is look back
and know I've both lived and felt.
A life with direction doesn't always have signs
but a life worth living has a Map of a different kind
If you listen to the Conductor you will travel with out a care for the clock
only thoughts of whom with you rides,
ask them the questions-
where have you been and where are you going?
Maybe your going in the same direction.

"I know People Don't Like Panhandlers"

I walk out into the cold, leaving my crying babies behind. Just doing all I can to make people understand.

I'm not some deadbeat bum but a husband who can't find, what happened to the job upon which 

we built our lives.The empire I'd dreamed of seemed to be in reach, that was until the curtain

 fell on the show,the money wasn't there. We got kicked out of our life- with no where

 to go. Pinching every penny still didn't help.The puzzle pieces of our lives

 we had to sell. Head hung low, I walked to the mission, too ashamed to 

look 'em in the eye.Though whenever I was there they'd always smile.

Yet here I am in this parking lot, Scanning the cars for a kind face-

One that wont twist in disgust and look away but give me 

a listening ear-just a moment's glimpse of trust. 

I have a story to tell, and nothing to sell just 

a guy trying to help his family survive.You 

roll down your window- Did you just look

 me in the eye? I didn't even see a mask of 

fear. Feel my heart beat racing, what 

brought me to this place? I open 

the conversation with

 misplaced haste,"I know

 people don't like 

panhandlers but-"

There is always a but. 

"I know people don't like panhandlers..."