My Little Brown Piano

This is a fun little apostrophe towards our beloved piano. There have been so many moments when I would sit upon the piano bench, yearning to play yet not knowing what to play. Sometimes, as my fingers dance over the keys, the piano moves me to play a certain piece, a certain song, a certain music for the day.

My little brown piano,
What music have you
Prepared for my fingers today?
A butterfly’s shadow,
A bumblebee’s flight,
Or soothing adagios to play?

A Mozart’s sonata,
A Beethoven’s song,
A waltz from some pages of Strauss?
A transcribed cantata
Concertos, chorals,
Or concerts to bring down the house?

Chopin and his nocturnes,
Impressions galore,
Or Bach and his marvelous fugues?
A new piece that still yearns
To practice some more,
A Czerny that’s yet to be used?

My little brown piano,
You’re bursting alive,
Awaiting my fingers to play.
Please echo my sorrow,
My joy, and my life
Through music you give me today.

What Will Our Legacy Be?

This is a beautiful and thought-provoking poem by Stephanie from "The Rebelution." Also included is my reply. Though many have already posted their thoughts at the Rebelution, I wonder what your response is. What will your legacy be?

What will our legacy be?
What will our children see?
Will they proudly cheer
O'er what we've left here?
Or will they hide
The evidence in shame?
What will our legacy be?
What will our children see?
Our daily life is showing
The path that we are going.
Will it point them to the One
Who gave His life away?
What will our children see?
What will our legacy be?

This is my reply:

A legacy of love, a legacy of grace
That makes man look above to God’s most holy face;
A legacy of hope, a legacy of faith
That teaches man to hold on Him through earthly days;
A legacy that leads not to my name alone,
But aids each man to heed the glory of His throne;
A legacy of gain in all eternal things,
A fitting, sweet refrain to songs the angels sing;
A legacy that yields encouragement to youth
To reach the ripened fields awaiting Heaven’s truth;
A legacy that gives not glamour nor acclaim
But through the life I live give honor to His name.

Help Me Trust Thee, Father God

This is my attempt at "Fanny Crosby" poetry. The theme of this hymn is indeed similar to several of my previous posts. And yet, who could ever trust God less than he should? May this poem be an encouraging prayer to all my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Help me trust Thee, Father God,
Though troubles may arise,
Seeking e’er They staff and rod,
And seeing through Thine eyes.

Help me ever to rely
Upon Thy providence;
Help me ever to comply
With what Thou blesses hence.

And when things be smoothly run,
Please help me not forget,
That all things beneath the sun
Were by Thy power set.

Keep in me a tender faith
That holds through every pain,
Knowing that whate’er Thou saith
Shall soon be rendered plain.

For Every Step

These are the lyrics to the opening theme of a stage musical on Esther that I will probably never get to complete. Even if the play may never take form, however, I have no reason not to enjoy this song. The meter and rhyme are clearly for lyric form, instead of poetry. Yet no matter what form these words take, the message they convey is universal.

Verse 1:
Life may be hard and weary,
The roads be hard to see;
It might be so much easier
To turn around and flee.
Things we don’t understand
Keep coming on at hand;
And it becomes too difficult
To follow God’s commands.

Chorus:
For every step there’s a direction
For every pathway there’s a goal
From every promise there will flow glories untold
For everything under the sun
Has a reason to be here
Be not afraid, God’s plan will soon be clear

Verse 2:
Life drops into confusion
With no expected reason,
And worries trace the hours
Of ev’ry day and ev’ry season.
The hardships faced today
Don’t seem to go away,
And it becomes too difficult
To silent down and pray.

Bridge:
The storms of life come over us on each and every day
The clouds stretch out as far as they can be;
But soon God’s hand will lovingly take all the rain away
His rainbow will be there for you and me.

Let Me Live

This poem is a product of my dabbling in Latin. May the Lord help me to live with faith, with hope, with joy, with love, with peace, and with gratefulness--no matter what the time and no matter what the language.

When foggy doubts surround Thy will,
When hardened words my prayers fill,
Please help me, Lord, to trust Thee still;
Cum fide let me live.
When burdens weigh with every stride,
When human strength fails to provide,
Please help me e’er in Thee abide;
Cum spe please let me live.
Though troubles darken daily skies,
Though worries endlessly arise,
I drink to Thee with joyful eyes;
Cum gaudio I live

When loved ones cease to love me so,
When friends no longer friendship show,
Thy love I’ll still believe and know;
Amore let me live
When hurt, distrust, and pain I bear,
When turbulence rocks every care,
Please let me in Thy promise share;
Cum pace let me live
Though I know not Thy purposes,
Though I may lose all I possess,
Your faithfulness I’ll e’er confess;
Cum gratia I’ll live

My Treasurehold of Poetry

I wrote this poem on April 20, 2005, after having left writing for more than a year. As I fumbled through my former compositions that day, I realized how much I had changed, and how important those poems were to remembering my path of growth. In the same way, may the new year ahead herald more growth, more inspiration, and more closeness to God.

My treasurehold of poetry,
So close and dear to me,
Now chronicles the way I was
And shows what I will be.
The past was made eternal by
The scriblings of my pen;
I never can depart from it
And not return again.
Long-labored works and easy rhymes
All come together here
To make a true reflection of
My happiness and tears.
The years fly by with fright’ning speed,
But thoughts are made to stay
By virtue of the faithful pen
I pick up day to day.
I do not know how things will be
When “now” becomes the past;
Yet I believe I won’t regret
My thoughts were made to last.
For every time I search my hold,
I see myself again,
The way I was so long ago
When I picked up my pen.
I never will allow my pen
To lay itself aside,
For through my writing I can see
The girl I am inside.

Dearest Rachel

Dear Rachel, it's your eighteenth birthday! I still remember talking about our eighteenth birthdays so long ago. Time has flown, and now mine has passed and yours is here. We could not have imagined our current circumstances, but God knows best. Happy birthday! :)

Dearest Rachel, dearest friend,
Times have truly flown;
Now your girlhood’s at an end,
Life and future loom unknown.

I don’t know what lies in store
In the years ahead,
If you’ll have your dreams and more,
Or have tearful pains instead.

I just know that on this day,
You are worthy of
The best wishes I can say:
“Have more faith, and hope, and love.”

Yes, I’m so repetitive
That I seem a bore;
But these lessons learnt and lived
Shall be blessings evermore.

May true faith from Jesus Christ
Help you to be strong;
Though a Christian be despised
In this world of human wrong.

May a burning hope in you
Carry through all pain;
Though some dreams may prove untrue,
In your heart He’ll always reign.

May a solid, Christian love
Never cease to grow
In your heart as in above,
Through each day He should bestow.

Dearest Rachel, dearest friend,
May these vitues three
Guide you, mold you till the end,
When God’s woman you shall be.