Misty fog-haze lends an ethereal air to these wintry days. This is a season where deep calls to deep in the realm of rest and sleep, a hibernation time when words are deliberately stilled and distilled in the stillness, able to ferment and brew in contemplative silence.
During a needful rest and slowing down time we learn to listen better to body, soul and Holy Spirit. And we begin to hear murmurs we may have missed in our busyness, words which lend themselves well to poetic expression. We hear whispers of encouragement, discern glimmers of mercy and grace surrounding us.
Rest invites us into recovery, restoration, a deeper faith-walk journey, a call to intimate prayer, maybe a suggestion of sharing thoughts in a journal, writing out holy conversation to look back on and possibly share—ways of recording God’s work in us and connecting closer to the core of who we are. It’s a period of sitting with patience and letting it have its way with us, learning to wait for the right moment to unleash and release.
I wrote the poems below in a free-flow-as-it-comes way, with a willingness to savour holy conversation, an openness to God’s loving presence within this present moment and a desire to appreciate seasons yet to come.
My hope and prayer is that you will read them with an open mind and open heart, and hear what you need to hear within the lines. May they connect to your soul and find a resonance within.
Come rest
Come rest like moist
forest moss so green
beneath warm summer sun
listen to full river song
bird murmuring spring
follow blue breeze harmony
see between dark mountain path
earth’s soft fertile wandering
©joylenton2017
Velvet eternity
Come and listen to me
linger long as my words
melt as steam breath and
air makes soft ghost-like
smile blush over my lips
let broken night cloud
be our dark universe
and life’s warm embrace haunt
this velvet eternity
©joylenton2017
Welcome to #magneticmonday where I share my latest offerings of magnetic poetry writing. ‘Come rest’ was composed using the Nature set and ‘Velvet eternity’ with the Poet set. You can discover more here and have a go yourself if you feel inspired!
What is God suggesting to you this season?
How are you able to rest best in a world hardwired for busyness?
Poetry Joy 
Dear Joy,
I love this new form of poetry that you have been dipping into! It’s really amazing to me, how the form of the words laid out on the “board” bring such a deeper feel than when I read them printed out in the normal typeface. And this,
“linger long as my words
melt as steam breath”
brings such a beautiful picture to me of the Word of God becoming our very breath of life. Thank you for the encouragement that you bring to me as I am on this path of stillness. Blessings to you my dear friend! xoxo
Dear Bettie, I’m so glad you’re enjoying my experiments with magnetic poetry! It’s great fun to do. I try not to try too hard but rather let the words suggest themselves, because if I seek a word to add you can bet it doesn’t appear in the selection on offer. Adaptability and flexibility seem to be the way ahead. And I think that applies to how the words of the poems are interpreted as well. I love what you have seen and sensed from this week’s offering. God certainly is “our very breath of life” in all its fullness. It’s always a pleasure to encourage you, my friend. We both seem to be sharing a season of stillness and rest which overlaps in intruiging ways. In a time of being more rooted (to bed/chair/home) than usual by health challenges, I can testify to God’s goodness and grace in equipping me to write this. Blessings and hugs! xoxo
Beautiful poems, Joy. I especially connected with the first one. It feels like such a serene invitation into peaceful rest. I could just picture myself lying in the forest moss next to the river soaking up the warmth of the sun and listening to God’s harmony in His beautiful creation. Thank you for warming my heart during this cold, long winter. I really enjoy what you come up with in magnetic poetry. 🙂 Love and hugs!
Me too, Trudy! It speaks into my soul’s greatest need right now. Because rest is a composite need, not merely an absence of noise and activity but also a diving into those things which truly nurture and nourish us from the inside out. As a lover of nature, I’m so pleased to have given you a moment of imagined refreshment, and even more so to have been a means of warming your heart. it’s always an intriguing surprise to see where my word searching will take me and watch how the poems shape themselves. Love and hugs! xox ❤
Sabbath is so important for us all!
Amen, Tara! Though how easy it is to forget to take one each week. xo
Reblogged this on Pastor Michael Moore's Blog and commented:
Thanks for the reminder to slow down, Joy… am trying to…
Michael, even with the sedentary, pacing kind of lifestyle I have, enforced by chronic illness, I need the reminder to slow down every bit as much as you do in all your understandable busyness. Glad to have helped refresh your memory, my friend! ❤
Your poetry always touches my heart so deeply. Thank you for sharing your gift with us.
Barbie, it’s a blessing to see you here! Thank you for sharing your gift of honest reflection and encouragement with us. xo