Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Ribbons


Ribbons

I close my eyes to go to sleep
In the place right in between
Awake and not
I see a funnel of white
Ribbons of white coming to me
Beckoning me to go to another place
Another time, another hope, another rhyme
Yet my mind cannot handle the promise
I feel my being, my being pulled to this place
My mind cries out in fright of being left behind
Never to be found again, never again to know a friend
Or the kisses of an enemy
I slide into a fretful sleep
Interrupted by the disappointment
Yet at its foundation is a greater hope
I am finding the doors to great journeys
They are opening for me to see
Soon I will be stepping through
I will be a spirit in the Mist
No longer shaking violent fists
I will just bask in the unknown
Being molded by the hands of God
Being shaped into a shepherd’s rod
So His word may strike the earth
The earth will know His goodness
His glory will stream over the lands and mountains
All will know, all will see
From highest mountain to tallest tree
All will know, all will see
The ribbons of white are coming down toward me

K, Duane Carter 3-29-11

Flight of Fantastic


Flight of Fantastic

I am flying on the back of a winged being
Not a creature for He is not created
I cannot get a glimpse of His face
Nor a glimpse of His form
I only know I can feel His gigantic wings move
As I hold on for one glorious, terrifying ride
It was the music that led me here
Riding the waves of sound
A white ribbon, a torrent of movement
I find myself in a cloud, thick with warmth
Feeling the breeze, knowing I am in safety
Yet not knowing hardly anything at all
If I hold on, I will not fall
We come out of the shadowy clouds
Before me a great mountain
Stony spires rising high to the skies
Sunlight setting right behind it
A city of immense proportion
Yet more stunning was its beauty
I sat breathless wondering what world was this
Without words, it was spoken
The flying One speaks without sound
Only the beating of the wings
“This is an outpost of heaven.  It is one of the rooms of My house.”
I always thought a room was, well, a room
Not a gigantic beauty tucked into the mountains
A sunlight ethereal shining behind it
Air pure as the snowy sky
No fear, no doubts, no more of the questions why
Just a heart content, dwelling in the beauty
“I wonder how good this moisturizer works?”
I am back on earth
Yet the journey stays within my heart
The journey with the Spirit
Not just the sights I saw with my eyes
Left me mesmerized

K, Duane Carter 3-29-11

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Jacob's Dream

Jacob's Dream

Dead man walking
Making not one imprint on the world or its lands
Imprisoned in the hell of mere existence
Chains and stocks and fetters encircle my hands

I come to the final resting place
Never understanding why they call it a rest
When all is dead and gone
There is nothing more and nothing less

The chains pull me to the ground, the sound
Is almost like infernal laughter, hyenas howl
There is a shadow now above me
I am about to exit the now

The air from the shadow does stir me
It calls me to lift up my head
With everything, anything within me
I lift my eyes from the grip of the dead

I see the outlines, the masking of a ladder
The ladder does reach to the sky
As my eyes take this image into reality
My spirit releases a sigh

The release of the sound calls the angels
They begin to descend and ascend
I feel life beginning to rise in my being
I feel the chains lifted off by the Wind

The Wind then becomes a great Vortex
Pulling me up off my knees
It pulls all that binds me off of my spirit
It then stirs the leaves of the trees

I sense the smells of lavender, vanilla
I hear the sounds of the stirring of winds
I see light coming in all around me
I see angels that still ascend and descend

God was here and I didn’t know it
Right here in the place of my death
He reached out and sent forth His ladder
Simply waiting for the release of my breath

Everything changed in a moment


K, Duane Carter 3-27-11

the Abstract


image by Roger Allen Baut

the Abstract

truth is found in layers
yet light is always at it’s center
moving and weaving through all
a sine wave interrupted but never stopped
crystal clear, it shows us here
the truth will not be robbed
of its clarity, its purpose
even that which is just seen on the surface
reveals what is deeper within

K, Duane Carter 3-27-11


Sunday, March 20, 2011

Surprises


image by James Rainsford

Surprises

Sometimes God shows up in surprising ways
He comes upon us and messes up our left-brain strays
Waking us up from our slumbers
Our endless, stony days without numbers
Just waiting outside the realms of the religious
Calling us to spread out our wings and fly with Him.

