New Year's Prayer - A Poem

In keeping with my challenge to write more poems, here is another poem I have written. It is based off of several Bible texts and my own prayers.

New Year's Prayer 

Cleanse my heart, oh God,

Create it clean again.

Wash it white as snow, 

Remove the sin within.

Renew my spirit, Lord.

Teach me all your ways.

This miracle you do,

God, I give you praise.

As I try to live for You,

A worker in the field,

Mold me and refine me.

Lord, my life to You I yield.

Put me anywhere,

Lead me as I go.

Nothing will I fear,

You're with me, that I know.

The path is not easy,

The mountains rough and steep.

My trust in You I place.

My footsteps You will keep. 

To a Homeless Man - A Poem

I almost didn't post this because I felt so terrible about it. But I decided maybe someone would benefit from reading it. You know, in my last post I wrote a poem about compassion. Well, yesterday I found myself in a situation where I could have demonstrated compassion towards an individual........and I didn't. And now I feel terrible. The following poem is about that situation and is a type of sonnet with an a-b-c, a-b-c, d-d, a-e, a-e, a-e rhyme scheme.

To a Homeless Man 

I saw you yesterday at the stoplight. 

Your sign read 'Traveling and need supplies."

Your friend was sitting, his head bent down low,

I worried how you'd make it through the night. 

Your clothes were ragged, despair filled your eyes.

I wondered where you'd been and where you'd go.

What was your story? Why was there no home?

Why were you here now and why on the roam?

Your eyes locked with mine, my stomach curled tight.

Why did I always see men like you here?

Could you be a test for me to choose right?

Why then, suddenly, the shyness and fear?

Oh, how I regret with all of my might,

I looked away when heaven had drawn near. 

If you see someone in need of help today, don't give in to fear or excuses like I did. Please, help them out.

Compassion - A Poem

When I was in high school, I used to write poems almost every day. They seemed to flow from me. I would find inspiration for poetry in my friends, in nature, from my imagination, from pictures- everything would spark a poetic verse. But, after I finished high school I stopped writing poetry. Some things just weren't the same anymore and I lacked some of the inspiration that I previously had. Three and a half years later, and only a few days ago, I was rummaging through some of my keepsakes and found an old note somebody had written to me. "Never stop writing poems" it said.  This note inspired me to take up writing poetry again.

I searched on Google and came across a long list of different poetry types. After seeing the list, I challenged myself to write a poem for each style. Here is the first poem, an acrostic. I put it in my sketchbook and decorated it up a bit.

Here's the poem, in case you can't read it from the picture. 

Cheerfully laying aside

Our own selfishness and pride,

Making the things that we do

Pleasing and helpful and true. 

As we see another's need

Sympathy will take the lead.

Seeking to help and to care,

In love, their burdens we'll share.

Our virtues ever should be, 

Niceness, love and sympathy.