Mr. Crow Mr. Crow, what do you know that I don't, jabbering, squawking in the morning air? Are you making sure your friends are aware of an owl sleeping somewhere near? Or possibly a dirty trick - you cunning, conniving king of magic - to lure the others away so you can get to your secret, shiny prize sitting on the roadside? Eyes of charcoal, feathers darker than the Devil's soul, Mr. Crow you captivate me like no other winged wonder. Justin Farley
Songs of Spring A Nature Poem About Birds Singing The robins are back chirping. The cardinals have resumed singing out from the bushes they've used for shelter these past few months. They bring joy. They bring hope that spring is just 'round the corner, that I can cope, each day getting warmer, each day the sun remaining in the sky longer. Even those damn sparrows that fly in flocks of five hundred, fighting and jabbering throughout the day, bring a smile and a laugh. Even while knowing that this temporary ceasefire will fade away and by the end of the season there'll be dozens of reasons to despise them. But for now we share the morning as friends both delighting that at last, winter's grasp is fading away. Justin Farley
Hello, everyone! I have recently published my first chapbook of Christian poems titled “A Voice in the Wilderness – A Chapbook of Poems about God”. This has been developed and polished over the past six months or so. I am happy with the final product and hope you find encouragement in the poems but also a validation that the spiritual life is not all sunshine and rainbows. We all struggle. We all have periods of questions and/or doubt. But it is the yearning that keeps us coming back for more and allows us to experience joy.
You can purchase either on Amazon or on my own bookstore (it is cheaper and has free shipping on my store) and is available on the Kindle and in paperback.
Amazon: Kindle Paperback
Inkspiration Books (my bookstore): Paperback
Thank you for your support!
I take my dog out the front door to do his morning business
and feel temperature change whip me in the face –
chilly air burning and freezing my nostrils simultaneously.
Overnight a lush, green carpet has transformed
into a frost-tipped arena of ice.
Blades of grass poke up like tiny daggers.
With each footstep, they pierce my hope for Autumn to stay.
The rays of the days have been wasting away –
dark by the time work’s done with no light for play.
And of Autumn, I fear she’s reached her death.
Frost isn’t welcome here.
But Nature defies my every command.
She controls the tides of the seasons
as an unseen, unstoppable force,
moving across the realms of life like an invisible hand,
brewing chaos and bringing order,
destroying life and creating life
without uttering a word.
Silent, but always heard
by all forces of life in this world.
I must cave to her order.
But admit I am not ready for when Autumn leaves –
when she packs up her warmth and color,
when the fiery flames of pumpkins are extinguished
by rot and mold,
when greenery withers in agony when kissed
by the north wind’s harsh breath.
But I must submit to Autumn’s death
because Winter comes without my blessing.
I see frost from my doorstep this morning
and know it won’t be long before Winter arrives.
Living in Indiana, it seems fall is always too short. It is by far my favorite season, and I feel I never get enough of it. Many years, by the time your notice that the leaves are changing color, the temperature is finally cooling down, and it actually feels like fall, a week later it’s bitter cold and snowing. As much as I hate the changing of seasons from fall to winter, I am grateful to live in a state where there are stark contrasts from season to season. With the seasons changing, it reminds you that nothing is meant to stay the same forever. The seasons change, and we must adapt, year after year, as we are called to do. They also humble us and remind us that there are greater powers in the world. But it’s never easy for me to see the first hard frost and know that fall is about over and winter is just around the corner.
You may also enjoy another of my poems about the changing seasons, “Frost of the Field” or you can find all of my poems on nature HERE
Everyday Miracles – A Poem About Finding God in Ordinary Things
The clamor of your wisdom claps
like a thousand hands in unison throughout the forest,
calling from every treetop,
and whispering within every breath the north wind blows.
Your wisdom can be found in the simplicity of a dew drop
and within the caw of a congregation of crows.
You are an invisible hand, always laboring,
opening and closing doors as you see fit –
not always on my time frame,
not always giving me access to the rooms I wish,
but often times I find ignorance is bliss.
For the paths I most yearn to walk down
you wall off, knowing they lead to my demise.
You are the wise King,
always leading, but serving unceasingly.
With each new day you bring,
I am astonished at your beauty –
as long as I make the time to open my eyes,
as long as my awareness is focused on you
and turned away from the desires of my mind.
Your miracles come in small packages,
constantly sent, but rarely opened.
I look for you in grandiose experiences,
but you keep gently tugging at my sleeve,
urging me to put on my leather gloves
and dig for you in the dirt of the garden.
If I’m not careful,
I can become oblivious to the everyday mystery –
the beauty of a daffodil,
the way sunlight rests upon my windowsill,
the spirit that speaks when my mind gets still,
and the non-coincidental meetings of strangers,
sharing the exact conversations I need to hear.
