Poem from My Husband

This is a poem from his old blog that he wrote around this time last year. I think it's a great poem. Very catchy! Hope you like it too.

"Book open
Burn burn
Lights out
Lily Fern

Leaf in the rows is
Digging up dead roses

Not a sound a pedal drop
Shook the Earth flip-flop

Leaf’s in the backyard
Everyone is screaming
Roses are burning
Lily’s still dreaming"

-DB

Sunday

Two rows ahead of me Sits a red-headed,
Freckle-faced, Pencil-legged little girl.
She is surrounded by the sound
Of a hundred voices singing--
But she sits silently,
Fascinated by her sky-scraper father
Standing just a few feet away,
and by His booming voice
Echoing above the congregation.
He notices his wide-eyed admirer
and stoops to hold her.
She wraps her arms around his neck
While her pencil-legs dangle freely.
-MB

Ode to Emily Dickenson

Oh, Emily, I think I am you.
I've seen your words and know them well.
You're right--
Birds are more understanding than most people,
I would rather think of Emerson than meet him,
And the four walls of an empty room are more inviting
Than a room full of frog-like scholars could ever be.
I don't know why, Emily, but I understand you.
I read your words yesterday with those ribbiting students.
They laughed at you--
But I didn't.
I felt sad--
Sad because I am you,
Sad because they were laughing at us.

-MB


This poem is a response to this poem by her:


I'm nobody! Who are you?
Are you nobody, too?
Then there's a pair of us--don't tell!
They'd banish us, you know.
How dreary to be somebody!
How public, like a frog
To tell your name the livelong day
To an admiring bog!

-Emily Dickinson

Poems

Here are two poems I'm working on. One is a re-write.

To the Author
I shouldn't think this way--
But, the sun always rises
And forces my body to embrace the ground with my shadow,
I always fall asleep during movies,
And what goes up must come down.
So, I do.
I like books. I like to read.
I especially like the books you write
When we're alone and no one is imposing their visual spectrum
On the light beaming from our solitude.
Your words, my eyes, and my sponge-studded mind.
I like the way your ideas swim into my ears like tadpoles.
I like laughing when they rub my brain and make it feel wanted.
I like your information. I want more.
I like to open and close books and make them fly like the seagulls
We watched together at Plum Island.
I like to ask a question then hear your reassuring answer
Emerge from the page like lava
Leaping
Through the top
Of a volcano.

-Miranda Freeman


Barnes and Noble

Green-sweatered,
Salt-haired,
Right-handed,
Pencil-holding,
Creepy old man
With John Lennon glasses
Shooting glanses in my direction--

Are you writing about me?
I am writing about you.

-Miranda Freeman

Hooray

So... As I'm sure you all know, I love Doug. And I'm also sure you all know, I love to write poetry.. So it can be inferred that, I love writing poetry with Doug...
So here's a poem we just wrote/collaborated on together. Fun!


Rain creeps into my body
Making rapids through my veins
And drowning out my soul.
I'm drifting downstream
To channels I can't choose
Where bridges are burnt
Swelling the ash wet.
Still, I float among the ash
While the water leads me on.

Books

My pen is hesitating like my eyelids
During a cut-throat political debate.
It's not that I don't care, it's that I can't.
This ball-point pen is forcing itself down on the page
Like the sun kissing a tree and painting its shadow.
I'm molded but I just won't fit and I have to tell you something:
I like books. I like to read.
I especially like your books-- the ones you write
When we're alone and no one is imposing their visual spectrum
On the light beaming from our solitude.
Your words, my eyes, and my sponge-studded mind.
I like the way your ideas swim into my ears like tadpoles.
I like laughing when they rub my brain and make it feel wanted.
I like your information. I want more.
I like to open and close books and make them fly like the seagulls from Plum Island.
I like to ask a question then hear your reassuring answer
Pass through your esophagus like lava
Leaping through the top of a volcano.
-Miranda Freeman

So cute.

yay.

Hide yo kids, hide yo wife, hide yo husband

Inside a Hospital Room

A slight breeze from a freckled face
Gently moves a white blanket
Atop a white gown
On white skin
In a white room.

My grandmother is asleep for now.
Her breaths are water, my ears a sponge.
The sounds create a symphony I wish would never stop playing,
But even the best musicians grow tired.
For now, I can just listen and admit that
Life is short.


Love you Nanny.

So..

