This is my daddy’s blanket.
I got it at Lolli’s house.
My daddy’s in heaven.
Is Joseph in heaven?
Did Daddy see Joseph?
Is Baby Jesus in heaven?
Did Daddy see Baby Jesus?
We snuggle under Daddy’s blanket,
And I wonder at all that I know,
And at all that I don’t know.
I hear his rhythmic breathing.
I hold him, kiss his precious face,
And I marvel at all that we’ve lost,
And at all that we’ve found.
Copyright 2018. L.L. Shelton.
As a favorite philosopher/theologian Francis Schaeffer stated quite appropriately in his thesis, How Should We Then Live, art is merely the expression of a man’s mind. I’ve spent many years processing this idea imparted to me by Dr. Schaeffer. I knew I agreed with him from the moment I heard him utter it, but I think I knew there was more that needed to be said.
The true artist is of either the most courageous among us or the genuinely nonchalant; for he dares to create something abiding which will outlast his own existence here. He is a person of conviction who boldly believes in his right and ability to impress on his own generation and on the ones to come his thoughts, his experience, or he is oblivious to his own place- maybe to his own identity, and in a whirlwind of reactivity leaves a piece of himself behind.
The importance of art certainly can not be overstated as it is of a permanence our physical bodies do not attain. Art will endure and it will influence and persuade those whom it touches. It will do these things with or without permission. It will do these things within and outside of boundaries, and it will remain our responsibility as individual souls to respond in a manner conducive to the blessing of our brothers and sisters in humanity.
Copyright 2018. L.L. Shelton.
…And yet by hope in mystery,
Belief in what I cannot see,
I’ll be relieved this awful death,
Have life abundantly,
Will not hang relentlessly
Upon this cross ‘twas built for me,
Will instead at your command
Be In Love eternally,
Will behold the summer storm
In all it’s fury, kept from harm,
Though wrapped in winter’s blizzard
Be all the while made warm,
Observing autumn’s dying hues
No longer be inspired to gloom,
Knowing raging change of spring
Enjoying peace in everything.
Copyright 2018. L.L. Shelton.
I will not heed the myrrh, the wine.
I’ll hang here ’til the end of time,
Feel the full unyielding pain,
Unending summer void of rain,
Winter hardship without snow,
Autumn foliage minus glow,
In spring witness no rebirth,
I will bear this awful curse,
Refuse to numb my aching mind,
Refuse to welcome senses blind.
To tolerate your lawlessness,
I will receive no recompense…
Copyright 2018. L.L. Shelton.
Nothing is coincidence
In His economy,
A crippled fool
Is turned athlete,
With wisdom is transformed,
Goes running and leaping
And praising God,
Though silver and gold
Has he none.
Copyright 2018. L.L. Shelton.
Whchchchchchchch!
Whchchchchchchch!
Spring is heralded
Outside my window.
I’d be calling back
With equal delight,
But for the body
Sleeping next to mine.
Copyright 2018. L.L. Shelton.Greetings
Slowly rejoining the land of the living
I raise my weary head,
Acrid smell of smoke in the air
Seventeen lay dead,
I wonder what might happen if I slept for a week,
I keep a silent vigil from my bed.
L.L. Shelton. Copyright 2018.
She was a poet born to a strangler.
A female falconer,
She never knew when her life was in danger.
Eyes on the manger
She wandered earth’s offerings,
Perceiving its beauty;
Its many losses observing in crossing.
She cast her gaze skyward,
Cried out, and then softly
Surrendered herself to The One
Who’ll judge rightly.
Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton.
To the Nation or to the frustrated soul,
You’ll be brought to your knees
By these dreams of control.
The only antidote to fear,
Is to love your Maker
While you’re here.
Copyright 2011. L. L. Shelton.
No words are befitting
In this circumstance,
Cold and lonely, empty space,
A result of happenstance?
Measuring rod of chaos,
Also in His hands abide
The plumb line of destruction,
The ruler and the slide.
As per His instruction,
There is a battering ram
Positioned soundly at the gate,
If we can take the idol down
We must not hesitate.
Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton.