Fair maiden with the locks of molten gold,
Whose gentle grace doth make the sun seem dim,
No earthly treasure that the heavens hold
Can match thy virtue, pure in every limb.
Thine eyes, like morning dew upon the rose,
Do awaken all my spirit with delight;
When darkness falls and all the world doth close,
Thy shining tresses guide me through the night.
Sweet lady, let my humble heart draw near,
To tender thee a vow that shall endure;
Through every changing season of the year,
My love for thee abides forever sure.
No fleeting time can fade thy radiant hair,
Nor dim the sweet perfection of thy face;
For God hath framed no creature half so fair,
Nor crowned a maiden with so bright a grace.
Written: September 14, 2026, for a contest sponsored by: Andrea Dietrich
****************
Salt stings your tears, each glistening bead of sadness.
Your breathing finds its natural rhythm, as if found
beneath the grief, a pulse untouched by innocence.
I mistook your quiet for apathy, yet innocence
remained—a fragile flame beneath the weight of sadness,
a sporadic, sparkling smile of something you had found.
Lost friends, lost years, yet somehow you found
a grace that gathered up your scattered innocence,
and gently lifted you beyond your darker sadness.
Perhaps God found innocence within your sadness.
looking at the state
of this world surrounding me
anxiety poverty and despair
are all I now see
but for the grace of God
I'd be in the same dire straits
but for the grace of God
I'm grateful that I ain't
take a moment be grateful
give God all the glory
take a moment be grateful
God's mercy was afforded to me
but for the grace of God
I'd be in the same dire straits
but for the grace of God
I'm grateful that I ain't
the only things promised in life
are the love of God
plus His grace and mercy
which I take to heart
and I'll never forget the actions
of Jesus Christ
the Resurrection which gave me
an opportunity to have eternal life
take a moment be grateful
give God all the glory
take a moment be grateful
He's writing my story
but for the grace of God
I'd be in the same dire straits
but for the grace of God
I'm grateful that I ain't
but for the grace of God
I'd be in the same dire straits
but for the grace of God,
I'm grateful that I ain't
Rising, with the mist
Sunrise, how I’ve missed
Brilliant light, so alive
Morning song will survive
Birds fly across the skies
Muffled, breathless sighs
Reasons for warmth of dawn
Erasing shadows from the lawn
Oh, laughing sun, rising bright
Rescuing hearts from the night
It’s Sunday morning, this day
Will surely offer a chance to pray
For the joy, peace and love
That comes to us from God above
Always faithful, like the sun
Showing us that we’ve just begun
To see the wonders of our life
And feel the love healing strife
We’re surely given each new day
To lift our hands, praise and say
God is blessing our souls with grace
No matter how powerful the dark we face
Always, morning comes to reveal
God’s new hope our hearts can’t conceal
He is the Master who created all
Thanks to His gift, His gentle call
We know, this Sunday, as we pray
We’re full of thanks every Lord’s Day!
Line of inquiry:
“Neither desire nor aversion
Meditation our immersion
Conditioned beliefs discarded
Hymns we hum are our own version”
A child I was, when Nuns taught me in school;
so God was with me from an early age.
The catechism shaped for me each rule-
my soul's foundation at this tender stage,
to help unlock a door I would engage.
My reading about God was not the key-
but seeing what He is- enlightened me.
That feeling that He's near in all I do,
the balances of nature, my guarantee-
internal hymns of love, faith, hope, accrue.
I sing the hymn of Love through family,
and feel God's care is echoed from each heart.
I sing the Hymn of Faith, a tapestry
of sunset glow that leads to a fresh start,
and sing my Hymn of Hope on new day's chart.
Love, Faith, and Hope are His Amazing Grace-
my heart and soul, with God there, interface.
Her haven wasn’t grand or wide;
no sweeping place to run or hide.
It lived in smaller things she kept~
a teacup where the morning slept,
a folded napkin, soft with wear,
a breath she balanced in the air.
She found her refuge in the pause
between two sentences—because
that quiet space, so slight, so thin,
let calm collect and settle in.
A spoon against a porcelain rim
became a steadying hymn for her,
a sound that asked her heart to stay
a moment more before the day.
Her haven wasn’t built to last
or hold the weight of shadows cast.
It simply offered gentle ground,
grace in tiny places she had found~
the ones that ask for nothing new,
yet give her back a clearer view.
No grand escape, no sweeping plan~
just smallness doing what it can.
A haven shaped by quiet art,
no larger than a beating heart.
A quiet enchantment needs
no stage to captivate.
