When I was lonely and missing my family while I was overseas, I read this verse from the NASB.
Psalm 102:7
I lie awake,
I have become like a lonely bird on a housetop.
When you flap your feathers about, you risk being alone in the sky.
So we must call out to God. And wait upon his eagle wings.
Be patient. Take your time.
Good friends are hard to find.
If relationships were easy?
You’d never mine your kind.
I waited a lifetime
To unbury my heart.
Then he came from nowhere.
The whole to my half-a part.
I used to think
I was just a lost cause.
Then along came my mister
Once I settled on who I was.
Then came my daughter.
My very best friend.
We’ll always have each other.
Every day, to the very end.
It’s more important
To know one’s self
Than to put your love
On the lowest shelf.
It’s oftentimes tumultuous–
Sometimes you run aground.
But there is no life-saver.
Everyone will let you drown.
The simple fact is this–
You have to pick your hurt.
Find the friends who deserve
To get everything you’re worth.
People will make a mess.
People will let you fall.
But good friends stitch you up
After toppling off that wall.
Don’t forget.
You’re loyal.
Kind.
Intelligent.
Loving.
Beautiful.
Unique.
Capable.
Worthy.
Valuable.
Patient.
If you give away who you are to the wrong person, the right person will miss you.
Good luck.
This is an imitation poem of Wordsworth’s I Wandered Lonely As a Cloud. Same amount of syllables in each line and follows the a-b-a-b-c-c pattern in the stanzas. I started this poem in a college creative writing class in 1995 (it had a different direction then, I was too young to finish). Gah! So long ago.
I was wrapped lonely in a shroud.
This veil of silence sealed my thoughts.
When all at once, I lived out loud.
Finally cut my tangled knots.
I’m free to swim and find my way.
Searching for a glimmering ray.
Under the ocean, lost in waves,
Grabbing for air in panicked gasps.
Rolling around this sea of graves,
Spitting out endless, hardened rasps.
Tossed upon the rocky-black storm,
Nothing but pain to keep me warm.
Break the surface-a flood of light.
Nothing familiar, no one near.
Erupt to shore like birds in flight.
Collapse in the sand without fear.
I made it–not just to survive–
To taste the world and come alive.
Plant my flag and settle the hurt.
Find the shells that echo my heart.
Wash away all the grit and dirt.
Burning the past is oh-so smart.
Now all the ties lies have come undone.
No race un-run; no war un-won.
