Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poetry. Show all posts

Friday, February 14, 2014

~A Floridian's Ode to Winter~

Spending the majority of my life in South Florida, I didn't grow up with "winter." There were very few, if any, days with freezing temperatures (though I thought so then), no "snow days" in school, and I don't think I saw any snow at all until around age 7 (and that was in Alabama!) Blinding sunshine and humidity were in abundance, and I lived a ten minutes' drive from the beach. As any Floridian will tell you, we experience maybe two seasons... HOT and HOTTER! This is my fifth February living in Brooklyn, and I have come to realize that maybe (just maybe) winter has its place among the beautiful things that G-d has created. Today I composed my ode to winter, and it will probably be the only one I will ever write...


"I Never"

They say snow falling is silent.
But it's not just any silence
(yes, I really wrote this in pen. at 6am.)
it's a beautiful kind of silence,
like being in the bedroom where your children are sleeping,
like the sound of this pen gliding over the paper at 6am,
where there's always the chance you'll hear something,
a small sigh, a faint breath, a sign of life,
That's what snow falling sounds like,
like G-d is whispering.

I never truly appreciated the color of things,
buildings, landscapes, trees...
until I saw them whited out with snow.

Yes, the days are shorter but the nights are brighter...
It's as if the sun never fully goes down.
The immense whiteness overcomes the darkness,
reflecting every ounce of moonlight, starlight, any light,
giving the night a perpetual glow until dawn.


To see a tree's leaves transform from green into colors 
(leaf we saved from the Fall)
I never knew a leaf could possess,
reds, yellows, golds...
Palm trees always wear the same outfits.
I never appreciated a tree's clothing
until I saw one naked,
swaying in the howling wind like a skeleton,
emaciated yet alive,
bare but hopeful.

Perhaps, like me, anxious for Spring.




The city in winter is clad in the dullest browns and grays available,
even the evergreen ceases to be green 
when the sun ceases to shine.
The sky seems to wear gray like an old,
comfortable coat that it doesn't like to take off.

(taken by lyndsi v.)

The people wear black.
Perhaps to provide the greatest contrast with the great White,
perhaps to add to the solemnity of winter
as black does for a funeral procession.

I too wear black.


(taken by lyndsi v.)
 
I've never walked through something so strange...
like thick, wet sand, 
only thicker
and more wet.
The snow crunches and slushes under your feet,
tickling your ears as it freezes them.

I never experienced such wind power,
except what the Atlantic whipped up onto the beach,
or in the Eye of a hurricane...
I'm grateful for this wind,
like a giant street sweeper,
making the cold unbearable while cleansing the air.



I've never experienced all four seasons
until now.
that each one has a look, a feel, a smell, a sound...
even a taste.
They come and go like the tide,
short, temporary, but life changing.

Spring sings.
Summer sighs.
Fall howls.
Winter whispers.

They are, indeed, life,
and how G-d chooses to speak,
so I suppose I can endure winter
for a few more weeks...

(reminds me of Florida...kind of.)
J.W.2014


Sunday, January 19, 2014

Honorable Mention...

My father, Arthur Eugene Logan, Sr. (better known as "Gene") passed away on March 13, 1999. I was 17 years old and about to graduate from high school. I wrote this poem just two months after...



Honor sometimes comes too late;

it competes with time and struggles with fate.



He was friendly and sociable, had stories to tell;

the reality of war, he knew all too well.

He could draw a crowd with his unstable effervescence...



Too amicable to the bottle, for this I am distraught,

I will never forget the life lessons from which I have been taught.



He enjoyed children and they seemed to love him;

the light that was his life will never grow dim.



I never got the chance to say goodbye;

But I know he is always somewhere close by...



Honor sometimes comes too soon;

his is now in eternal bloom.

I will cherish the thought of him forever;

Honor comes, better late than never...



--written 5-13-99

May his memory be blessed and may he be in the presence of his Maker. Happy Birthday...

