Xapa to the World

Category: Imported from Xanga

I used to have a blog on Xanga. But it died and turned into a tree. And it’s very sad because it doesn’t want to be a tree, it wants to be my blog. I’m importing several posts from it, but probably not all posts. That could be embarrassing.

  • Tell Me…

    Should I keep putting up my poems?  Should I keep putting up all of them indiscriminatly…? or just the ones that I deem as “good?”

    Let me know, oh you many readers….  🙂

  • Poem: I Remember

    So, a couple of years ago, my college group was sitting down for its Bible Study on September 11th.  I forget which day of the week it was…seems like Sunday…and earlier that week, I had printed out a list of all the guys from Ohio who had been killed in the war.  We sat and read through each name and then had a moment of silence.  It was really moving…at least for me.  And then I wrote another poem…per norm.  Here it is:

    I Remember


    September 11th, 2005

    I remember how it felt –
    The disbelief, the awe –
    With the smoke pouring out
    Of the tall, strong towers.

    I remember the fear
    That crawled onto everyone’s face,
    How the hair began to stand
    And sleep failed to come.

    I remember the hatred
    That filled many walls,
    Even those with Your Name
    Plastered and painted in gold.

    I remember the sorrow
    As the many died
    And our boys put on uniforms
    Fighting for us abroad.

    I remember the looks
    On faces, first stunned,
    Then numbed and
    Then, forgetting their purpose.

    I remember it all
    And I shudder at
    How quickly we all fall
    And forget our despair.

     – Sarah ><>

    Have YOU forgotten?

  • Poem: Just For One Day

    This poem was also a challenge given by the poet’s community.  The challenge was to write a poem about what we would want to do if we had one day to do anything.  The format was not set, just the theme.  I had many things I would like to do…so I put them all in here:

    Just For One Day


    July 23rd, 2005

    Just for one day, I could dream many things.
    What would I give a whole day for?
    Is there anything I desire so much for?

    Yes. Just for one day, I’d like to rest
    In the arms of a man who loves me.

    Just for one day, I’d like to know
    That all my waiting hasn’t been for nothing.

    Just for one day I’d like to fly so high
    I swear I could never fall down.

    Just for one day, if I did come down,
    There’d be someone there to catch me.

    Just for one day, I’d like to know
    That true love really does exist.

    Just for one day I’d like to be
    All that God wants me to be.

    Just for one day, I’d like to be strong enough
    To climb the highest mountain.

    Just for one day, I’d like to love completely
    Without any strings attached inside.

    Just for one day, I could dream many things.
    What wouldn’t I give for a whole day
    For anything I so much desire?

     – Sarah ><>

    PS.  I wrote a new poem last night!  First on in about 5 months!  🙂  Maybe it’s coming back!  🙂

  • Poem: He First Loved Me

      Here is a poem that I particularly like.  The title should strike a cord with my Calvin-buddies out there.  🙂  No, that’s not really a just statement, because regardless of whether you lean Calvinist or not, you have to acknowledge that God loved us first because we were made by Him, and knew Him not until we were created.  He loved us before He made us.  Isn’t that wonderful?

      When you read the first part, it looks like it doesn’t fit, but at the time of writing, I was struggling with having just come out of a relationship, or something of the like.  I can’t remember.  God has blessed me with a short-term memory to some heartaches in my past…without taking away the lessons learned.  But, as always, my introspective self sought to determine my motives for serving God.  Several came to mind, which are mentioned below.  But God’s still, small voice…his gentle whisper…comes through and reminds me that I am not my own and would be lost without Him. 

      I had a discussion with my boss yesterday about how hard it is to think that good will come from bad events in our lives…yet, God promises us that He will make good of them.  It’s hard to see…and somehow, God has graciously helped my heart bypass doubt that the bad will turn good, and when something bad is happening, I am already looking with hope to the good…whatever it may be.  I know that not everyone is able to do that though…so I am grateful for it.  BUT, back to the conversation…we discussed some of the bad things that have happened in her life, and I pointed out some things that I noticed as far as good that has come from those things having happened to her.  It was neat.  She said that with the things that have happened in my own life, she’s surprised that I didn’t turn out more wild and unruly than I am. 

      I think it was Billy Graham who said that the reason God made him a preacher wasn’t because he was such a good guy.  It was because he is capable of such bad things that God decided to keep him on a shorter leash than others.  Maybe that’s how it is for me.  I’m no better than anyone else, but I’m certainly capable of some evil things.  I reflected that thought in this poem.  I hope you can relate to it as you read.  Thanks!

    He First Loved Me

    July 19th, 2005

    I feel I’ve let You down again.
    I was walking around and got distracted
    By the handsome faces
    And beautiful words. Oh, I flutter at those.
    I asked myself, “Self, why do you
    Do so much for God and His Cause?”
    Some thoughts in me cry, “She’s weak!”
    “She’s too good!” “She’s afraid!”
    Ah, fear. Yes, I do believe that’s a big one.
    I stay with God because I’m afraid of what my life would be,
    Without Him.
    I do fear the world, though I discreetly hide it.
    I fail to open myself up for fear of
    Being sucked in and lost in the morass.
    Or worse! Afraid of being hurt…
    But one thought does speak softly,
    It sticks out in the meekness of its nature.
    “Because you love Him.”
    And I think – I love Him because He first loved me.
    Yes, so I will take my rest in those words.
    “He first loved me.”

