Stir the Sky

a collection of poetry

by Kelly Lowe
 

To Listing of Poems

Magic Kingdom


Little girl dreams to be a princess
Wiggle my nose, away I go
Mirror, mirror on the wall
The face inside will tell me all
Beauty wakened with a kiss
Snow-white dreams, bed of bliss
Pretty in pink, a fragrant flower
Tucked inside an ivory tower

Middle-girl dreams to meet a lover
Strong, kind man to hold my hand
Gilded mirror on the wall
The face inside reveals it all
Beauty cheapened with a lie
Sordid dreams, bedroom eyes
Veiled in black, a ruined bride
Used, confused, and cast aside

Worlds away in a grownup land
Always moving, working, proving
Check the mirror on the wall
The face inside it shows me all
Beauty weakened with the years
Broken dreams, bed of tears
In the red and on the edge
Pressed in by a thorny hedge

King in bright and fiery light
Astride his steed, he rides for me
My mirror rests on heaven's throne
One glance to know as I am known
Beauty deepened by his face
Wildest dreams, bed of grace
Whitest robe and crown of gold
Bride of Christ, my future told


Hollow


I thought that I would die undone
I could not take another breath
My heartbeat raced to catch my thoughts
That ran in little rivulets

Of dreams unuttered, only seen
Within the chambers of my mind
Where love with you spread wild and green
Like vines enwrap an ancient shrine

Oh heart that bleeds and soul that aches
When in the waking, all is lost
Remember this: that true love takes
Its form in humble guise and small

A smile shared, a husband's kiss
A child's hand within your own
That these, and more are true love's bliss
And hollow dreams but crumbling stone

 


Divine Dance


Dancing with your first love
After the death of an affair
After the anger and forgiveness
After the pain and dark despair

Is like a sweet and holy passion

One-two step, one-two step
Forward, backward, sweep and bow
Hands clasped, eyes fast, locked tight
Never leave you again, never

Unity under a canopy
Of wings hovering and holding
The time of the dance divine
Sublime, secure and finally sure

Embracing your first love
After the healing words are said
After the final tears have fallen
After the last heart-drop is bled

Is like a sweet and holy passion

 


Fly Straight


I fly so high that when I crash
It really hurts, but still I fold
My wings midair and shut my eyes

To spiral down, hopeless and numb
Broken and bruised and lying still
Afraid to spread my wings again

If grounded, caught and cruelly caged
I'll slowly die, so I must set
My eyes above, to finally gaze

Into the Son, whose face will melt
My pain into a river deep
That runs beneath his outspread wings

And brings refreshing in its stream
As wisdom offers her sweet cup
To gently wash my wounds until

I rise again, set in the Son
Who undergirds my body's flight
And lifts me up out of the night

 


Love Letter


My eyes searched the world around me
My guard fell the day you found me
I gave myself to you
Not a one better

My words rise in wisps of color
Each thought lies upon another
I send them off to you
Like a love letter

Address me, date me
Seal me with a kiss
Open me, read me
Press me to your lips
Envelop me, send me
Peruse me slow

I'm a bundle tied
With a blood-red bow



Wineskin


This vessel of mine is a vat of wine
Fermented, and fine
It holds a well of fluid, liquid love

Tap my heart, and it's yours
Sip lightly to get tipsy or
Gulp great draughts to get drunk

Take as much as you want
There's more for me, the more you drink
Free refills in a fountain overflowing

 

Beauty


The purest beauty in a sea of clouds
Stretched gray and silver, taut against the sky
And still with silence, soft, her lips pronounce
Shelter to all who seek to know her name,
Who find their solace in a sheet of rain;
She proffers mercy to the thirsty man

To seek and never find is such a curse
That mortal man can hardly bear its weight
But bent and bowing underneath the load,
Sees only earth, and never sky above
Each man, his heavy burden must discard
And lift his eyes to feast on heaven's fare

For beauty found in heaven has, in truth,
More wealth than all the worldly coffers hold,
Is sweeter than the stolen honey here,
Far deeper than incarnate flesh appears
There is no burden easier, nor so light
Than beauty's yoke of gentleness, and life.

 

My Love


Soft as a breeze, in the summer sun
           Is my love to me
Warm as a spark on a winter night
Bright as a star in the midnight sky
           Is my love to me
Fresh as a blade in a new-sown field
Still as a whisper amid the crowd
Cool as a raindrop in desert drought
           Is my love to me

Small in the face of eternity
           Is my love for him
Bigger than all I can touch or see
           Is his love for me

 

Visitor At Twilight


You speak in the twilight of sleep
While shadows melt into darkness,
           And enter my imagination
To reveal what I never can see
With my daylit and earthy mind
           And worldly-wise preoccupation

You lay me to rest in the hush,
The soft, gentle brush of your hand
           Sweeps the layers of mind-pollution
Then, you throw open wide heaven's door
To breathtaking visions, brand new;
           I gaze in wonder and elation

I long, every day, for the night,
And sink under heaven's pure spell,
           Asleep to the world's invitation
When you visit where light meets the dark,
To show me your treasures in store
           And a glimpse of my true habitation

 

Crushed

 

How swiftly the tender sweetness of love
Is robbed by the hollow whisper of hate,
When jealousy flashes, with sharp tongue lashes,
Too quickly, good will and kindness abate
           Love is a flower, easily crushed
           And the healing thereof, cannot be rushed

One word, but one look, can bury it deep
In grave, or in garden; the key is the heart
Of the one who chooses the words he uses,
To fasten, as glue, or to blast apart
           Hope is a flower, easily crushed
           And the healing thereof, cannot be rushed

A thousand strides forward, only to fall
On new accusations, which blanket the old
The years we have traveled are coming unraveled;
What once warmed desire, is now growing cold
           Trust is a flower, easily crushed
           And the healing thereof, cannot be rushed

Love, Hope and Trust, in congress form
An eternal flower; in marriage, peace
Depends on the triune and fragrant bloom,
That's watched and protected from trampling feet
           Hearts are as flowers, easily crushed
           And the faith built therein, cannot be rushed
Copyright 2001 and 2002 by Kelly Lowe
     
     

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