Tender...

Well, it's actually Saturday, but it's not as if anyone really expected me to post

a Five Minute Friday on Friday, right?

I'll take it, though, considering that it's the only poem I've written for over a month,

and I truly got it down in under five minutes.

And, it's a double deal today, because writing is one of my Favorite Things,

I'm linking up with Rachel at Finding Joy, as well.

Way to go, me!

 

Here are the rules:

Write for five minutes only, on the topic posted by Lisa-Jo.

Link up at The Gypsy Mama.

Spread some encouragement!

Ready?

Here          we          go.



Tender…

tender as a bruise –

the slightest breath of pressure awakening

the pain, the vulnerability beneath –

and my mind constantly awash

with all the dangers

tender as a steak –

pounded thin and spread wider

in new directions than I ever believed possible,

made malleable and accepting

by the heavy steel mallet

of this new situation You’ve put me in

tender as a payment –

the cost demanded for a treasure,

the submission offered up, the sacrifice

made to bring this child into the world,

to bring me to the foot of the Cross,

to You, when I’ve wandered away

Let me know what you think!

Recently Reading...

Visiting the library is a weekly occurrence at our house.

Sometimes, even more than weekly.

Let's just say, the librarians know us by name.

And sometimes cringe when they see the bags full of books we're returning.

(I'd insert a picture here of the mountain(s) of books that we have out right now,

if only I could track them all down.

Looks like a scavenger hunt will be in order before our next visit.)

Since I've been seriously focusing on developing my writing,

I've also been reading a lot of poetry.

Did you know that reading other poets' work

helps you write better poetry?

It's true.  And eminently enjoyable as well.

Anyway,

I ran across a great collection I wanted to share with you.

The Household Gods by Daniel Bourne

Not only are the poems fantastic,

but the poet is from a little town not far from where I live.

It's just a little bit inspiring.

{grin}

You should check it out!

Wordy Wednesday : Sublime

Greetings, linguistically inclined friends!

It’s time for Wordy Wednesday!

My thoughts have been running much toward

Christmas

lately, so I thought I’d share a word

I noticed in a carol on the Casting Crowns CD

{which is all that I’ve been listening to this week}

Peace on Earth.

Our word for today is:

sublime

:  lofty, grand, or exalted  :

:  of outstanding spiritual, intellectual, or moral worth  :

:  high in place, lofty, or supreme  :

as in

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth he sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

‘Till, ringing, singing, on its way,

The world revolved from night to day,

A voice, a chime, a chant sublime

Of peace on earth, good will to men!

{from I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow}

What interesting words have you come across

as Christmas draws near?

Five Minute Friday : Unexpected...

You'll never guess what I spent yesterday doing!

The kids and I went to my mother's house

to help clean out the toy loft.

I wish I had thought to take pictures!

We found all sorts of relics from my childhood:  Happy Meal toys,

storybooks with tapes or 45 records, and the record player

to play them on {missing its needle, unfortunately}.

All this to say - once again I'm coming in late for

Five Minute Friday.

Better late than never, right?

You remember the rules, I know, but just in case:

Write for five minutes flat on Lisa-Jo's prompt, which is

unexpected

and then link up at The Gypsy Mama,

and hop around to give some encouragement

to your fellow writers.

Ready?

Here          we          go.

Unexpected…

cleaning out the loft of all the toys

I remember playing with when I was a kid,

and how I knew we’d get sidetracked

no matter what our best intentions might be

driving down a twilight road

to pick up the pizza for PIZZA NIGHT

{yes, it deserves capital letters:

Thank you, Pizza Fast!}

and seeing a buck, antlers spreading wide,

standing against the trees, just yards

from the road, unaffected

just browsing the thick brush for his own

dinner, before stepping into darkness

the fierce joy that doing this

kindles, the way I sometimes can’t stop

it from coming out, even if I’m tired

or busy or worried, when the words

want out I have to sit down

and appease them, and I never

never

would have thought

it would be like this

Thank You, Lord

Don't forget to leave me some feedback!

Felicitous feedback is almost as good as pizza.

{grin}

Five Minute Friday : Remember

Welcome to Friday morning!

It's time for Five Minute Friday,

the time we set aside to pound the keyboard

for five minutes,

with no excuses, editing, or fear.

