Above
Dedication
For Baylie and Clayton
Like breadcrumbs,
I leave these words behind,
not because I am lost
but hoping you can find.
Long after I am gone,
transcending space and time,
maybe you will find Heaven
after reading a word of mine.
Acknowledgement
My dreams were given by God
but cultivated by a great educator,
my English teacher Jennifer Osburn.
If ever a soul was touched or moved
by something I have written,
she also touched them through me.
Introduction
I have spent my life searching for words
to express the depth of a wound
that can only be shared in tears.
Beyond translation,
more powerful than words,
tears are a language God understands
and a dialect we learn in thorns and thistles.
While letters drop from words like falling stars,
and tears shadow the rain,
God whispers through my pain.
In poetry and prose,
these words are my faith, hope, and love
for those with a lack thereof,
still wishing on stars above.
My consolation, highest honor,
would be souls unbound.
Might the words of my life be your lost and found?
I pray between these lines,
God consumes your heart and mind,
and His peace you find.
Chapter 1
Faith
When I am gone,
and they read my words,
I hope they hear thunder,
and smell the rain.
I want the world to know
the storm did not capture my faith,
only my will,
and that was God’s will all along.
God did not give us wings.
He gave us free will.
No,
we cannot fly,
but we can choose faith,
hope, and love.
Would the angels
exchange their wings,
I know not,
but Hell doth envy.
Maybe
unanswered prayers
have answers
that our faith
has yet to discern,
and quietly
God is giving us
another lesson
to learn.
The world can watch
as I fall to my knees,
but only to see me pray,
never concede.
Let it be remembered,
even in failure,
I believed.
It might take a lifetime of rain
to water one small seed of faith,
but watching your mountain move
will be worth the wait in years
and its weight in tears.
Defeated by giants, maybe.
But let the record show
that I fought valiantly,
with faith clenched in my teeth,
and my pen in hand.
Unyielding to the darkness
our eyes adapt to the night.
We walk by faith,
not by sight.
If upon reaching Heaven
the light is too bright,
God will be our shade.
Standing
in the shadow
of a giant,
facing
insurmountable odds,
David
trusted God.
Never
let your intelligence
get the best
of your faith.
Even if it takes
a lifetime
of suffering
to enter Heaven,
believe.
Surely Heaven
will smell like
the pages
of a new book.
The poet
writes about Heaven
while the romantic
gets lost in the search.
For many
it is just a legend,
a tale
of romance and rhyme,
but if saved by grace
through faith,
true Heaven
you will find.
Sometimes
doubt and fear
smother my dreams,
and for a moment
I surrender,
but then
faith breathes.
Never
burden your dreams
