toliveischrist.info » Poetry

A song for myself

admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:45:30 +0000

I had never written a song before last week but I was inspired somewhat whilst reading Psalm 17. Carry on reading (and listening) to see the result:

Click here to hear the (very badly recorded and sung) mp3

A song for myself if I were to write
And speak of my works in which I delight
Confounded my aim before the first clause
For every good deed just acts as a gauze

The lion he lurks around those who feel
No shame in their heart, and never would kneel
Before him who reigns in grace on the throne
Devoured they are, they perish alone.

O faithless self, where can you abide?
In Jesus alone,
In him you must hide. (x2)

“Give ear to my prayer, attend to my cry;
My feet have not slipped, my ways are all right,”
What man could declare: O Lord I am pure!
But he who our punishment chose to endure.

O faithless self, where can you abide?
In Jesus alone,
In him you must hide. (x2)

The faithful one Christ, who came to his own
Rejected by all, yet still did atone
For all of our faithlessness, our sin
Flung open the gates and takes us within.

O faithful one, take me in your arms
And by your blood,
grant me heaven’s charms (x2)

The Refuge (based on Psalm 11)

admin — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:02:49 +0000

Wretched whore of a thousand lies
You tell yourself and then despise
The darkness of the life you live;
You hate your soul and can’t forgive.

Wretched whore the fault is yours;
Though slave you be, you grabbed this cup.
Ignoring all of God’s good laws,
You scorned his face and drank it up.

Wretched whore they dig so deep
And tear at every rock that keeps
Your heart in place it bears no more,
They’ve dragged you here to death’s grim door.

Wretched whore now lift your eyes,
For someone else stands at this door.
You’ll find that refuge in him lies;
Your debt is paid, your life restored.

Wordled…

admin — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:39:49 +0000

Thought I would Wordle this blog to see what my collected writings thus far might look like as an image.

Voila!

“The Princess”

admin — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 13:52:29 +0000

This is the first and only poem thus far that I have written for Cynthia, my wife of two weeks. I finished it the day before our wedding, 4th April 2009…

This song concerns a princess;
The fairest in the land
And when I’m through with singing,
I hope you understand.

A true gem was this maiden,
The like you rarely find,
So what you now imagine,
Pray scrub it from your mind.

She grew up in surroundings
As princely as they come,
And all throughout the kingdom
Was held as number one.

Such men who dreamt of beauty
Were suitors one and all,
For grace and charm adorned her;
Her looks they did enthrall.

But life was not so easy
For this our special gem,
For no man would believe her
That she was just like them.

And so a gulf did open
With no man drawing near;
Not even local princes
Could overcome their fear.

Until one day unnoticed,
In crept a dark, young man,
And darkness did become him,
It was not just his tan.

‘Twas not what she expected,
‘Twas not what he had planned,
Yet Fate she had conspiréd
To put them hand in hand.

Quite how he then did win her,
It baffles us indeed,
Except that unbeknownst
He satisfied her need.

Yet what had he to give her,
Besides his grim, dark heart?
From whose dim gloom and blackness
Most souls would fain depart.

But see now in their union
How darkness turns to light,
As on another person
They both now do delight.

The secret of their glory
Is plain for all to see,
But only those still seeking
Will truly be set free.

So come and taste the pleasures
Of this great royal place;
Sing with me of the princess
And lose yourself in Grace…

Zetta

admin — Sun, 27 May 2007 20:50:50 +0000

There is a word we are much loathe to use
(All while awhoring in secret we go),
Which word when spoken has pow’r to effuse
Suggestions that smite right through the ego.
But call me wretched, for this single word
So aptly my ways and worship depicts,
That humbled and down and duly deterred
I come now to hear of facts that convict.
“Unfaithful” that word, which taints ev’ry thought;
The sum of my parts: a liar and fake.
But though this be true, still that which was wrought
On one Roman cross, this word will unmake.
To man without Christ, but one fate befalls.
Though one love confess, a thousand times false.

Alpha

admin — Sun, 21 May 2006 20:55:35 +0000

α
O write me a verse for the amorous one,
Who would give his all, a love to pursue.
Such fervour is oft brief, swiftly undone,
And we question: can love ever be true?
Of grandiose gestures we are most fond
We plan them through the wee hours of the night
Hoping to fashion some passionate bond;
In her heart of hearts, ‘I’ her new delight.
But blind are we, love’s nature to perceive
In our quest the fair maiden’s heart to smite
For love is both to give and to receive
A devotion that to passion gives sight.
Love is not love that gives the heart away;
It will share it – more and more, day by day.

Wednesday 31st May, 2006, Cambridge