A sudden, incandescent grace
illuminates the crowded room,
Disarming every hardened heart
with effortless benevolence,
An unpretentious, magnetic
warmth that softly draw us
near.
It leaves a lingering,
unforgettable impression in its
wake,
Enthralling spirits without a
single ostentatious word,
A fleeting, beautiful magic
woven into the quietest breath.
I sat again on that old broken bench at the park,
Watching birds, people, and the last rays of the sun fade by,
Remembering our final words—spoken so far from kind.
A single tear I had to shed for the moments lost in time.
The skies turned suddenly ominous, though I knew not why—
But by the grace of God, a little girl smiled, ever so bright,
And I finally realized: forgiveness is not so far behind.
His light, falls gently
Erasing the melancholy
The summer’s grief
Restless praises, stirred
By the music of a grace
Beyond the heavens,
Where love can amaze….
Sweet notes of praise,
On lips of leaf and life
When starlight trembles
Keeping away this strife…
Autumn’s brisk light
Falls across the night
Where melancholy
Whispers to a moon so bright,
Streams of tear like dewdrops
Rest on the soul who knows
Whatever comes in this life
God above will exalt…
Every heart who remembers
He is One who knows me best
And, with Him, life is forever blessed!
“a heartbeat pulsating as living light
free from each and every limitation
I Am that dwelling in unbound delight
the source wherefrom arises creation”
My compass is set:
Forward alignmed by faith through grace.
I do not control life’s challenges,
but I command my response.
I am that I live for my purpose,
not for the world’s praise.
I do not bend;
I do not break;
I do not look back.
I am that, I am of a human sponge,
Whom listens, observers and absorbs lifes lessons and learn from its mistakes!
For this is my creed!
Stalker
Revelation 21:4
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
King James Version (KJV)
The scary thing, the scariest thing
Is it hell? Could be hell
For me, the thought of leaving this earth
Without Him…
To escort me from earth, to everlasting
To usher me from death, to life eternal
To shepherd me, from darkness to light
The scary thing, the scariest thing
Is the hell that is hotter than a fire
The hell where God’s love is never
A place where God’s light can’t fill up the shadows
Hell is a place where a soul will never know
The sweetness of peace that is death’s great relief
The blessing of a light that shines, forever bright
The beauty of heaven, where He is wiping away tears
Heaven, where He is there to reveal
Heartfelt joy, everlasting wonder
Melodies so rich, like honey, sweeter
Sweeter than the moment of birth
So that death, the dreaded stalker
Fades into the Presence who is eternal,
Full of love, His Son will comfort the soul supernal
Grace in every detail
Never have I
Been surprised
He’s by myside
He is in side
Yahweh Redeemer, Horn of Salvation
Light of the world
He is… I am of the Lord
The way
Good shepherd
Root of David Lamb of God
Yahweh Redeemer, Horn of Salvation
Light of the world
He is… I am of the Lord
The way
Good shepherd
Root of David Lamb of God
Grace in every detail
Never have I
Been surprised
He’s by myside
He is in side of me
Grace in every detail
9/2/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2026©
A man made out of dust/ dirt and clay;
Comes not now through the womb;
His awaited anointed place space;
His entrance through the womb;
From grace, to faith, to space place the womb into a room;
First eternity with the Father, Elohim;
Now spirit birth into a flesh a vessel of mankind;
Concurring energies graced, to faith, in space into womb-man;
God man and womb-man jointly co create;
Humans
9/2/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2026©
I wrote a story
About love and life,
My life, my love
All the memories, some strife
I wrote of joy,
There was peace and praise
Hearts were broken
But love would always amaze
I wrote of wonders,
So many reasons
For heartfelt smiles,
All those seasons!
I wrote of dreams
It’s hard to believe
All those treasures
I just couldn’t conceive
I wrote of grief
That came from caring
Suffering and tears
My soul I was sharing
I wrote of a lifetime
Of prayer and hope
So many changes
I found ways to cope
I wrote of beauty
In the starlit nights
Beautiful music
In the still morning lights
I wrote of knowing
How it feels to mourn
My heart is comforted
Despite this pain I’ve worn
I wrote of blessings,
Some days were so good
Every season of life
I’ve known, I’ve understood…
It is Jesus who tells me
What it means to know
The love that is with me
Love that gives a soft glow
But that final page,
The page when I’m gone
I can’t write that chapter,
It’s an ending not yet drawn.
When God tells my story,
After death has taken me home
I know that final page
Will be so amazing… sweet shalom!
IN AND OF GOD’S HEALING GRACE
Healing grace coming,
Six days plus one, messaging:
God’s clocking the time:-
Let patience be a virtue—
Imagining resurrection.
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.