It’s springtime outside but it feels like late fall in my soul

Loved ones are dropping like leaves

I catch a glimpse of sun

But then it seems to set immediately

What I thought I had slips out of my control

Anything good is just a tease

Separation follows behind a marriage

Words mean nothing

Conception is trailed by miscarriage

Life is constantly bluffing

Grave’s mouth is wide open

With an appetite that’s never satisfied

Forever unhappy

Strangely like me but for something else

I fear I’m toeing the line myself

Wondering if I’d be better off sitting on the shelf

For my heart’s already broken too

My vision is hazy

From looking so long at this unfolding truth

The world gone crazy

My fluorescent photos have turned sepia

They’re thin and faded like the leaves in fall

My parents in them are aged

Arthritic, gray

Even my beloved dogs are fading away

The phone rings and my heart freezes

Bad news bursts like a bud

Calamity calls whenever it pleases

Cancer sprouts

Decay spreads

Everyone does without

From the living tears seep out

Everything is getting stripped away

And I can’t look at what was here just yesterday

Joy left

Like the sun

It’s hard but I’m not ready to get on the shelf

I hear You calling

Good news

In my old photos You show me there’s still a hint of light

There’s a star shining even in the darkest night

Echoes heard from so many years ago

Those whose love wouldn’t be quenched

For something happened

You patched the rift

You spread Your love to the ends of the globe

Surely You’re not going to leave things like this

There’s more

More to be said, more beaches to run, more rays to feel and seeds to plant

You already did it

But there will be a second wave

I can’t wait to see it – it’ll be splendid

All creatures will be made new

True summer will burst eternal

You’ll ultimately crush the grave

Each life is a journal

Precious to You

I know you’re not far

You’re not careless

You’ve dared us

To believe, to hold, to take heart

Though the world is coming apart

You haven’t let go

And You won’t

I won’t either

Even while I’m in this winter

I remember Your faithfulness

Your greatness

As I yearn for that eternal summer

When action follows vow

Every seed is birthed

Pastel colors of spring

Every being made new

Your glory and life everlasting

Invade the earth