photo by Lynne Collier
Sometimes affection
Most times not
Once in a while, a purr
Knows how to cause trouble with
Express runs across furniture but
Yes, we love you anyway
An acrostic poem is written from a vertical word about a specific topic, as I did in “S.M.O.K.E.Y.”
Each letter in the topic word is the first letter of a line of poetry.
Each line is part of the poem. Here, the subject is my cat, Smokey — my writing supervisor!
~ Lynne
Haiku from the gardens at White Rose Shire
I learned this today
if it quacks like a duck it may
just be a Wood Frog
I was intrigued by a new sound coming from the pond. It wasn’t the usual chorus of mating Peeper frogs ensuring the survival of their species. That was always a welcome sound in late March at the shire because it meant spring was surely arriving soon.
This was a more robust sound, like many ducks debating in the House of Commons. Loud opinions and louder rebuttals in a constant vie to be heard.
After searching Google for an hour or so, I found the name of our very vocal lodgers. Who would have thought a frog could quack like a duck?
Listen to the Wood Frog call and learn about their mating habits.
~ Lynne
News spews endless atrocities
every minute of every day of every week
wars and politics and wars about politics
and countless voices vying for attention
with urgent needs and opinions
while speeding cars and trucks race
like rats away and back again.
But I wasn’t created for this.
I don’t believe any of us were —
in the beginning.
There was a time long ago when a minute
held less but much more at the same time
when it was filled with quiet stillness
and the only things busying were the bees.
A time similar to this one minute
when all is quiet in the early morning
and the only sounds are the minute as it ticks by
and the chorus of the dawn
singing a sweet melody of belonging
and the calm breeze rustling the birch with a voice
like a thousand silver coins falling from heaven
as it meanders along the road
carrying news from grazing cows
that all is intrinsically right with the world.
I take a minute to listen —
take a minute to not do
take a minute to simply be –
in gratitude that I’m part of this
magnificent minute of creation.
~ Lynne
*This poem was originally posted in the publication Weeds & Wildflowers on Medium, May 28. 2022
What if all that God requires of me
is the simplest thing
as I wake in the morning
before I do any other thing
before I make any other decision
about what to eat
or what to wear
before I speak
or comb my hair
before I sit at my desk
what if I simply ask
“What do You have for me today?”
and listen to what He has to say?
What if it’s that simple? I mean, really that simple? Have we been overcomplicating this trust in God thing?
Have we wasted so much time reading the perfect study books and taking the ideal writing courses? Maybe attending the excellent workshops or listening to the ones we think have the perfect biblical answers?
I was busy doing all of those things and getting nowhere until I remembered that God had the answers to all my questions. He knew me better and more intimately than anyone else.
Better than anyone who I thought knew what was best for me. He knew my struggles and how I could overcome the fogginess in my mind and aching in my heart. And who knows social media marketing algorithms better?
“It’s acceptable. It’s been normalized. It’s expected. But that doesn’t make it right.”
Kimberley Payne’s devotional on ‘Busyness.’
I wanted to serve Him, but I’d forgotten to ask what He wanted me to do!
Now I make sure I choose to ask God every morning before I do anything else. I thank Him for the new day and the opportunity to serve Him as His daughter.
I wait for Him to speak to me and ask what He wants me to learn that day. Then I choose one devotional book and follow the writer’s prompts to read further in Scripture.
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29–30, NIV)
I usually get a prompt to think about something throughout the day. Sometimes I get an idea for a short memoir or a few lines for a poem! Sometimes I’m led to talk with a friend or maybe pray for someone that suddenly comes to mind out of the blue.
All other things stand firm in their rightful position for the day if that one foundation is laid first. Even if I’m not prompted to do anything, I know I’m still in His will because I did the simplest thing first — I asked.
So, as I go about my day, I occasionally pause and listen, content to wait for His answer.
“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33–34 NIV)
*This post was initially published by Lynne on Medium in the publication Koinonia on April 29, 2022
*As an Amazon associate, I may receive a commission on book sales.
Splintered wood, roughly hewn,
awaits unjust death.
Nails, crudely hammered,
mercilessly driven
through hands that healed.
On the tree He created,
His torn flesh hangs.
But, mercy still comforts the sinner
between the agony of every breath,
’til it is finished
and the Son is glorified by the Father.
(first published in Medium)
~ Lynne
Based on verses from the book of Luke (NIV):
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23: 39–43. NIV)
Lynne Collier 