Deer Child – A Nature and Life Poem
Doe and fawn
drink from the creek at dawn,
filling their bellies
to last out the noonday heat.
Doe protective and cautious;
fawn careless and unconscious –
unaware of the eyes
watching her from the bank.
Age brings wisdom and experience,
for the youthful heart is oblivious
to the dangers disguised as blissful indulgence
lurking in the field of freedom.
.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
“The Mirror”
The mirror stands tall and peers with endless eyes,
full of the power to change your course in life.
It’s skilled in planting and sowing your demise,
yet is always willing to inspire and energize.
It’s the instigator of failure’s reprise,
or makes goals and dreams actualized.
The mirror grants the viewer a new image with each sunrise,
but only reflects back what the mind supplies.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
Beyond the Break of Dawn
Beyond the break of dawn
Hope sings a renewal song
To start anew –
To begin a journey out of the darkness
of your past and into the now.
Beyond the break of dawn
is the unbreakable promise that my wrongs are gone,
that guilt will no longer hang over my head
like an ax-wielding executioner, ready to strike.
Beyond the break of dawn
lies the inspiration to carry on.
The crushing veil of night has been lifted
and my eyes are able to see a new day before me.
Beyond the break of dawn,
after a darkness fought so long,
after many sleepless nights beneath the shadow of hopelessness,
waits the gift of love, grace, and renewal.
The Son rises in his glory,
hanging high with outstretched hands,
and all of what once was is hushed to sleep.
Love rises out to meet us
on the road to freedom
and grips our hand with belief,
yet transcends the limitations of the human mind.
God rests us in the palm of his glory,
giving us the only promise we’ll ever need
and rewrites a once hopeless story.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
God’s love transcends the vastness of our darkness, some of which we’ve created and some which is an inevitable part of life. One of the greatest gifts that Christianity offers is the promise of love, grace, renewal, restoration, and forgiveness. Dark days are followed by sunny skies and joyful living. It’s never too late to come home and accept the love and grace that is extended to everyone, regardless of race, gender, or age.
Dawn is a beautiful thing to witness. It goes deeper than beauty that you see in the sky. It’s a reminder that there is always a chance for a new day and that your life is not so broken that it can’t be restored. I think that’s a feeling that all humans feel, regardless of whether you believe in God or not. But the work and love of Jesus is an even greater dawn that pulls you out of a darkness so thick that it seems to be impossible to navigate out of. Jesus gives you a hope when hope seems lost. Jesus gives you a life when life once only felt like death.
The power of God’s love and transformation lies in the fact that we don’t have to fix all the damage that we’ve done; he’s done it for us. It’s a forgiveness of all our debts that we know are beyond the reality of ever paying back. It’s a loving hand of grace willing to completely wipe out the scoreboard and let us start over. Not once. Not twice. But every single day, we get another chance to accept God’s love and grace and leave behind the mistakes of yesterday.
You may also enjoy some of my other Christian Poetry.
Today – A Inspiration Poem
The sun is rising.
Open your eyes to the possibility of a new life
That waits for you upon the horizon.
Let the aroma of fresh brewed coffee stir you in bed
And lead you from where dreams remain fixed in your head
To where they are transfigured in motion through action.
Today we set course for the future;
We throw all past failures overboard
And load our cargo of dormant potential in the hold.
Today we set sail to new destinations
We’ve been planning for years,
But never had the courage to leave the comfort of familiar harbors.
Today we become masters over our inner self
And shed the shackles of slavery,
No longer submitting to the will of our weaknesses.
Today is the first day of your new life –
Reborn, awoken, reformed into the image
You’ve always desired and known you’re capable of.
Today will find us working
And not bewildered by fear or past distractions.
We will set course on a path of purposeful, rigorous action.
Today we set sail for the future,
Which does not come to us,
But we confidently create and seek.
Today is the only day of your life that’s guaranteed.
So pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
Smile, don’t fret. Let’s make it one for the ages.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
photo credit: The Grassy Knoll via photopin
Growing Pains – A Poem
Why are these dreams that stretch out across my heart’s field of desire,
That glisten Like droplets of drew sparkling on the morning grass,
So hard to obtain, so hard to take to take hold of,
And so hard to lasso and pull close to reality?
The burden is bearing the tragedy of it all,
Knowing what you want, what you need,
Lies just beyond the forest and through the trees,
But you seem unable to put those desires into action.
So often I’m fixated on distractions that pull me off-course,
And get me lost on side paths instead of trekking onward
Towards goals, aspirations, and destinations.
It drives a person mad, carrying around bags of frustrations,
Grueling through labor day after day,
Counting the minutes, knowing there has to be another way.
But the Way is left without footprints, often prepared for
But never ventured and what’s left of hope slowly fades away.
There’s a demon inside of me that seems unable to be controlled,
Scoffing at dreams, content to let life pass me by,
Trampling on schedules, and consistently cursing meaningful causes.
Claws strike out at my fingers each time
I reach out to grasp my true potential.
I now know the paved road to success doesn’t exist.
You must venture through the dense forest,
Fight through the clinging vines, and thrash through the sticks.
No, to journey with intention is no vacation,
And the mess inside me, always attempting to misguide me, is no easy fix.
But the trail to nowhere is covered by countless footprints
And paved with the trampled dreams others have left behind.
The alarm clock beckons.
Wisdom speaks.
My souls shrieks.
But for some reason I have yet to understand,
I hear, but refuse to listen.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
photo credit: After the rainfall via photopin (license)
Eclipse – A Poem
Two sides of a conflicting coin
Flip like faces in a dramatic act.
