somewhere
between
talking
to last year’s fear
and
negotiating
with tomorrow’s worry,
.
.
i look out of my kitchen window
and
see,
.
.
a rainbow.
.
.
brighter
than
i deserve,
.
.
this one,
just needs a bow.
.
.
the one end
fading
into
the old kilpatrick hills, where we like to walk,
and
the other end, resting
near the place
where
the
small
parish
church
recycles
clothes
and
toys
and
curtains
and
other everyday things. modern manna,
to
the ones
in the community
that
are
still
searching
for
their pot of gold.
.
. but life is hard.
.
.
like an empty well.
.
.
and,
they
are still searching
for
hope,
and
signs
of life
in a bone-dry faith.
.
.
and,
i know the contours
of that
land
very well, but
.
.
i am reminded
again,
how
much
hope
you
wrote all over the sky,
.
.
and still do.
.
.
pillars of fire
and
halfmoons of colour
and
even a star
to
show
the way home.
.
.
but,
we must look
up,
to focus
eyes
inclined
to
look
down.
.
.
so, look up.
.
.
always
up.
.
.
to
see hope
above
recycle rooms
and
foodbanks
and
hospitals
and
cemetaries, and
.
.
all the other places
where we sometimes
lose our faith
when
the dust
settles in our mouth,
.
.
to find
flames
that
lead the way,
.
.
out
of
this
desert, and
.
.
the next, and .
.
a star
to
hang
above
the holy holy holy.
.
.
and
the red
orange
yellow,
.
.
green
blue
indigo,
.
wrapping
its
promise
around
our heads
and
our eyes.
.
.
so,
cast
it up, .
your eyes
your mind
your hope
your faith, because
.
you,
are not hidden.
and
you,
are seen.
and
you,
are known
and
you,
are loved.
—of foodbanks and signs in the skies.
.
.
© Liezel Graham 2018.
.
.
Photograph by Snapwire.
.
A reminder to look
up,
that’s where the ancient signs
are—the way to safety, the way to promise, the way home.
.
Don’t get distracted by your view of the pavement, no matter how tough the area it takes you through.
.
Just
keep
looking
up.
.
.
#poetry #freeformpoetry #prosepoetry #faith #grace #hope #words #wordsmith #poetrycommunity #encouragement #encouragingwords #liezelgraham #shewrites #shewritestruth #graceinthemundane #beautyindarkness #beautyinthemundane #christianpoetry #faithandpoetry #faithpoetry
what if,
we became
the light
in the dark
for
the ones who are lost,
.
.
who can’t find their way home,
no
matter
how hard
they try,
or pray,
or believe.
.
.
because sometimes,
faith
can
blister
and
crack,
and we all need to be covered
with
the coolness of
mercy,
when the fire
burns
too
hot,
.
. sometimes.
.
.
what if,
we became
the hansels
and
the gretels
with our hands
full
of
crumbs.
.
. and, crumbs are enough,
to lead
the way
out,
.
.
of where we
too, once
had
to
cast
our
eyes down,
to hide from the things
that snarl and that bite.
.
.
let’s feed
the hungry.
we don’t need that much.
.
.
really.
it’s been done
before
with
the smallest of numbers.
.
. even threes and fives
are seeds
for
hundreds.
.
.
let’s be the salt
and
the hands that
hold
up
exhausted arms that just can’t anymore.
.
.
let’s
look
for tired feet
and dirty feet,
and yes,
they need it most,
to
wash, and
.
.
let’s search
for smouldering hearts,
that are ready to give up,
and
let’s
gently
blow
life
back
into
the cracks.
a holy resuscitation.
.
.
let’s be the ones
who
unbruise,
and
unhurt.
.
.
who
pick up
and
carry
and
bandage
and
stand,
when it matters,
.
.
and
doesn’t it always?
.
. matter?
.
.
that
somebody
chooses
to stand
with
the outcast
and
the outnumbered,
.
.
in spite of
the holy
guidelines, and
.
.
they
have
been
wrong.
.
.
in spite of love.
.
.
so, here’s what we do,
.
.
let’s
be
the renegades
and
the shepherds
and
the cupped hands
holding
water, and
.
.
perhaps then
we might
see
that there is no
piece of paper,
degree
.
.
or decree,
that could ever
carry the weight
of
this wild samaritan
love.
.
.
—on samaritans and being the light.
.
.
© Liezel Graham 2018.
.
.
Photograph by Egor Kamelev.
.
.
.
.
#faithpoetry #believer #beautifulwords #encouragement #gracemakers #grace #hope #spilledink #iweepinink #spilledthoughts #shewritestruth #shewritestruth #poetry #poetrycommunity #poetryporn #poetryofinstagram #bethelight #liezelgraham #kindnessquotes #holywords #contemplative #wordsmith #beingsamaritan
