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Open Poetry #47
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Michael
Moderator
Member Rara Avis
since 1999-08-13
Posts 7666
California

0 posted 2011-10-17 01:29 PM



Chapter 2, (the New)


Forty-four and forgotten, the sands of time erode my dreams.
The heart within me rotten, nothing’s ever as it seems.
I walked the line from facelessness unto a brand new day,
But bound by my own gracelessness, I threw it all away.

The walls around me stinking with the stench of wasted life,
I can’t help sitting here thinking of the pains I’ve caused my wife.
A victim of temptation, aye, but though I stand defeated,
The truth’s no better than a lie, coming from a man who cheated.

And still I’m scared to look inside, though second chances craving.
What good is shame when faced with pride, and the headstone needs engraving?
The chisel placed in my own hand – the legacy embarking...
A man no one could understand, even left to his own marking.

Oh Lord, shine a light on my soul, give me a reason for hopin’…
Cause I’m spinning out of control towards a day those gates are open.
Let all my trust remain in You, whether or not the world accepts me.
Teach me to cling to what is true, even if family rejects me.

Let me feel Your warmth on my face, when the skies are thunder-riven.
Walk me past the scorn, in Your grace – if only by You forgiven.
Though my past may never be annulled, turn my life to chapter two.
Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.


Michael Anderson

© Copyright 2011 Michael Anderson - All Rights Reserved
Lori Grosser Rhoden
Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202
Fair to middlin' of nowhere
1 posted 2011-10-17 01:50 PM


Amen.
suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
2 posted 2011-10-17 02:04 PM


The first three verses are a crushed-and-ground-into-powder, knocked-to-the-knees pain that's heartbreaking to contemplate... which makes the prayer at the end all the more powerful and poignant.

May your life be blessed as you turn that page.

JerryPat2
Member Laureate
since 2011-02-06
Posts 16975
South Louisiana
3 posted 2011-10-17 02:25 PM


Michael, it will pass. I know that is a simplistic thing to say, but believe me, I know whereof I speak. Your crime was what it was, my friend. I have a long list of crimes which took me three decades to bring about. When I began to fight the demons within I found myself in the middle of the Mississippi River Bridge in New Orleans, Louisiana, ready to take that last, fatal step. Something kept me from taking that last step and I walked off that bridge and that very night I came upon someone who would eventually be my wife. She died two years ago, we were together almost forty years. Even so, I still had the demons from my past sins to deal with, and I dealt with them just as you are doing, through the written word. Hang in there, my friend. I apologize for going on and on, I just understand and hope I can reach you.

~* The saddest words of tongue or pen are the words It might have been.--John Greenleaf Whittier ~*~

JL
Member Ascendant
since 2004-04-01
Posts 6128
Texas, USA
4 posted 2011-10-17 03:33 PM


And I am sure this is humbly spoken.
Excellent write.

JL

Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,and with all your mind. Love your neighbor as yourself.
Maranatha!

suthern
Deputy Moderator 1 TourDeputy Moderator 1 Tour
Member Seraphic
since 1999-07-29
Posts 20723
Louisiana
5 posted 2011-10-18 08:17 AM


Oh Lord, shine a light on my soul, give me a reason for hopin’…
Cause I’m spinning out of control towards a day those gates are open.
Let all my trust remain in You, whether or not the world accepts me.
Teach me to cling to what is true, even if family rejects me.

Let me feel Your warmth on my face, when the skies are thunder-riven.
Walk me past the scorn, in Your grace – if only by You forgiven.
Though my past may never be annulled, turn my life to chapter two.
Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

You know I had to come back and study your rhyme, right? *S* Not that I hope to learn HOW... just to appreciate. *S*

And your prayer is the perfect way to begin a new day... putting it in His hands. *S*

Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354
Listening to every heart
6 posted 2011-10-18 09:48 AM


Michael,

Whether you know it or not,
there's a whole lot of love
surrounding your soul, no
matter what color you might
want to shade it. You have
not only the tools, but the
desire to change things now,
and I truly believe you are
doing just that. You've learned
the hard way, you can't fool
the wary.



You do have us.



"The business of the poet...is to show the sorriness underlying the grandest things and the grandeur underlying the sorriest things." Thomas Hardy

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