Two intricate and separate forces entangle
In a bitter struggle, leaving Earth cloaked in black.
How can such a powerful light
Be smothered by such a small, sinister hand?
A visceral visual of what evil can accomplish
When given the freedom to take root in the heart of man.
In a matter of seconds the cosmos is silenced
By the veil of darkness and death.
The yang captured beneath the yin’s net;
Hope and light suffocating and gasping for breath.
What once was so beautiful,
Shining in the sky’s endless sea,
Has now turned into a lifeless puppet,
Bound and animated by dark, dominating strings.
You were once a blazing beacon –
A fire of hope that lit up my nights.
But now, my once glorious sun,
You’ve laid down, surrendered, and given up the fight.
I only hope this is but an eclipse
And shortly you’ll come forth from hiding behind the moon.
For life is but a quick, short breath
And will not wait while you wallow woefully in your room.
Two opposite forces fight
In the face of the atmosphere;
The moon is not a worthy opponent
But kills all light when the sun hides in fear.
The moon hangs with no power,
But becomes master when the sun submits.
Defy the rebellion, do not yield to your captor.
Emerge as the victor in your heart’s eclipse.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
photo credit: Lunar Eclipse via photopin (license)
Carefree and playful like a child,
Your wings flutter in the autumn breeze.
You crack open your seeds with supreme diligence,
Wrapped up in the gift of the present moment.
If only I could be more like you –
Unaware of the future,
Unaltered by anxieties and fears
That exist only in my mind…
But you inspire me, my little black-capped wonder,
To live one moment at a time.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
photo credit: Chickadee Up Close via photopin (license)
I am mesmerized by your petals –
Stained crimson red with beauty.
Delicate like soft velvet,
Detailed in form, hiding mystery.
Your aroma arises to meet me.
Scents of seduction, the fragrance of romanticism you send.
Your hands stretch out across the winds,
Captivating, caressing, and undressing my defenses
To lure me in.
But your sweet promises hold no weight.
For as I lean in towards your skin
I am stung by the thorns of fate.
Razor-sharp barbs jut out from your sides
Piercing this heart of mine
And my blood trickles and drips upon your lips.
My eyes are opened to the source of your color.
You are merely a vampiress that sucks your beauty
At the expense of others.
Within, you are cold and deprived of life
Simply harvesting the appearance of beauty from your bite.
You must delight in the selfishness that grows in your rows,
The darkness that casts shadows, foreshadowing your true nature.
Quick with a smile at the approaching sound
Of an unsuspecting stranger.
Your hands no longer caress but strangle,
Like vice grips locked and tight.
Your feet only waiting to feed your feeble frame
Before they take flight.
Rosebush, you once were a flower but have become a bitter weed.
Your thorns have managed to devour any chance to sow love’s seed.
It is no wonder you grow in the garden alone,
Unavailable, unable to be touched, empty and without a home.
Rosebush, I’ve taken my last abuse, heard the last excuse.
Rosebush, sting me one last time, as I pull you up from your roots.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
photo credit: Cold Nights via photopin (license)
Reflections – A Poem About Character Flaws
The extent of my weaknesses are revealed
Beneath the weight of uncertainty.
I am often a self-absorbed child,
Believing that time and even the world itself should stop for me.
My futile fury of feeble insecurity
Is shocking and pries open my eyes
To inner flaws I was blind to.
Every ounce of energy, every vision conceived,
Is spent looking at me.
My expectations of others come as extensions of myself –
Unrealistic and dotted with traces of perfectionism.
Resentful if they do not meet the mark I have set
And if their opinions do not match my own
Because obviously if they are not mine,
They are clearly wrong.
Selfishness seeps from the wounds
That loving another opens and inflicts.
Selfishness insists that I must control
Instead of allowing things to let live.
These defects of mine are amplified
Under the pressures of patience,
Consciously trying to tame the darkness inside,
But at the same time fed up with waiting.
Perhaps we are given circumstances
In which at first sight appear cruel and unnecessary
To stretch the muscles of our soul,
To open up the doors of the closets
We’ve been allowing our demons to hide within,
And to act as a catalyst for change.
Each day I’m learning more about this man
And the wrongs of his ways.
But patience and love has become a mirror
In which I’m able to see an accurate reflection of myself.
I can say with certainty that much of what I see
I do not like.
But every day is an opportunity.
Each moment is a new medium
In which I determine the image I am reflecting to the world.
– Poem Written by Justin Farley
Stars
Tears fall.
Shooting, streaming from the sky.
Stars that used to shine
Are extinguished in seas of pain and die.
Endless black covers heaven’s rooftop
With no signposts or signal fires to light and guide the way.
The moon mourns in solemn tunes,
Refusing to reflect the sun’s rays.
Dreams of desolation
Devour the realms of sleep.
For when love hides in solitude,
The Sandman only has tears to eat
And memories of days when the stars were endless,
Each burning bright clinging with hope to future possibility.
But hope ceases at the examination of reality.
The sand sprinkled from his hands
Is scorched in the fires of despair
And becomes sharp shards of glass
Gouging out eyes, blinding them
And leaving only visions of the past.
For every promise made that’s been broken,
There’s a battered heart that’s left not woken,
Left to wither in a web of unattainable dreams.
Stars stream from the sky and heaven cries
Because love has clipped their wings.
– Poem Written by Justin Farley
photo credit: Geminid Into the Light via photopin (license)
