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Previous Challenge Entry (Level 4 – Masters)
Topic: Bloom (11/22/12)
How can I grow when
my life is sown in hard soil?
Hope is trampled down
when all I will have is a place
in the queue
at the dole office
Bills spill through the letter box daily
Eating up the money
That could buy books
or pay for school trips
My escape from poverty is
Closed off

How can I prosper when
my life is sown on rocky ground?
Dig beneath the make-up
my mother wears
and see behind the veil of her cigarette smoke
Like sand in an oyster,
life is an irritation covered over
No precious pearl conceived
but a shell around her heart
that scorns all weaknesses
No gentle rain of affection
Falls on me

How can I thrive when
my life falls into thorns?
Billboards and cold callers
Perfect families selling
sugar-sprinkled breakfast cereal
on a fifty inch high definition flat screen
“It could be you”
makes promises it can’t keep
Covetousness promoted
Tiny paper cuts of discontent sting
I search for satisfaction
in a broken sewer pipe

Yet into my life
stained and scarred
a different seed is sown
A word that
sets me free, lifts me
and seats me
in heavenly places
There is a voice that insists
“You are my beloved son..”

How can I not
flourish when God
speaks?
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This article has been read 946 times
Member Comments
Member
Date
lynn gipson 
11/30/12
I understood this one so well, and you described it very well. I think it is excellent. Thanks for sharing.

God BLess, Lynn
lynn gipson 
11/30/12
I understood this one so well, and you described it very well. I think it is excellent. Thanks for sharing.

God BLess, Lynn
Loren T. Lowery
11/30/12
This is God's divine grace revealed. Your poem speaks volumes - it seems to come from your very heart. It says to the world that through God we all can overcome. Beautiful, hopeful and comforting reminder.
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
12/01/12
Wow this starts out in the darker side of life which probably everyone can understand and relate to on different levels. A sense of sadness and fear washes over me but then you present the beautiful flower in full bloom--the love of Jesus and his faith in me and instead of sadness my heart starts to fill with hope. Great bit of writing and putting such raw feelings on the table so that others too may be blessed is courageous. Thank you for sharing so much with me.
Bea Edwards 
12/03/12
Stark and honest yet guiding us towards the hope in those wonderful last words. Well written and powerful.
Noel Mitaxa 
12/03/12
An inpsiring invitation to open our eyes to see what God is doing in spite of what our natural eyesight takes in.
Allison Egley 
12/04/12
Oh wow. We had very similar ideas this week, yet we took slightly different approaches to it. Nice job!
Eddie Snipes
12/04/12
Great poem!
Christina Banks
12/04/12
Fantastic poem!
Olawale Ogunsola
12/04/12
I love your thought provoking opening and closing questions. This is a good entry.
C D Swanson 
12/04/12
Loved the progression of feelings, meanings, and overall message.
Good job. God bless~
Shann Hall-LochmannVanBennekom 
12/07/12
Congratulations for ranking 10th in your level and 11 overall!