The Poetry Marathon

Cancel the band…no dancing tonight!

Under the Canopy
out at the Lake
the wedding took place
though it was a mistake

The bride knew for weeks
he was not the right guy
but she just couldn’t handle
saying “goodbye”

She put on her makeup
and dressed up in lace
repeated the vows
with a veil o’er her face

Then …after the wedding
in front of the guests
with the moon shining down
she was put to the test

a pain in her breastbone
was cause for alarm
Panic set in …
She grabbed the groom’s arm

Here they were
in all of their Glory
but this would be
the end of their story

The Jeep was decorated
packed and ready to go…
till the Honeymoon ended
when She finally said “NO!”

(one of the many places I have called home)

I’ve lived in many places
Three countries I’ve called home
But I was always restless
a Gypsy..born to roam

A few times I’ve been homeless
but never on the street
I don’t remember going hungry
I’ve had shoes for my bare feet

We cannot know the troubles
that caused the homeless man
to live beneath the city bridge
or in an old abandoned van

what woman wants to raise her kids
in a torn and tattered tent?
Or feed them from the food bank
because she can’t pay rent

These we call “unfortunate”
we pass judgement on their lot
what happened to this Child of God
the World may have forgot

If we listened to their stories
of what broke them on their way
We’d find surprising reasons
for not all have gone astray

We’re called to be their Brother
or their Sister and to care
If by God’s Grace we’ve plenty
we have something we can share

As a modern day version of the biblical Samaritan Woman (also known as the Woman at the Well in John 4) I survived child abuse and four broken marriages. At age 50 I met my FIFTH husband…who said he did not see me as a “messed up woman…but a woman who had never been loved the way she deserved”. (Later he said he saw me “Through the Eyes of Jesus”. What woman would not be overjoyed to be so “well-loved”. It was the Unconditional Love I had never known in human form. After sixteen years together he lost his cancer battle and I am still learning to live without my Soul Mate. For almost all of those sixteen years my husband Gerry (initials G.O.D.) performed with me as Denee The Clown while working with disabled students in the public school system. He was a Hero to many more than just me!

You said you saw me through the Eyes of Jesus
Not a woman who was too far gone to save
You weren’t afraid to walk with me
This Divine Appointment made you brave

We spent many hours talking
and then one day we KNEW!
God had brought the two of us together
Our Spirits were “brand new”

Two hearts that needed healing
joined forever to be ONE
We saw so many miracles
and we had So much fun!

You shed your shy demeanor
then “Denee the Clown” appeared
We served up Joy and Laughter
and we often volunteered

You helped with the disabled
the students in your care
and anytime I needed help
Guess WHO was always there!

My love, you were my Hero
I am lost without you here
But the God you put your trust in
Is the ONE who keeps me near

He said He’d be a husband
to the Widows left behind
For you were an Earthly Preview
of HIS LOVE…the Heavenly kind

A love that’s always Giving
A love that’s ever True
How Blessed I was to love you
and to be SO WELL-LOVED by YOU!

Robert Frost wrote about the Road NOT Taken
I won a first place reading it in a high school speech contest
It is still one of my favorites.
NOW..I will write about the ROAD I’ve TAKEN

************************************************

My sins piled up high as a mountain
You said You’ve forgiven them all
I was like the Samaritan Woman…
so ashamed and feeling small

You told her about Living Water
You said it would quench her thirst
You gave her a new path to follow
to take her away from the Worst

I, too, was searching for answers
when the road to recovery appeared
in the midst of the valley of heartache
I was rescued from what I had feared

You led me beside streams of water
I laid down in the pastures of green
I gained strength to climb the mountains
for a view I had never seen

What a wonder is Your Creation
even I am “Fearfully, Wonderfully made”
and since You’ve been walking with me
I do not need to be afraid

wherever the path does take me
I will never again be alone
You Are the Great Shepherd of lost sheep
Thank you Lord…for You call me Your Own

(photo of Becky Beck, my birth name in Iowa…singing first and later acting and writing …now back to finishing my book project)

As a Participant in the Poetry Marathon
In just eight posts…I cannot go on

To Further describe my inadequacies…
Here’s One more Rhyme…my apologies!