So, yesterday I spent the whole day with my grandmother, me and my sister brought her flowers, a new nightgown, and her favorite (nasty in my opinion :]) coffee. She loved it. I was there for a while, and I got to read her some Galatians and Romans. She seems pretty receptive to it, but maybe like she was missing the point a little bit. I'm not one for "beating people over the head with a Bible", so all I did was read her some things that God has been using in me lately, and share them with her. Praying she'll find the same hope I have. I also really enjoyed the time I spent with her. Me and my sister had fun messing around with her after the nurse gave her a massive dose of something that made her crazy.. We heard all sorts of non-sensical stories.
I went to visit with my cousin for a little while and we got some thai food. I ate what I could, but it wasn't much. I worry about way too many things.. I can't believe I can say that my favorite verse is "Don't worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will worry about itself. Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble."
Because I am the poster child for worrying myself sic. I just need to keep giving this battle over to God literally every second of the day.
I had some encouragement on the way home and I felt a little happier. A lot happier actually. Now it's just a matter of still trusting God and not leaning on my own understanding. That's so difficult though. This sounds arrogant, but I never realized that I seriously can't do anything without Christ. It's crazy... I suppose God means it when He says it.

Today's a long day of school. I have drama, french, and then poetry. The only class I don't like is drama. My teachers a little coo coo in the coconuts. I'm looking forward to writing a poem though. I'll have to post it later.

All i have is today, and myself, and God's truth and he's all that's worth thinking about.

I am sick..

Well, God is showing me a lot in my life right now. Let me start by this:
"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
Romans 12:2

I read that verse, about being transformed by the renewing of your mind and realized I need to get rid of this disgusting selfishness in my heart before I can really love anyone the way they deserve. I need the Holy Spirit to overtake me.
I am sad on so many levels, but as a very nice (mystery) person left on my car window at work yesterday:

"Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11:28-3

The Lord has really pushed me to a place where I NEED Him. I absolutely have realized my need for Him. I need to just love him endlessly and let him put everything back together His way. I need my God to save me. I need my God to show me Himself.


Another thing I am realizing is how childish I am. I need to grow up, and I am having a very hard time doing so. I need to get OVER myself... How many times can i try and fail? every time. I need to run to God and ask him to take my selfishness and childishness away, and to fix them. I need to take every broken relationship to Him, take my grandmother to him, take my mom to him, take my absolutely broken heart to him, take my selfishness, pride and childishness to the Lord...
I need to love God more.

Finding joy in God

"Then Jesus went out to the lakeshore again and taught the crowds that were coming to him. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him. Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?”When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”

I LOVE what Jesus says at the end.. I love when he says something and you think "oo..burn."
It's a very good point he has. We should make it a point to not only pay attention to "worthy" people. Sick people need doctors, not healthy people.

Yahweh

I wrote this poem in a very sad, very desperate time of my life.

Yahweh, in You my heart is safe.
I'm inconsolable because of where the water took me.
I cry at night and in the morning.
I cry because I'm sad.
I cry because I do not have.
I cry and only you can stop me, Yahweh.

Elohim, You control me.
Put my face close to the ground so I can taste it.
Let me taste the dirt, it will remind me who I am.
Let me see Your face.
Let me have the desires of my heart like You promise.
Let me laugh again, Elohim.

Jehovah, I love You first.
Make me happy.
My sorrow is more than I can handle.
My sorrow keeps me awake and starves me.
My sorrow is killing me and I feel numb.
My sorrow hurts. Hold me close, Jehovah.

You change the heart of kings.
You love me though I'm wrong.
You can walk on water.
You can calm a storm.
El, Jehovah, Yahweh, waves don't crash without Your permission.
This storm is too big for me, but not for the One who gave it.

I give you my tears, sickness, and disbelief.
Let me eat again, I am sick with sadness.
Give my friend peace.
Give my friend faith.
Give my friend love I can't provide right now.
Give my friend back to me.

Take this pain and throw it as far as Your arms can through
My heart is heavy.
My best friend is gone and a promise has been broken.
Praise You Yahweh.
Praise You Elohim.
Praise You Jehovah.

“At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship, and said: 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.' ”

Hiphopopotamus

Because this is necessary:

Psalm 6

O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger
or discipline me in your rage.
Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
I am sick at heart.
How long, O Lord, until you restore me?

Return, O Lord, and rescue me.
Save me because of your unfailing love.
For the dead do not remember you.
Who can praise you from the grave?

