DETAILS AND EMOTIONS

1. Write a scene in which you convey your main character’s emotions indirectly through dialogue or action rather than through explicit description of the emotional response.

Before the girl placed her hand on the door, she noticed it trembling already. It seemed an eternity before she could will herself to actually open the door and confront what waited for her on the other side. Sunlight seemed to pour in as the door widened. She winced; whether it was from the brightness or the shock, she wasn’t sure. More seconds passed in silence like years. She stared up at the woman in the doorway with skepticism radiating from her eyes. So intent was her gaze, that the near stranger cast her own eyes to the ground. Should she hug her? Should she greet her? Should she invite her in? This was, after all, her mother. Mother. That thought of that term caused her to sigh, breaking the silence. “Hello,” the woman finally said. And the girl wished she hadn’t.

2. Describe a landscape in a way that generatese a feeling of bleakness or sublimity without resorting to words like bleak or sublime.

Ash. Every inch, every surface covered. The air seemed to be absent from this place, as if it was void of everything but the havoc wreaked by the fire.  The emptiness even seemed to stifle the cries of the burned, but still they were heard. If only there were someone to answer.

i cannot. i scream.
but they hear whispers.
the pain, the want, the dark.
how am i to forget
that you don’t remember,
i will never understand.
what of promises, what of me.
i am still waiting,
and yet no one but me speaks.

these are the days set free,
the ones of liberty of love,
those that most dream of.
shall you stay here with me?
listlessness lives on now
but soon will too retire.
lets let all transpire,
and then forget how.

for so long i have tried to escape,
but for so long i had to wait.
i had to wait and wonder,
the distance like dark.
i still don’t see nor understand,
i remain unsure of the man.
the boy(s) that walked away,
did they look back?
have they ever seen what i lack,
would they recognize my loss?
I wonder and wait.

I dreamt once that my grandmother was still alive. It must have been a gift from God because this dream lasted and lasted; it was night of sleep turned into a months of living with her again. She was everything that made me who I am. She was my mother figure, my friend, and my guidance. If I could have never woken up and dreamt that dream forever, I would have chosen that. It goes without saying that you never know what you have until you lose it. Her absence has been much more noticeable that her presence. It is hard to imagine that I have never seen her again since the last time. Lately I find myself forgetting…I can still remember the way her caring hands felt, I remember how she smelled…but her voice is fading away, the look in her eyes is harder to recall. But I want to remember forever, I wish there was a way. There is so much in my life that has happened, so many trials and hurts, memories and happiness, all things I wanted her to experience and help me through. She was going to be the one I called when I fell in love and then call again when I fell out of it. She would be the one I ran to when school and work and life were too much to handle, she would encourage me when I wanted to quit. She would be my place of rest in times like these…

but she is gone. I don’t miss her any less. I’d give anything to have her back for just a moment. Long enough to tell her how I loved her. Tell her that I understand all that she did for me. Tell her that even when I have everything I have ever wanted she is still the part missing from my life. I just hope she knows, somehow, that she changed my life. I hope she knows.

thirty days of poem and prose about faith, joy, peace and humility.

I dream dreams of rescue;
me the hero and all the rest in need.
I wake from and to this
finding myself still sought.
they lean, lean, lean…
into me they rest;
roots of desperation can choke,
the escapes are few for me.
how can I deny them my heart,
even when I come undone
I lend my strength when they have none.

Ωμέγα

Who you are is who you remain,
shifting circumstance doesn’t cause the core to wane.
All we’ve left now his hope:
hope you’ll seek, find, and keep
all you’ve ever wanted.
I’ll pray you never regret or relent;
pushing through the odds you built.
I cannot see the horizon of your life,
but I promise to be on the other side.
I will wait and wonder where you’ve been,
sure that the ties that bind us won’t thin.

Ωμέγα

All I’ve ever known was never for naught,
for all my findings, I always sought.
No reward comes without first earning,
and little earning comes without a passion burning.
You can find my flame anywhere I am,
anywhere I have been or will go again.
This world knows no single master,
so I raise my rod and part the raging sea
while I wait here for the fire that is guiding me.
Ωμέγα

These are the crystal clear  moments
the days when all is sense
and all sense comes of reason.
this a blue moon season
we may never see twice,
but I see you here, with me
and I cannot ignore your gravity.
Ωμέγα

when we present ourselves to those around us as Christians why is that so often coupled with explanation and interpretation for what that means?

i wish that when i said to another ‘I am a Christian.’ it would be perfectly understood that that meant nothing more than loving, following, and striving to be more and more like Christ and the Father in everyway, everyday. My life should be enough explanation and interpretation. My attitude should exude my Christianity. I don’t want to fit into a genre of Christianity… being Shane Claybourne-esqe, or a CBCer, or anything else besides what the Bible says I should be. My faith is not attached or related to any man but Christ.

Psalm 139

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!

courage to find the truth in yourself,
strength to face the mistakes made,
the kind of love it takes to be honest,
revelation that your lies are hurting her.

i wish you could see the me in me,
the parts inside urging you to be so loud.
we are standing on the edge of your tongue,
together waiting for all the unformed words.
i am seeking the depths of your sound,
wondering where you bury your endless thought.
it is easy for me to see the worry on your face,
to take in the stream of things running in your eyes.
but tell me please, where was all this wrought.
to love without voice, without a whisper is absurd;
i am silently here waiting, seeking the unheard.