****************************************

“I’m NOT an intellectual
My vocabulary’s small
I simply write my thoughts in Rhyme
I cannot ignore the CALL

Imagination…what a gift!
my CUPPETH RUNNETH OVER…
Corny Words grow into verse
and leave me in the clover…

where I lie and laugh out loud
at silly words I’ve written
Natural Medicine…me thinks
I know, ’cause I’ve been bitten

by the BUG…that makes me write
and resort to alliteration!
I’m a hopeless case…so never mind
I’ll continue without hesitation!

A Rebellious Poet…
shunning all the rules
ends up …going down
with the Ship of Fools!”
*****************************************

Oh, no!

Really?
It’s on the 7th floor?
I AM going to have to
walk through THAT door…

And get into that box!
that vertical trap
and hold my breath
when I hear that door snap

One time I got stuck
right between floors
I never do trust
those elevator doors

It took far too long
for rescue to come
I feared I would die
what a way to succumb

I wasn’t alone
thank God for that
still, I found little comfort
as I sat on the mat

Is there enough oxygen
for the two of us?
(but he was my boss
and I tried not to fuss)

On another occasion
about a dozen folks
crowded together
we tried to make jokes

I cried out loud
“I cannot DO THIS!”
what choice did I have?
I heard “Calm down Miss!”

My Elevator Anxiety
may have another source
yes, Mom chose a closet
and showed no remorse

because I’d been “bad”
she locked me in
(the sentence I served
for some “terrible sin”)

It was dark inside there
just some light through a crack
the hanging clothes
pushed down on my back

I stumbled on shoes
while I begged to come out
it would feel like hours
to a kid, no doubt

It’s amazing to me
that I’m able to fly
not that I like it…
in that tube in the sky

But it’s not the same
as an Elevator space
Some memories
are hard to erase

OH, yes, I am grateful
to live on FIRST FLOOR
so that I can WALK
to my own front door!

Today I spotted gold leaves among the green on the trees outside my window. Pretty as it is…it reminds me of what is coming. It is called WINTER in Canada. Oh, there may be a short period called FALL that precedes the bitter days ahead…but it will not last long enough for me. Many people love the transition to winter. But I am a “summer person”…and so there is a tinge of sadness falling on my soul as those tiny golden leaves trickle down to earth…yes, green earth at this writing. In a matter of weeks it will turn brown and remain that way for many months…possibly buried in snow. The cycle has begun…on this warm August day.

I must accept it
for it is part of Nature
It was meant to be

Forty years ago
I became a clown
and what a joyful job it was
I was known all over town

I sang my songs and told my tales
and gave my puppets voices
but now today I’m really “lost”
among the techno choices

who wants a clown…let’s play a game
IT’s POKEMAN GO these days!
I can’t compete with technology
I don’t think it’s just a “phase”

For little ones can use I-pads
and Smart Phones are the norm
So I write poems day and night
here in my senior “dorm”

I entertain myself these days
and sometimes all night too
I’ve joined the Poetry Marathon
Technology …wins…’tis true!

<img src="https://thepoetrymarathon.com/wp-content/uploads/1..christy-promo-pix_NEW-1-195×300.jpg" alt="1..christy promo pix_NEW" width="195" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-20754" /

I searched for the puzzle pieces
it took me seventy years
wanting to learn more about me
and why I had so many tears
How did I get to be “this way”?
I always felt “crazy”, you see
We may have looked fine on the outside
but behind the scenes: misery
My mom had a critical spirit
she suffered with low self esteem
but now I can understand it
I was never part of her “dream”
it all began in the thirties
when she started dating my dad
two “Christian” kids got in trouble
the WORST they had ever had
they buried their shame and guilt
but from trouble they never were free
I have found that missing piece called “LOVE”
And I know in the end they loved ME

Before Darkness overtakes us
we must walk toward the LIGHT
The challenge is to know the TRUTH
and seek to do what’s right

The world is in a struggle
and humankind needs hope
Before Darkness does destroy us
we must hold on to the “Rope”…

The ONE who knows the ending
from the day it all began
Before Darkness He was working
on His Grand Design and Plan

It may look like a chess game
we’re all playing in the Dark
but the King’s lasts move is “Checkmate”
…and as in the days of the ancient ark

He offers us free passage…
an escape from all we dread
(as for me, I plan to get on board…
no matter WHO says God is dead)

Before Darkness wins this weary world
The Conquering King will return
HIS Light will dry our every tear…
bringing the PEACE for which we yearn