This has been a week of poetry.
In one of my middle school classes, we've been doing a unit on poetry. It's one of my favorite classes to teach because the kids are so old (and I listen to the same music as the girls- Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga!)
So the poor boys, I made them write a poem. No amount of pleading or whining could keep me from assigning such a wonderful task. The boys finally gave in and wrote poems... about me! They thought somehow that writing about how I was "wonderful", "kind", and "beautiful" would get them a higher grade (maybe it worked!). The best part was tonight they had to do a presenation of their poem, reading it aloud to the class. I loved hearing these "too cool for school" boys read about how amazing I am, nonetheless in POEMS they WROTE! It made me and all the girls laugh our hearts out.
In light of my boys poems, I thought I'd post a poem that recently has meant a lot to me.
Wilderness
into the wilderness He led me
hot wind pushing against me as i moved out
every desire behind me
leaving all hope of the past behind
only sallow sand ahead
into the desert He called me
away from the faucets
i had drank from time and time
into the sweltering emptiness
waves of heat pressed all around
the streets of comfort
now so ancient
only brought bitterness to my weary heart
the ties that had once held me
now so futile
they couldn't reach into the wilderness
insignificant grains of sand
burrowed into my sin
burning me and bringing forth fresh tears
thirsty and desperate
i cried out
for water, for anything
all former hope crushed
with nothing to hold
i cried
oh tears, what glorious droplets
shed so freely
in anguish, in despair, in surrender
it was then that my eyes began to open
in the pallid sand
i now saw strokes of marigold and honey
the once oppresive heat
now wrapped around me like a blanket
holding me close as a mother holds her babe
There in the desert
He taught me to see Him
in the dry heat
in the emptiness
i found Life
but can there truly be life in the wilderness?
can existance come outside of the city walls?
i followed Him through the desert,
trusting that His Life was greater
than the life I had imagined in egypt
into the wilderness He led me
into the desert He led me
right into a camp
souls like myself who had found life outside
whose tears had watered the seeds of life
it was there in the desert
that springs of Life sprung forth
outside of the world we had known
far from the trival hopes and fears that had driven us
it was in the wilderness, that we found Life
-Rachel Lake
In one of my middle school classes, we've been doing a unit on poetry. It's one of my favorite classes to teach because the kids are so old (and I listen to the same music as the girls- Jonas Brothers, Lady Gaga!)
So the poor boys, I made them write a poem. No amount of pleading or whining could keep me from assigning such a wonderful task. The boys finally gave in and wrote poems... about me! They thought somehow that writing about how I was "wonderful", "kind", and "beautiful" would get them a higher grade (maybe it worked!). The best part was tonight they had to do a presenation of their poem, reading it aloud to the class. I loved hearing these "too cool for school" boys read about how amazing I am, nonetheless in POEMS they WROTE! It made me and all the girls laugh our hearts out.
In light of my boys poems, I thought I'd post a poem that recently has meant a lot to me.
Wilderness
into the wilderness He led me
hot wind pushing against me as i moved out
every desire behind me
leaving all hope of the past behind
only sallow sand ahead
into the desert He called me
away from the faucets
i had drank from time and time
into the sweltering emptiness
waves of heat pressed all around
the streets of comfort
now so ancient
only brought bitterness to my weary heart
the ties that had once held me
now so futile
they couldn't reach into the wilderness
insignificant grains of sand
burrowed into my sin
burning me and bringing forth fresh tears
thirsty and desperate
i cried out
for water, for anything
all former hope crushed
with nothing to hold
i cried
oh tears, what glorious droplets
shed so freely
in anguish, in despair, in surrender
it was then that my eyes began to open
in the pallid sand
i now saw strokes of marigold and honey
the once oppresive heat
now wrapped around me like a blanket
holding me close as a mother holds her babe
There in the desert
He taught me to see Him
in the dry heat
in the emptiness
i found Life
but can there truly be life in the wilderness?
can existance come outside of the city walls?
i followed Him through the desert,
trusting that His Life was greater
than the life I had imagined in egypt
into the wilderness He led me
into the desert He led me
right into a camp
souls like myself who had found life outside
whose tears had watered the seeds of life
it was there in the desert
that springs of Life sprung forth
outside of the world we had known
far from the trival hopes and fears that had driven us
it was in the wilderness, that we found Life
-Rachel Lake
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