"Clue less"
by Linda Carlson
He said, "I don't get it"....
She said, "It's as clear as day".
He looked toward the window and said, "but it's midnight".
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"The View"
by Linda Carlson
Our lives are brief upon this sod
As we make our way on paths to God.
For we are more than just the here and now.
All we are linked, entwined somehow.
Don't you believe that when you wipe away
Another's tear,
It reverberates in kind, not just now,
Not just here...
But ripples tides on an ancient sea...
Carried through eternity.
As one heart touches another
And blend.
Loving acts of kindness flow from each eddy
Round' each bend
To flow into the greater river
Of time and space, to reach the very heart of Him
Who set us in this place.
This is the stuff we're made of.
It's what helps each soul have worth.
To give and not stop to count the cost
As we walk upon this earth.
Every soul precious to Him.
Each one counts you see.
To live and love and bring hearts closer
To One who died so we could be free.
Free form the bondage of selfishness.
From the chains of me, myself, and I.
To lift a heart in need when there's trouble,
If only we would try.
So make your time count while here friend,
Someone's watching you.
As you look along life's roadways remember, to expand
Your vision with eternal
View.
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"Unexpected Ambush"
by Linda Carlson
Years of bitter resentment just fell by the wayside.
Along with the tears she wept.
He had written her a love letter.
He had never done anything remotely like that before..through all those years.
She had steeled herself behind a wall of self protection for the want of never being hurt
Ever again.
She'd been battle-scarred, bruised, and painfully pummeled and left
Lonely.
Oh how she feared it.
And the wall began slowly, brick by brick.
With an insensitive word here, an unloving act there.
Heartache the mortar, mixed throughout.
The depth of pain suffered in rejection and loss
From long ago.
The feelings of inadequacy and meaninglessness...
The kind that shouts at you, "you don't fit in anywhere on this earth!"
All the baggage she brought into this relationship,
She brought with heavy resolve.
And she'd made her stand.
And anger turned into unkindness,
And unkindness into hatred,
And hatred...into indifference.
All symptoms of hurts
Long gone untended...accumulated through years
Of passionless life,
And dreams left unfulfilled.
She couldn't remember a time of warmth from her cold and hardened heart.
But all it took to make the wall come crashing down
Was a simple letter.
Not eloquent or flowery.
Real.
Which stated that he truly loved her.
And that she was the most important person in his life for all time.
And here she sat.
Weeping great sobs of overwhelming tears,
Which washed over her whole being
Like cool and gentle rain.
Cleansing away in waves of great release
The bitterness, hatred, and sadness.
Words...
When spoken
Must be chosen with care.
Years spent carelessly flinging them out here or there with no thought,
Had accumulated into huge heaps of worthless rubble and ruin in her life.
Only to be cleared away in an instant.
Miraculously.
With a few penned from his heart.
Soothing.
Reassuring and reaffirming her value..
As a woman, a person, a beloved wife...
For whom there was love and purpose.
How very long she'd waited to "feel" cherished.
And how often she had told herself that she hadn't really cared.
All the bitter facade now vanquished...
She had been softened and broken
By simple words on a page.
Golden and treasured..
She consumed them all.
And
Each took residence
In her heart.
The siege had ended.
The wall was down.
The reserves sent packing...
As she opened her heart and her arms,
For the very first time
To love.
All Poetry on this page Copyright Linda Carlson 2000