I am worn out from sobbing.
All night I flood my bed with weeping,
drenching it with my tears.
My vision is blurred by grief;
my eyes are worn out because of all my enemies.

Go away, all you who do evil,
for the Lord has heard my weeping.
The Lord has heard my plea;
the Lord will answer my prayer.
May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified.
May they suddenly turn back in shame.


*I tend to be selfish when I'm going through a hard time. I feel like I'm the only one who has ever been sad and my problem is literally the worst problem that exists. Well, not true. These past few days, I have wrongfully been angry at God. I told Him so, too. I know He loves honesty, but let me tell you, he quietly humbled me, and reminded me that I do not need to be angry at Him. I need to open my eyes and be ready to face what He has for me. I was angry at Him and told him, and instead of coming at me with "the force" (Which He has every right to do.) He essentially hugged me and said "Get off your butt you fool. Take a hold of yourself. I love you more than anything." And I know that my God (more affectionately referred to as Yahweh) loves me more than I can even imagine. What an amazing thing to think about and dwell on, rather than dwelling on worry, doubt, fear, anger and disappointment. The Being who created literally everything you see, loves me. It can almost bring tears to my eyes. Granted, lately for some reason everything can. But you get the picture I hope. I am ALWAYS reminded of my favorite verse. Well I shouldn't say verse. More like my favorite chunk of scripture. It's Matthew 6:25-34.
Oh I have learned so many lessons.

God is a quiet teacher. For some weird reason, I'm forced to think of this example.. Just bear with me. I went to see "A Christmas Carol" in Manchester on time, and I thought of this one scene. Scrooge is just saying "WHY! Please tell me how to change! How can I prevent all of this from happening!" And the ghost of Christmas future(who is actually a giant statue in this play) just stands there, like any good statue would. But Scrooge is just yelling to him and asking him these things, but the ghost is silent. Scrooge knew. He just had to do it. The silence was painful.
So as I'm sitting there, literally yelling to God, I knew that He was just there, silent, telling me to just do something. He was not giving me a postcard or typed out letter on what to do. He said "I'm with you. Do something." So, needless to say I have learned a LOT.

....One more thing. I have a huge problem (maybe it's the poet in me, or maybe it's just a human issue in general.) I tend to take a verse and mold it to me. I try to apply every verse to my every situation, which is not what I should do. I need to take the word of God, look at the examples, and learn from them. Not look at a verse and say "Okay. What does this mean... How is it relevant. Why am I reading this.
I need to read things and take them for what they are. The Bible is God's word. And although you should look to it for advice, it is not an instruction manual and looking into the Bible with an agenda can be dangerous and insulting, I think.

So. Yeah.

This was assignment for poetry class. Our model poem was "Merengue" by ...augh the poets name slips my mind. Anyway, we had to list a bunch of subjects, verbs, and statements, make the subjects and verbs into questions, and then sandwich them between the statements. This is how mine came out on a very dark day, Enjoy.

Humans like everything set in stone.
Feelings. Plans. Life. Everything.
Clearly, I can’t handle anything in stone,
Which is weird because I live at Rock Bottom.
Isn’t that where we met?
How can I not remember what I’d said?
Isn’t fear some kind of weird substance, like milk?
Did you know I hate stones? They remind me of empty fingers now.
Do you know how much I hate them? They remind me of Plum Island on memorial day.
Did you know I can’t even look at stones? They scare me.
When you see a stone do you think of the ocean?
When you see a stone do you think of sand
And cold feet?
When you see a stone do you feel betrayed?
What is wrong with my brain?
Did I forget to reassure my circular pattern?
Isn’t it clear that I hate circles almost as much as I hate stones?
Can time be patient? Is that even possible?
Can everyone stop talking?
Can I stop thinking?
What on earth have I done? Better yet, what am I doing?
What kind of messed up, cold, and destructive creature
Has taken over the self I thought I had a grasp on?
What is a grasp, anyway?
Isn’t it a nasty kind of bug that tricks you into thinking you’ve caught it
But it just comes back and stings you in the end.
Isn’t that what I thought I knew?
What is that smell? It makes me happy.
Is this how it feels at a crossroad? Am I stuck?
Why can’t it be June?
Did you really think I could jump without looking?
When you were singing, wasn’t it obvious I could hear from down here?
What is this awful feeling in my gut?
Didn’t you know I’m lactose intolerant?
Didn’t you know that milk kills me inside?
No?
Neither did I.
If you ever think back to that day, just remember that
Milk is a venomous liquid, and I can’t bear the sight of stones.

