In praise of poetry

Some of you wanted me to write a verse for National poetry day - here is my offering!

It’s national poetry day and so
I am required to write a verse
And yet no subject comes to mind
It stays quite blank - what could be worse?

And so I’ll write my thoughts and see
If fruitful my endeavours be.
For what is poetry if not
The musings of this brain I’ve got?
Would I be quite as bold in speech
If poetry was out of reach?
Could I express myself as well
Or of my hearts intentions tell
If I had only prose, not rhyme?
I fear my heart might be confined
To reason, logic, cold, contained
Within a sentence - literal chains.
For poetry gives thoughts a chance
To fly and soar and leap and dance
It opens doors and breathes fresh air
Allows our love to be declared
Permits our fears to be explored
The rhyming words can’t be ignored
For in our hearts a welcome waits
For anything that liberates

And so today quite rightly so
We celebrate the art of rhyme
From days long past to present hours
It’s proudly stood the test of time!

Karen Holmes
October 6th 2011

He inhabits our praise

Written for the service at church on 2nd October this poem is all about the extra "stuff" we take with us to church - and often everywhere else.  I'm a good example of this is a natural sense as I always have a bag of stuff - jelly babies, insulin, blood test kit etc etc.  Spiritually though we carry a lot of extra "baggage" emotional stuff, worries and fears for the future.  This poem suggests we own that stuff but declare to it that our God is bigger!

I have turned up this morning with baggage
I take it wherever I go
There is worry and illness and fear and concern
For my family and folk that I know

I’ve compressed it as best I know how to
In the hope it will take up less room
But there’s times when it all overwhelms me
And I worry I’ll explode one day soon.

I’ve been told to lay all of it down at the cross
And I do - very often I’ve tried
But it seems there exists and invisible thread
With a knot that I cannot untie.

So I drag it around - such a burden
And it’s here again with me today
And I’ve told God about it in detail
All my pain He has heard when I pray.

But this morning let all that still holds me
Bear witness and grow ever weak
To learn just how great and how mighty
Is the God whose due praises we speak.

Let the bonds of each worry be loosened
That invisible thread become frayed
For Jesus, God’s son brought us freedom
When our debts on the cross He repaid.

He inhabit’s the praise of His people
In His presence is fullness of joy
And liberty, freedom, release, restoration
Are ours, despite Satan’s vile ploy.

We’ll lift up the name above all names
And our vision of Him will increase
So that we can move forward with courage
And take a step nearer true peace.

Karen Holmes
24th September 2011.