{Yeah, right!}

Ready?

Here          we          go.

Remember

It kept me up all night,

off and on, twisting under covers,

winding my brain around the everything

I need to get done

lessons this morning

groceries to be bought transported stored cooked

dishes (always) - sometimes the sink

is like another hungry mouth

to be filled and emptied and cleaned-

and my hair - what to do

with this mop, untidy,

when I'm too tired to care too much

boys up soon, probably dragging,

and what will they wear?

I think I did laundry yesterday.

But most important - today,

everyday

every instant -

let me seek You

first

so my legs move with-

and my mouth speaks out-

and my hands offer-

You

Now it's time for you to give it a go!  Spill your heart onto the page

and link up with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama.

And give some other brave souls some encouragement while you're there.

What did you think?

FMF : Growing...

Coming in late this week for Five Minute Friday!

It took a haircut to get my poetry juice flowing.  Thank goodness the link is still open!

All right - you know the drill. 

1.  Write for five minutes.  No whining, qualifying, or editing.

2.  Link up with Lisa-Jo at Gypsy Mama.

3.  Visit some fellow brave posters and spread some encouraging feedback.

Ready?

Here          we          go.

Growing…

my poor hair

had you cut today

I knew – I knew –

that you’d shrink up

like trying to crawl back up

into my scalp and hide

so I told her to keep it

a little longer than she thought

it needed to be and now

it’s far far

shorter than I wanted

but Lord, look,

there’s a face under there

emerging from the cave

where it used to hide,

shrugging the weight back

over the shoulders,

pulling the bangs down

to cover all the inadequacies

who is she?

wanting to please you

but striving to please that

noisy little self

too often

far far

too often

who knows who she’ll be?

except You

is this accidental, this exposure?

© Victoria L. Banks

9 / 26 / 11

FMF : Older...

Wow, am I productive today, or what?

not

It's been a day of cleaning and hosting here at The Home Front, and while I feel as if I didn't get as much done as I would have liked, I have spent some time writing.  My instructor would be so proud!

Anyway,

it's time for Five Minute Friday.

So get ready to give your best 5 minutes of unediting, unqualified word-weaving to this prompt:

Older

Then link up your post with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama

hop around to give some other brave souls some encouraging feedback.

Ready?

Here          we          go.



Older…

I always thought that when I got older

I’d feel less like a child—

now that I’m 33 (just a couple weeks

ago) I realize that I’ll always feel

like a child, always searching, always

uncertain, always doubting the truth

that You give me, like when You say

that You love me and I’m beautiful

and forgiven and free, but I hide

my head by tucking it down

against my shoulder, blushing,

protesting without speech, but with

the broken-beaten-down bend

to my neck and the helpless shrug

of the shoulders that I’m helpless to stop

even though I know that I’m not

the wise one, I don’t know all,

but I know that You are, and You do,

so I’ll try to spend this year and every one

to come learning to hear You and trust

© Victoria L. Banks

Let me know what you think and check out the other great posts!

FMF : New...

It's that time, once again...the day I look forward to and dread at the same time, all week long.

It's Five Minute Friday!

This is your chance to join in.  Set a timer for five minutes; write from your heart on the topic of the day; link up with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama.  Then hop around and give some fellow posters some encouraging comments!

The theme for this week is ...  New.

Here          we          go.

New…

knowing that I’ve been touched,

that You have done away with my darkness

with a sweet breath,

the going down into the baptistery

and emerging back into life,

more brilliant for realizing that I

never knew I was dead

until You woke me

the crisp air of new existence,

colors sharper, water streaming

from me like sin flowing away

(c) Victoria L. Banks



FMF : Beauty ...

It's time to limber up the poetry bone for Five Minute Friday!

Get ready to write for five minutes (ONLY five minutes!), link up, and share some encouraging commentary with the blogger before you.

The topic chosen by Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama for today is:

Beauty

Ready?

Here          we          go.

Beauty…

Elusive, hidden

in the raising

of hands to Heaven,

and the hiding of eyes

when I know I must be

a disappointment to You.

Where’s the beauty

in failing?

In watching the clock

hands race and never quite

catching up with where I

think I should be?

The striving, the quiet

prayers whispered beneath

the breath, the constant

rededication,

the breaking of me

to be made more like You.