You Can't Mess with My God.

I am currently reading the book of Jonah. Actually I just finished it. I have to say that that is truly one of my favorite books in the Bible. Here's Jonah, a guy who God specifically told "Go to Nineveh." And Jonah essentially laughed in the Lord's face and said "They'll never listen to me. The people of Nineveh are hopeless and will never hear my word or listen to me." So Jonah is on a ship, and the weather all of the sudden gets really bad and the ship "threatens to break up" and Jonah is suddenly convicted that it's his fault because he was running from God, and tells his ship mates to throw him it because that's the only way to calm it. They're like "yeah right, we aren't about to through a friend overboard." and they tried everything they could to secure themselves, but were only left with one option: throwing Jonah overboard. And so they did. And I LOVE how in Jonah 1:17 it says
"But the LORD provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights." God PROVIDED a big fish to eat him. Not punished Jonah, he provided a great fish to protect him, and that taught Jonah a huge lesson. Jonah basically cried uncle, and God allowed the fish to puke him up. He was so desperate and sitting inside the stomach of a fish. I don't know what you think, but to me that the stomach of a fish sounds disgusting. And so does being puked up. I bet it was hard. God did it, and he did it because someone was not following His will. And He loved Jonah so much that He provided a way out of that mess.
So God told Jonah again: " Go to Nineveh." And any monkey, after that experience, would go. You don't mess with God. So he went, preached, they rejected like he predicted, and he said "See God! They're ridiculous." And Jonah was angry that this had happen. He was ticked off. He said he knows God is "gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity."(4:2) and he asked that God take his life.
And God said to him "Excuse me... Who told you you could be angry about this."
And this is my translation, but it seems like when Jonah went and made himself shelter, he was pouting and sulking because God didn't take his life like he wanted. Jonah didn't want this turmoil. But God had the right to send it. And instead of explaining the rest, I'm just going to copy and paste, because I believe the word of God is that powerful, that you will get the picture. And I believe the book ended like this for a reason.
God is all powerful, amazing, and knew us from before the world began. Who are we to be angry and frustrated at his will for things. Bottom line: Do what He says, and shut up.
Jonah 4 starting in verse 5:
"5.Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the LORD God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be better for me to die than to live."
9 But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"
"I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."
10 But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that gre
at city?'"


PS. Notice how many times it says the word "provided" even when talking about things that seem unfortunate.

I love you God and you provide every circumstance in life.

Inversion of a Poem

This was an exercise I did for class. We had to find a poem we liked, and write the opposite of every word in it. I chose a poem from my favorite poet, Emily Dickenson, of course. The original is "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" And at first I felt the inversion didn't make sense.. But I realized, it makes a ton of sense of how I'm feeling right now. I'm at a point where I'm ready to come out of my shell, but fear and doubt is holding me back. I guess you can say I'm going through something, and it subconsciously came out in this poem, which ended up being really cool. So here it is.. Enjoy.

"I'm Somebody! I thought you were me."

I'm somebody! I thought you were me.
Who is not-- somebody?
Now there is one of us.

Tell everyone! Tell the world! We'll be in the spotlight--
Though, I'm not quite sure.
How wonderful--not to be-- nobody!
How private-- unlike an elephant--
To remain anonymous-- the curtailed December--
To a disappointed desert.

Father

Father as I sit on your lap
Console me. Hug me. Tell me your dreams
You've made for me.
Holy One, Creator, Amazing, Chosen One,
Master, Father of the forgotten,
Ever forgiving one. My salvation.
My victory. My hope. My everlasting Joy
When life is my weakness.
My Dad, in You is my trust.
It's me and You.
Life buzzes by with opportunities at hand,
In my hand to be exact
My hand is open
Please, I beg, take the one I don't need.
I'm lost.
I'm broken.
I've failed.
My mind was made from dirt.
I'm the consequence of filth.
I'm on my face making my brain
One
With what it came from.
Hear me. Father if I ever needed you.
Hear me and wipe my tears.
I'm begging you.

Allen Ginsberg

Learned about this guy in class yesterday and I love the way he reads his poems. He sounds so strange.. But it fits the poems. Very cool. I should warn you about the Second one called "America". It's slightly harshly put.. And he does drop an f-bomb. so just be cautious if that sort of thing bothers you, or if there are kids around.
The First one is called "A Supermarket in California" and is family friendly. Enjoy =]