Open my eyes when they are blind to your majesty,
so that I may witness your glory
in every root, rock, river, and ravine.
May I read the love letters you’ve written
upon every stump I pass in the forest,
every deer that crosses my path,
and every squirrel that leaps from limb to limb.
May I marvel at your everyday miracles
and find your fingerprints upon every piece of evidence
in this case called life.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
photo credit: Ontelaunee Creek Tributary (1) via photopin (license)
I Want To Walk With You – A Poem
I want to walk with you
Out through the cornfields
Where the dried up stalks
And brittle husks flutter in the cool wind.
I want to take your hand
And venture down the rows
The combines have cut,
Corn kernels crunching beneath our feet,
And make our way to where field and forest meet,
Where street cars are silent
And the noise of the city is muted to our ears.
I want to walk with you through the fears
Where dreams dance with possibility,
Where it’s safe to embrace vulnerability.
I want to watch the geese take flight
As we drive flocks away with our laughter
And listen as the blue jay squawks his warning call.
I want to look into your eyes
And tell you all my heart longs to speak –
To lay my trust down at your feet
And watch you pick it up,
Carefully tucking it away in your arms.
I want to walk with you
Out past the cornfields
Where fall’s mist washes away doubt and apprehension.
I want to walk with you forever,
Wherever this crazy, winding road goes.
Because you and the beautiful mess that’s you,
Is the only place that’s ever felt like home.
-Poem Written By Justin Farley
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)
Cock crows resounding, penetrating
through dense clouds of moisture.
Silence stirs. Nature’s alarm clock has sounded.
Pellets of dew cover meadows in morning like a soggy wet blanket.
Forests are brimming with life
long before the sun wakes to greet the day.
The creatures of morning need no brewed elixir
to get themselves moving; carpe diem is the driving force of their DNA.
Chirping can be heard throughout the wood
and feathers take flight from twilight roosts.
Deer scatter from their beds of dense undergrowth
and search the farmer’s field for breakfast.
Nature’s spectacle concludes with Aurora’s grand finale.
And I, well I sit back and watch in wide-eyed wonder.
-Poem Written By Justin Farley
If you enjoyed this post, I would greatly appreciate it if you like, share, or comment on it. Follow my blog to receive notifications when new posts are published. You can find my other Christian poems, Lent poems, love poems or inspirational poems at https://alongthebarrenroad.com/category/poetry/
photo credit: Sun Getting Out Of Bed via photopin (license)
A Lover’s Journey – A Love Poem
If you offer me your hand,
I will follow you
Forever across fields of heather,
Through the pastures of clover,
And down the valley filled with bramble and thorn.
Adorn your brow with freshly picked flowers, love
And let us frolic beneath the sun,
Entwined like creeping vines and becoming one.
Do I dare tear down these walls of security
And stand bare before you,
My soul naked and vulnerable,
Anxiously awaiting your response?
Do you delight in what dangles before you
Or do you remain unmoved and free from the bonds of desire?
Offer me a place to put my spark of passion, love
And I will build a fire
To burn away the dead, dry timber of yesterdays.
Do not be afraid.
For I am the caretaker of your heart,
The one who nestles it within my breast
And guards it like a treasure.
Never will it break or fall apart.
Your eyes are like jewels that hypnotize and gleam,
Reflecting the inner yearnings of my spirit
And promising new things to come.
I long to take this ride across the countryside with you,
To dance beneath summer sun and full moon,
To get lost among the stalks of corn fields
Until we harvest a fertile crop.
Sow me a seed of passion, beloved
And vow that our love will always be enough.
-Poem Written By Justin Farley
If you enjoyed this post, I would greatly appreciate it if you like, share, or comment on it. Follow my blog to receive notifications when new posts are published. You can find my other Christian poems, Lent poems, love poems or inspirational poems at https://alongthebarrenroad.com/category/poetry/
photo credit: Gold and Pink via photopin (license)
A house sparrow is busy outside my window
Gathering bits of grass in his beak –
Supplies needed for this year’s nest.
Some biological impulse is pushing him,
Performing actions he doesn’t even understand,
An invisible hand directing his reason.
It doesn’t take microscopes, telescopes, or theories
To explain the universe.
The designer reveals himself in the simplest ways.
But you will remain blind
With open eyes and a closed heart.
Purpose parades in even nature’s smallest towns
And down its cities’ streets.
Some may call it evolution,
But I call it intelligent design.
Either way, there’s one thing we can agree on…
The complexity of life is beautiful.
-Poem Written by Justin Farley
If you enjoyed this post, I would greatly appreciate it if you like, share, or comment on it. Follow my blog to receive notifications when new posts are published. You can find my other Christian poems, Lent poems, or inspirational poems at https://alongthebarrenroad.com/category/poetry/
photo credit: Female House Sparrow #3 via photopin (license)
Along the Barren Road 