Time has stop.
The waves lap at the feet of us.
The water is red,
Some black as us skin.
In front of us… is kin,
Or we thought was.
Their skin is white,
Like angel,
One that don’t reach you with hands,
But whip to skin.
While some decide to stand beside us,
We not accept them.
Not because they bad,
Because others were.
They think we dumb,
They do not know we
Outside of Hell.
And while it hail at sea
We sing our song.
“Jua ni mpangilio katika nchi za Magharibi;
Malaika wakinitazama, Bwana wangu.
Lala mtoto wangu, pumzika;
Malaika wakinitazama.”
They hit,
Yell,
Saying down.
We not dog.
We brother,
All blood red.
So we scream the song,
Loud for all,
Until the day we free.
Time has begun.
It’s 2025,
Where even clouds have eyes.
We’re shot down
By our fellow brethren.
We put down those blacker than us,
Mock those lighter.
We’ve conformed to the white man’s religion,
And see them as idols.
Our song is gone,
Our soul faded.
We are not all bad,
But we’ve become jaded.
(Remember that no one can assail, but Christ the Candlestand, can remove that candlestand, and can rip that veil, even as Hell will not prevail from His attack.) Matthew 16;18
(“For we can do nothing against the truth, but [only] for the truth.” 2 Corinthians 13:8)
Christ is referred to as both Lion and Lamb (Revelation 5:5-6). In Him is peace (Isaiah 11:6). He will bring about peace as we struggle (with Him at our side, as our Guide) being conformed from the “old man” to the “new man”. Romans Chapter 6
[1] Revelation 3:20
[2] John 8:58
[3] John 10:11; 1 Peter 2:25
[4] Malachi 3:2
[5] Haggai 2:8 Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
[6] Galatians 6:2
[7] Psalm 119
[8] Psalm 23:4
[9] Ephesians 5:15
[10] Isaiah 11:10
[11] Colossians 3:1-11
[12] Matthew 16:17-19
A memory you can’t forget
A place that never felt like home
Is a conversation you never had
I want to write poetry that says something real.
Something that listens while it speaks.
Something deep that digests before it eats.
Something to move you without feet.
The ache of morning after a windless night
Is like a person you still hear in your head
A spoken word that was never said in a book that was never read
A tree split from the weight of waiting
The way silence pools under bare branches
A path made by things that don’t wear shoes
Branches arguing with light at the end of the day
When someone said the sky ends, and you believed it
You were told to dream big so you can achieve it at the same-time
The fake real world told you to be realistic.
The first lie that made your heart race after it was told to your face
The moment you realized grown-ups didn’t always know.
The night the power went out and didn’t come back the same
For the young dreamer who dreamed big
and let their imagination run wild
has come back down to earth
and conformed to a mainstream world.
the cat chair was loved from 1962 to this day
It was purchased with lots of moola by my Aunt Fay
At the time it was shocking, nothing other women would buy
She was ahead of her years, she conformed to no woman or guy
Aunt Fay loved the cat chair, it was reserved for her alone
We did not dare sit in it, even to talk on the phone
For it was her domain, her favorite furniture piece by far
Her next favorite possession was her two-toned Riviera car.
It hurts because;
we were once so close until drugs made you a drifter.
The person you used to be... I miss her.
It's as though I lost a piece - the best piece of me
&& now I'm just someone's little sister.
I'm scared because;
you doesn't see your beauty,
or shout with courage anymore.
I'm scared because you’re hurting and I don't know what to do.
I'm just someone's little sister who's afraid of losing you.
I'm angry because;
I knew - you denied - and so begun the divide.
Their fingers pointed back at me,
and I became the liar fueled by jealousy.
boundaries were formed while others conformed.
but "family protects family"
until you're just someone's little sister.
Preserved from original sin by grace given by God,
In preparation for what she would do.
She lived to give the Father all glory praise and laud,
And in her loving care the Christ Child lived and grew.
She maintained her faith in Him even to the cross,
Always pointing out to us the Way.
Through her joys and sorrows, her glories and her loss,
We see an example of how to live each day.
The little handmaid of the Lord, great things are done for her,
So, we lay our worries by her side.
In her intercession, our confidence is sure.
For she points us to God, she is our certain guide.
Finally, the Virgin, preserved from every sin,
When the course of her earthly life was done,
Was taken into heaven, assumed body and soul,
That she might be conformed even closer to her Son.
We ask if there be merit in the sand
Conformed from heart and hand on summer’s day?
However well the moat and turrets planned,
The lapping of the sea’s not far away.
O, that the tide shall come, we know too well:
Then dream and substance shall together fall.
A Babylon for which no tongue shall tell;
The sea, the settling sea, shall settle all.
And that shall come, but yet, it is not now,
And all of time is moments such as these;
Before the fall, there is not need to bow;
The sea shall come, but now, the warming breeze.
And if it soon shall end, as so it be,
There’s yet our moment still, before the sea.