     – Sarah ><>

  • Poem: Hallelujah / How Could It Be?

    I couldn’t settle on a title for this poem…so, I just used both.  I wrote this just following my return from an amazing trip…where God showed me so much of myself and the world, and a void that was out there.  I think this could be a song, but right now it’s just a poem, b/c I lack talent in lyric-making.  Enjoy!

    The structure of the first stanza is imagery through the feel of the words.  It feels like a river going over rapids.  To get this effect, utilize the fact that there are no punctuation marks.  So, just read straight through the lines, one after another without any pause between them.  The second and third stanzas have a completely different rhythm and are more songlike.  Read them as thus.  Thanks!

    Hallelujah / How Could It Be?

    August 29th, 2004

    Stepping on new ground
    The wind at my back
    A call from ahead
    My heart’s yearning to listen
    Drinking the water of
    Life overflowing with
    Joy and a peace and a love
    That is growing
    Deep in my soul
    Deep in my mind where the
    Darkness subsides and the
    Light’s getting brighter

    Hallelujah
    Your righteousness calls
    And moves my heart to obey
    How could it be?
    How could this blessing be?

    Hallelujah
    Your calling is clear
    Though the future is cloudy at best
    How could it be?
    How could You be guiding me?

     – Sarah ><>

  • Poem: My Son I Send You

    This poem….I don’t know how to describe it.  I was going to a real earthy kind of feel with it.  The lines of repeating words are to feel like echoes…emphasizing the verbs in the previous lines.  It’s from God’s perspective to us.  I hope you like it:

    My Son I Send You

    May 31st, 2004

    I’m calling for you
    Calling, calling
    Longing for you
    Longing, longing

    My love I send you
    Sending, sending
    Your heart, I’ll mend you
    Mending, mending

    I dread what ends you
    Dreading, dreading
    I’ll tread this for you
    Treading, treading

    My Son I send you
    Sending, sending
    My child, I love you
    Loving, loving

     – Sarah ><>

  • Poem: Just You and Me

    This piece is kind of a strange one.  I think that when I sat down to write this, I was thinking of me and a boy…and it just ended up about me and God…in the intimate relationship of a Father and daughter.  Enjoy!

    Just You And Me

    February 24, 2004

    it’s just you and me
    sitting here together
    just you and me
    thinking on my dreams
    help me to love you
    as you have loved me
    if it’s just you and me

    mold my dreams
    to your perfect plan
    it’s just you without me
    that matters the most
    pull my eyes from them
    who would pull my focus
    from just you and me

     – Sarah ><>

  • Poem: Nighttime

    I love the night, the feel of it…being outside…I love dusk.  I love the stars and lightning bugs.  So here’s a poem that brings all of those elements together.  It was published by the National Poet’s Society…but, please, don’t let that impress you…they’d publish the result of a child pounding their fists on a keyboard…honestly…someone tried it.  It worked.  🙂

    Nighttime

    2003

    Have you ever tried to chase the moon?
    As its soft yellow crescent rocks down to the horizon?

    While the stars dance around it
    and drip light through the seas that darken its surface.

    Have you seen it grow as it dips beneath the skyline and peeks through the trees
    that toss it back and forth,
    and forth and back?

    What wonderful magic the dark sky plays on the watchful eyes of a child,
    sitting and connecting the stars into heroes and villains and damsels.

    While grass collects the dew between his fingers and
    sticks to the toes of a girl
    as she chases the lightning bugs that bring the stars so much closer to us.

     – Sarah ><>

  • Poem: Horses of the Apocalypse

    So, this poem…I’m not sure what explanation is needed.  I wrote this when I was a junior in high school.  I used a strange form of alliteration, by beginning each line with the letter A.  It’s based on the account of the four horsemen of Revelation.  Enjoy!

    Horses of the Apocalypse

    September 28, 2000

    At the sound of the trumpet, clops can be heard.
    A blur in the distance comes slowly into view.
    A man gallantly sitting on a horse of white, draws
    An unarmed bow.
    A crown placed on his head, given to give
    Awful power to conquer the strongest nations.
    Another horse and man ride and follow.
    Able to diminish the peace of the world on his fiery stallion.
    A sword of steel is poised in his hand.
    After the first and the second,
    A steed, black as pitch and tar
    And the darkest of evil and sin,
    Approaches with a rider of famine,
    Always unbalancing the scales that he holds.
    Away he comes to starve the earth.
    As they trot away to uphold the fate,
    All people cry out as the next canters in.
    Anatomy the color of a face frightened to
    Almost nothing.
    A rider upon the palest mare, named Death
    Arriving to destroy the world in numbers.
    At the end, however,
    At last, comes a mighty white horse, with
    An angel of nobility and honor upon his back.
    A name that was known only to him, written on his
    Arm. He races off with
    An army following. He defeats the evil AntiChrist
    And throws him into the fiery lake.

     – Sarah ><>

  • Poem: Loneliness

    I wrote this poem when I was very young as well.  I was in 8th grade, actually.  But, here you go.

    Loneliness

    August 31, 1997

    Loneliness is just a state of mind,
    Nobody is actually alone, yet people say they are.
    Maybe they can’t see someone but He’s there.
    He surrounds them with love and understading, though they don’t feel the Warmth.
    So many people say they’re alone, but few take the chance to see if it’s true.

     – Sarah ><>