Scarlet washed white,

drenching me in

mercy’s flood.

The weak made strong.

A nondescript, numb

existence made beautiful.

(c) Victoria L. Banks

Five Minute Friday : Whole...

I’m linking up with Lisa-Jo at The Gypsy Mama for Five Minute Friday.

It’s a little like riding a roller coaster for me:  very scary, but exhilarating, and when done, it’s never quite as good as I hoped it would be.  But very worth it – even if I sometimes frequently doubt the fruit of my efforts.

Anyway…

Here          we          go.

Whole…

I put the words down on the page,

to explain how the day running down

in measured paces according to plan

wasn’t due to my skill or work ethic,

but was all You, Lord,

and it was all about me in the end

I’ve nothing to brag about

except how useless is my strength,

how perforated my plans

(the plans I sat and constructed

over hours when I should have been

praying for Your strength instead)

when the end of the day comes

and I feel as if I’ve conquered

all these minutes,

all these tiny crises of children

learning how to love their brothers

in deed and in truth and in sharing

in the end, nothing of me is worth

sharing except this fact— You love me

because without You

I’m not whole,

I’m not capable,

I’m not me

© Victoria L. Banks

Sheesh!  I don't know why, but that was hard this week.  Wouldn't you like to try it?

Write for five minutes about the prompt, link-up, and hop around to check out some great thoughts from some wonderful ladies.  (And leave lots of nice comments!  Everyone likes comments, right?)

Thanks for reading, and let me know what you think!

Five Minute Friday : Still...

Today is a double-link-up kind of day, I think.
First, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo again for Five Minute Friday.  Here are the guidelines:



1. Write for 5 minutes flat for pure unedited love of the written word on the prompt, “Still.”
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Get a little crazy with encouragement in the comments of the five minuter who linked up before you.


Here     we     go.

Still…

sitting when I should have been

up already, fixing breakfast

weak and aching after a week

of finding muscles I didn’t know

I’d lost, finding strength in You

believing in happy endings

even in the face of this world

ever more rapidly spinning

into chaos and shadow

unsure where all this is going,

but knowing how it clicks,

all these stolen moments

at the keyboard, all my feeble

efforts to direct the fount of words

You’ve loosed in me

certain of the ending,

no matter how badly I screw up

today (like yesterday),

no matter how the hours unwind

before me—

always, forever, unchanging

You, Lord

and thankfulness for letting me

walk with You

© Victoria L. Banks

7/29/2011

I'm sure this is not a surprise to any of my family who read this, but I've discovered that I love to write.  Even within strictly enforced time limits.  (Actually, the rules make it more fun!)

What about you?  Would you like to join the fun?  Share your own thoughts and link up!

I'm linking up to Five Minute Friday because I love to write,
and
linking up to Finding Joy because loving the Lord through my writing is one of my Favorite Things!

Open the Door

The Locked Door The girl with a spade is digging holes in the floor of her room; she stands knee-deep where loamy earth once lay, turning out shovels-full of soil. The clods hit the ground in relentless thuds, like the knocking fist at the door. She has locked it. She scoops and dumps, again and again.  When the crater grows just big enough to cradle her, she kneels down into the loneliness, almost folds herself in two, wondering (as she hides) whether the caller beating at the door will leave if she ignores Him. But the pounding grows stronger. She climbs to the brink and out, cheeks smeared by sweaty palms with the grime of despair, leaving a tear or two on the hard- packed soil at her feet. She begins anew:  hoist shovel, heave weary shoulders, find an unblemished corner. Soon she’s dug herself knee-deep in a spotless new pit.  Blistered palms ache as she stands and surveys the level of her pitted landscape. Ears straining for the drumming on the door beyond the rasp of shovel or breath, bent double under her doubts, she realizes— that if she only opened the door… “ ‘Here I am!  I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.’ ” Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

Do you hear the pounding?

The pounding of the His friends' hearts as the soldiers invaded the garden to seize Him?

The pounding of their frightened feet as they fled?

The pounding of the lash meeting His back?

The pounding of the nails being driven into His hands and feet?

The pounding of His heart as He bore the sins of the world on His perfect shoulders -

and offered Himself in your place?

Is He pounding on your heart?

Open the door.

Spring!