Ready for New Year flight
Redeemed souls shout blest plight
Restored hearts turn aright
Renewed* minds reach great height
Revived lives now delight
Reaching-out with faith's might
Rejoicing in God’s light
*Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
December 28, 2024
2nd place, "New Chance with Pleiades for the New Year" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Andrea Dietrich; judged on 1/1/2025
You tried so long studying me,
That I gave up allowing you to see anything,
You treated my heart like it was a game,
You analyzed me for your own personal gain,
You used me for all your lessons and speeches,
My life was the topic with your intellectual leeches,
You took all their opinions and conformed your own take,
You even had the audacity to try to figure out my spiritual name,
Which by the way, you would have never guessed then,
Because it's very uncommon and it was hidden from your hands,
God placed a veil over me, because He saw what was going on,
So He took the extra measure to protect my heart,
You viewed me as unwise, and not worth your time,
You allowed your own label from others to define,
So I stopped speaking and then I allowed you to assume,
So then maybe God would allow you to see you,
My intent was pure as I was hoping yours was the same,
If you didn't make it a game I would have told you my name,
HAVE YOU EVER STOPPED TO WONDER, WHAT HEAVEN WILL BE LIKE?
Have you ever stopped to wonder, what heaven will be like?...the mansion God has promised, of beauty, splendor, and light.
Have you ever stopped to wonder, when we cross the river of life? We all will live forever-no more pain, sorrow, or strife!
Have you ever stopped to wonder, when our bodies He’ll transform…changed to become immortal...like Jesus to be conformed.
Have you ever stopped to wonder, when His face at last we’ll see? Oh what a glorious
vision,, what bliss what ecstasy!
Have you ever stopped to wonder, the reason why He came? …to give us life eternal,
by believing in His name.
Have you ever stopped to wonder, why He suffered on that tree?...stripped,
whipped, and tortured, He died there to set us free.
Have you ever stopped to wonder?
Have you ever stopped?
Have you ever?
Have you?
Circumstance lost control;
Lost obstacles betrothed;
Whom am I to unanswer the call;
While on my stomach vividly I crawl;
Points of random denial;
Circumcised heart chiseled because of its hardness;
No longer harden massaged by the Father's hands;
Beautifully conformed I am;
Shore beautiful
I am moved in grace, present before His face;
A child of the Righteousness of Father God;
Endowed in His amazing grace;
2/25/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024
"Monet's paintings are best seen from afar than close up," ... by Poet.
Faraway the figment, like Monet the pigment,
the brother so gallant, how he flaunts his talent,
he paints at a farness, like a horse to harness.
On art, less than tasteful, funds spent a bit wasteful,
hence, see he a crackpot, three prunes be his jackpot.
The other, quill--fountain--built a tidy mountain,
first bees in a bonnet when he wrote a sonnet,
then that which was timeless 'twas wrote poems rhymeless.
Mom gave, 'twas none cheaply, had pockets dug deeply,
both brothers did cherish, their sinful ways perish.
Mom was not devious, planned she thought previous.
saw her boys sinister, she aimed to minister,
The Word generated, the cloth, venerated.
Conformed beautifully, her sons dutifully,
tale of our brotherhood, as she vowed motherhood.
I Midas
King Midas' greed for riches was such
That everything turned to gold in his clutch,
As did his daughter one day
When she got in the way.
Much better for her had they not kept in touch.
II Arthur
The Camelot tale is a wonderful fable,
And King Arthur and knights were all equally able,
But had trouble deciding
Just who was presiding
When no one could sit at the head of the table.
III The Emperor (the one with the new clothes)
The vain Emperor was pleased, as he gazed in the glass,
At how well his new trousers conformed to his ass.
The fabric, so sheer,
With one crease in the rear,
And the "zipper" in front, though demure, was pure class.
The apostle Paul makes this appeal
to all who were Christians at this time
they were to present themselves sacrificially
living holy lives pleasing to the divine
This was to be their spiritual worship
just as God had ordered them to be
for God looks for purity in His worship
only in His mercy can we be set free
God's message is at this time
is to this world be not conformed
have no idols but only God alone
make your mind to be transformed
Learn well in discerning God's will
so be instructed to know by His test
then what's good, acceptable, and perfect
making this a continuous quest
In summary, bring yourself to God
be truly a living sacrifice for your Lord
this is God's requirement for His own
so be living for God lifting your sword
(" I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.")
Romand 12: 1-2 (ESV)
O how had I always fallen back;
With days full of retrogressions, alack!
I was degenerate;
Surely a youth of no notable rate.
My existence was like an ungodly song
With defiled rhythms was it sung
Wherewith I dreamed no dream
And saw no, not a gleam
For there was no light in me to reflect;
So my star could take no effect.
I was consumed by the darkness
Of mundane blissfulness,
Which was deceptive to inward madness.
I thought I was living happily;
Alas! I was dying virtually,
Forgetful that Life could wane out for itself alone
And hand over me to my Maker whom I never knew.
But there came an hour
At the Annual National Campus Community Congress
Of the Deeper Life campus fellowship
Entitled `Excelsior`
For bringing Life and Hope to intellectuals
And equipping them to reach the utmost height:
Where I wholly got transformed.
I was taught to be purposeful, and not lust to be conformed
I could then soar to the farthest height
And ignited became my light
Revived to live for Christ the Saviour
After which I farewelled failure.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.