life | a poem in my pocket

Christmas lessons & carols

16 Dec 2025 13 Comments

by lynn__ in rhyming verse Tags: baby, God, heart, life, Magdalena, miracles, pray

At dVerse poets , we look back on 2025 for the last poetics prompt of the year…

Looking back in rearview mirror,

on events of past month of year,

swipe tissue under blurry eyes

and serve up slice of humble pie.

Sweet baby, born before her time,

fits beautifully in family line

but tiny heart anomaly

means coming home not yet to be.

God, in his wisdom, has a plan

higher than that of mortal man;

helpless we feel to watch and wait

while surgeon’s skills work delicate.

Magdalena will live her name

demonic power of death won’t reign;

her will to live is stubborn, strong

her parents, faith-full, walk along.

Grandparents care for brother, Gid

( and wonder at precocious kid! )

family and friends all watch and pray,

believe in miracles today!

who will save the poets?!

17 Mar 2025 26 Comments

by lynn__ in prosery Tags: creation, destruction, hell, life, light, lullaby, rebels

Bjorn invites us to write 144 words of prosery incorporating a specific line from Leonard Cohen…check out prompt at dVerse Poets.

We desire the source; seek essence of light, love, and life itself.

Recognize great I AM who ignited the sun, hung the moon, sparked stars, spun planets. He formed man in His image from earth’s dirt and breathed life into limp lungs. Ribbing aside, he brought woman to help lonely man and declared pairing to be very good. Their love would fill the earth with children.

But the Enemy, who hates God and his creation, deceives willing humans with promises of autonomy, wealth, and power. We’ve become a race of rebels, bent on destruction of ourselves, each other, and our garden planet. We turn away from a loving Father and insist on choosing shadowed paths.

So you want it darker? We can blow out flickering candles of hope one by one …but do you ever wonder if there’s a lullaby for suffering in hell?

note to self

05 Nov 2024 16 Comments

by lynn__ in free verse Tags: joy, life, love, present, today, yes

say “yes” to TODAY, here
with its possibilities and also
its impossibilities; accept our limits
and yet look beyond ourselves…yes!

say “yes” to LOVE, not only
being loved but being the lover
look around to see who needs you
stretch familiarly toward people…yes!

say “yes” to LIFE, the gift
to dwell in this present moment
we will pass through here but once
to engage with exuberance…oh, yes!

say “yes” to JOY, in your heart
have something to shine and share
spy beauty everywhere, all around
count blessings in little things…YES!

Linking to dVerse poetics where Merril encourages us to choose JOY (even on election day)!

pi in the sky

19 Jul 2024 2 Comments

by lynn__ in ekphrastic Tags: chaos, life, numbers, order, pi, threads, yarns

life…
we’d like to
wrap it neatly
in a tight ball of
colorful yarns; the
stories and scenes
we’ve experienced till
now…but it seems that
no matter how hard we try
the numbers are indecipherable
and unresolved ends fray out loosely
yet… there’s an inexplicable order to the chaos
and the total effect of our threads is beautifully woven.

*Digital artwork titled “Pi, the never ending nebula” by Shaharee*

mono no aware

21 May 2024 18 Comments

by lynn__ in haibun Tags: bride, cats, death, life, lilacs, spring

Mono no aware is not only “a Japanese idiom for the awareness of … the transience of things.” It’s a paradigm through which the Japanese view life. Linking this haibun to dVerse where Frank hosts.

Neighborhood cats chase one another through backyards, loudly caterwauling in the night. Five interested toms follow one breathless tabby who flees under the deck. Food dish is ignored in this spring mating frenzy. Once she’s bred, hormones calm, kittens develop and toms slink away.

Lilacs bud in May, one of the first blossoms to appear. The tight buds open to a thousand tiny flowerets, blooming in bunches of profligate purple display. The delicate scent of each cluster concentrates on fragrant breezes. After a few days, the heads wither and flowers fall.

Young couple speaks wedding vows on sunny May day. The bride wears sleeveless lace gown with tiny corseted waist and magnificent hoop skirt. A fingertip veil, lacey wristlets, and ballet flats complete her bridal finery. She dies of asthma complications a month past their 4th anniversary.

brief season of life
actors pass across the stage
cherish spring vignettes

deep waters

09 Jan 2024 29 Comments

by lynn__ in quadrille Tags: lagoon, life, memories, Nicaragua, perspective

lagoon in my memories
fills dormant volcano crater;
nicaraguan vendors encircle
tourists as mountains surround
deep blue pocket of aquatic life.

lagoon of my memories
fills crevices of heart and mind;
as faces from childhood encircle
present experience, surrounding
deeply personal perspective on life.

_______

Quadrille (44 words) linked to Melissa’s prompt at dVerse poets on “lagoon”.

holy week triolet

05 Apr 2023 5 Comments

by lynn__ in scripture, triolet Tags: cross, crucifixion, Jesus, life, love, resureection, sin

if we believe, we will be saved
remember how God loves us still
although it’s true we live depraved
if we believe, we will be saved
from idols that keep souls enslaved
we can’t be freed by our own will
if we believe, we will be saved
remember how God loves us still

dear Jesus offered life on cross
blood of pure lamb is shed for sin
sin brings us death, despair, chaos
dear Jesus offered life on cross
estranged from Father, such a loss
when God turned face away from him
dear Jesus offered life on cross
blood of pure lamb is shed for sin

Christ is risen, he lives today
come look, the grave is now empty!
women witness what angels say
“Christ is risen, he lives today!”
our heavy stone is rolled away
john and peter run fast to see
Christ is risen, he lives today
come look, the grave is now empty!

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content (ment)

03 Apr 2023 2 Comments

by lynn__ in free verse Tags: contentment, cup, happiness, life, overflows

word for the year to be

satisfied with our situation

whether cup overflows or

seems only half full or even

down to dregs in the bottom.

not irritable or restless, soul

holds happiness ever lightly

for it may fly… and now is

how life is meant to be;

the best is yet to come!

life is brief

04 Nov 2022 5 Comments

by lynn__ in haiku, scripture Tags: breath, life, mist

we’re but passing mist

our lifespan a breath of God

shadows seen through fog

James 4:14

world poetry day

21 Mar 2022 4 Comments

by lynn__ in american sentence Tags: Anna, life, poem, savor

Life is a poem; mysterious and beautiful…savor every phrase!

our choice

06 May 2021 19 Comments

by lynn__ in Uncategorized Tags: choice, death, life, palinode

embrace death

it is everyone’s end

accept the coldness

into your spirit well

before it strikes you

down, go down to it

II.

choose life

to live every day

accept what it gives

with an open spirit

don’t let life slip away

step up, live up to it

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live.” –Deuteronomy 30:19 NIV

Palinode poem where first verse is refuted by second…link to dVerse poetics with Grace hosting today.

a poem in my pocket