Monday, December 14, 2009

Ministry in Ink



My love for writing was developed over many years of internal and external influences. Some of these influences are my own vivid imagination and talent for observation, a high school English teacher, and the written word of G-d. Throughout my life, poetry has served many different purposes, but to my delight has become something more precious than I had thought possible. Poetry has become more than my own expression of myself, but it has become a form of beneficial ministry to myself and to others.


Growing up in a lower class family, I concluded at an early age that imagination was very important. Lack of external satisfaction and pleasures led to the development of my inner creativity. However, at this point writing took a backseat to Barbie dolls and coloring. Little did I know that the same imagination that had me in my backyard setting a table with leaves and dirt would eventually allow me to express my deepest thoughts on paper. As far as I can recall, reading and writing were never areas of complication for me in school. Reading was worthwhile and writing was enjoyable. Up until the twelfth grade, they were little more than that. However, Mrs. Thompson helped change that. An Honors English teacher dedicated to challenging her students, she continues to stand out in my mind. In her class I developed a new regard for literature and poetry. I learned that I could read, write, and memorize large amounts of material when it was required of me because she expected her students to succeed. More importantly, I realized a personal potential for writing. Her affirmation encouraged me to write more and to strive not for excellence in writing, but effect.


After gaining a genuine love for poetry and writing on the inside, I began to look around for tangible ideas and inspiration. I found these in song lyrics, the poems of others, nature, personal experiences, and in the experiences of those around me. Nevertheless, the most refining influence that my writing has encountered is the Bible. Its writing is beyond comparison. The Psalms of David, the Song of Solomon, the letters of Saul: I find great inspiration in these. Above all, I have concluded that G-d is a poet, and He ministers to me through my writing. Recently, I wrote a haiku that sums up my new understanding of the ultimate purpose of my writing: "Words are not my own; Yeshua is a Poet; I just hold the pen." I would never have imagined that G-d would use my works for His ministry.


In conclusion, I don't believe that I was necessarily born a poet. Everyone has a potential to write poetry; one only has to be bold enough to write down the abstract thoughts that occupy a human mind on a daily basis. Outside influences have definitely shaped my writing into what it is and what it will become. Poetry has become the "baring of my soul," and sometimes it can be difficult to share with others. Writing does not always come naturally for me, either. There is joy in the struggle, though, and the finished outcome is worth the struggle, especially when the L-rd uses my writing as ministry in ink...*


*This was a "cause and effect" essay that I wrote for a composition class in 2003.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Visitation (written 10/16/03)

I saw a vision


the sky dark


yet still afternoon


where is the great Light


that brightens the day?


nowhere to be found...


the lightning flashes


before me, a crimson mass,


possibly a face


beyond recognition


another strike of light


confirms human countenance


----------who are you?


soaked with perspiration


bruised and beaten


naked and striped


----------are you alive?


suspended, on display


outstretched palms


reaching for the unreached


I tune my ears


to the silence of the Lamb


laboring for every breath


now closer to death


----------who did this to you?


darkness returns


the earth seems to quake


with another bolt


the red-caked eyes


are opening


blinking away blood


and tears


flames of pain


----------what is your name?


cracked swollen lips quiver


thunder, the only reply


lightning bolts revolt


darkness has pierced the Sun


the clouds now diminish


I can no longer see...


----------It is finished.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Poem: New Every Morning (written 10/20/03)

Your love is new
new every morning
morning after morning
I awake
covered by grace
that flows
from the unseen
when I cannot touch Your face
I dream about it
when You leave
I am miserable
I cannot live without You
You are in every breath I take
in every beat of my fragile heart
my own obsession
proud to be Your possession
my everything is Yours
let it be known
that I am Yours
just to speak Your name
just to feel Your touch
You are worth any sacrifice
Your love is new
new every morning
morning after morning
I awake...
because of You...