 

In April

by James Hearst

This I saw on an April day:
Warm rain spilt from a sun-lined cloud,
A sky-flung wave of gold at evening,
And a cock pheasant treading a dusty path
Shy and proud.


And this I found in an April field:
A new white calf in the sun at noon,
A flash of blue in a cool moss bank,
And tips of tulips promising flowers
To a blue-winged loon.


And this I tried to understand
As I scrubbed the rust from my brightening plow:
The movement of seed in furrowed earth,
And a blackbird whistling sweet and clear
From a green-sprayed bough.

 

(photo from greennature.com)

MM : Dratted Rhymes!

 

I wonder…can I make a Miscellany Monday post…in rhyme…off the top of my head…at nearly 10 o’clock in the evening?  Let’s see!

 

It’s late and I have two  three many loads of laundry to fold.

Can you believe just a few days ago we were all cold?

Today was so beautiful, with the thermometer a-climb,

That I sent the kids outside for a long, long time.

They came in muddy to the knees – thank you, Spring!

I’m so glad you’re here; please don’t change a thing.

Attended a baby shower for my cousin yesterday;

What fun!  Reminded me how the days slip away.

It seems my boys were tiny just a short time ago.

Today the littlest one dropped a weight on his toe.

Fortunately, God has built him like a tank.

Lord – You are so good to me, I must THANK

YOU,

Father – for another week well begun.

Blessings to all of you – from the Home Front!

 

Okay – rather cheesy, I know.  I really hate rhyming.  Like, with a passion.  How’d I do?

 

Linking up to Miscellany Monday at Lowercase Letters

You Just Never Know…

We used a poem a few weeks ago as our poetry selection for the week, which the kids really enjoyed reading and illustrating.  Here's the poem and the activities we did with it.

I am continually amazed at how much the littler kids pick up from being “around” while the big kids “do school,” as we say at our house.  My 4-year-old was just sitting at the table practicing his letters while the big kids and I read the poem; when they illustrated it, he had to get out his crayons and color too.

Then today, during breakfast, he starts reciting the poem, even though we haven’t even mentioned it for at least a week and a half!

Actually, what he said was, “When the fog is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the stock.”  But pretty close for a 4-year-old!  I think his fascination with pumpkins at this time of year probably helped him retain this in his memory so long!

I wanted to share as an encouragement to homeschooling moms out there—especially those teaching multiple levels to several kids.  Some days it may seem as though you aren’t being thorough enough with the littler kiddos, but they pick up more than you realize.  And just being in an environment where learning is taking place with a sense of enjoyment and excitement is a lesson kids can benefit from the rest of their lives.

Blessings from our schoolroom to yours!

Good morning!

I thought I’d start out today with a little beauty and nourishment for the soul - in other words, poetry. 

"When the Frost is on the Punkin"

WHEN the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,
And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it's then the time a feller is a-feelin' at his best,
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
They's something kindo' harty-like about the atmusfere
When the heat of summer's over and the coolin' fall is here—
Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossoms on the trees,
And the mumble of the hummin'-birds and buzzin' of the bees;
But the air's so appetizin'; and the landscape through the haze
Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days
Is a pictur' that no painter has the colorin' to mock—
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,
And the raspin' of the tangled leaves as golden as the morn;
The stubble in the furries—kindo' lonesome-like, but still
A-preachin' sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;
The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;
The hosses in theyr stalls below—the clover overhead!—
O, it sets my hart a-clickin' like the tickin' of a clock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps
Is poured around the cellar-floor in red and yaller heaps;
And your cider-makin's over, and your wimmern-folks is through
With theyr mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and sausage too!...
I don't know how to tell it—but ef such a thing could be
As the angels wantin' boardin', and they'd call around on me—
I'd want to 'commodate 'em—all the whole-indurin' flock—
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.

By James Whitcomb Riley. 1853–1916

We used this one as our poetry reading earlier this month.  I love the sounds in this one, and the dialect Riley uses.  The imagery perfectly fits Illinois in October.  It’s a great selection for kids to read out loud.  Another thing we do with very visual poems like this one is to illustrate it.  The kids love producing their own pictures, and it helps cement in their minds what the poem was about.

Also, it brings to mind the pleasures of watching nature drift into autumn.  The changing leaves are beautiful this time of year.  Have you been out to enjoy them yet?

(This selection can be found at Bartleby.com)