He rests sometimes right above our heads
As we longingly look elsewhere for our bread
Standing outside in the rain and storm
Forgetting, ignoring our original form
Where the light caught our wings and lifted us higher
We have taken stones and form in place of fiery desire
It is less painful, but is not living

God patiently waits, He patiently waits
The light and the music continue to wake
The waves move within our souls, and our minds
To our hearts the melodies one day will find
Then breath will come, warmth will come
The stony caricatures will be undone
We will all find our wings and soak in the sun
Our songs will never be quite the same

K, Duane Carter  3-20-11

Written for One Stop Poetry Challenge

The Wait is Over


The Wait is Over

I can feel God in the chord progressions
I can sense His love dancing on the air
I can accept His touch in the words that fly
The ones I can and cannot compare

I see His order as it falls in the shadows
The light from the sun on the vines
I see His dance as He moves on the spring winds
Not knowing the depths of His glory that are mine

I see the call of new life in the flowers
I hear His voice in the sound from the trees
I see His foundations in the blades of the grasses
I sense His awe as I go to my knees

I stand in the midst of His glory in springtime… 

K, Duane Carter 3-19-11 

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Is At Hand...



Is At Hand…

I search photos for the poetic
While sitting in the midst of the birds’ chorus
Outside in the midst of the green, the trees
Bees are buzzing about wintertime dreams
We all know that the universe is poetry
Held together by rhyme and rhythm
Mystery and surprises
Exfoliating the old, always birthing the new
Resting on blades of grass is the morning dew
Reflections of majesty
For those willing to get close to the ground and see
For those willing to look away from the image
To embrace the real

The real must be now more surreal
Just like the reflections in the droplet of water
Wider, taller, movement in stasis
Smaller, purer, found in ecstasies
It is amazing how the living long for stillness
While the dead walk right by life

I search the photos for the meaning of the poetic
While sitting in the midst of the birds
Singing their dreams

K, Duane Carter 3-19-11

Friday, March 18, 2011

Motion


Motion

Lonely
Disenfranchised
Longing

Hoping
Cared for
Loved
Accepted
Family
Favored one
Favorite one
Placed on Father’s shoulder
Whispering in His ear
Feeling His laugh through my being
No longer alone
No longer alone
I am one with the Creator of the universe
He laughs with me
I am no longer alone
I never was alone
Reality is such an incredible thing
There is nothing like being with Dad
His laugh seems to always open my eyes
He heals my heart
Accepted
Welcome
Home

K, Duane Carter 3-17-11 

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Pristine

image by Fee Easton

Pristine

I dwell in the shadows of precision
Pristine chapels wonderful in their symmetry
Yet just blurred in the background
Bricks and glass arched like the sun

Yet they are blurry shadows
My unkempt hair blown in the wind
Sharp, defined, and seen
But from life I have been weaned
Now I just draw what I can from the elements
No use for shadows, no use for sacraments
I will draw everything out of life that I can breathe
While all of that draws the very life out of me

Can you see my soul?  Can you sense my spirit?
They lie hidden behind my eyes
Which lie hidden behind my darkness
Yet all is clear, all is seen
You see life and know what it means
When you look at the contrasts of me
You can feel my sadness, you can sense my fear
When you take the time to see that I’m here
Seeing beyond the three’s and the flow
I am here in the depths for you to know
Not to be blurred into the background
With bricks and glass arched like the sun

K, Duane Carter 3-13-11

This poem was written for the One Stop Poetry Photo Challenge.  This is a great link to check out each week because there are always incredible photos and excellent poems to peruse.  It is a fabulous way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Friday, March 11, 2011

Son, I Am


Son, I Am

I have gone through doors unopened
Completely unaware of it
My only sign the winds that stirred
I felt, when in the midst my vision blurred

I have stood before wells
Piercing the skies, feeling the wails
Water pouring forth from above
When all I did was raise my hand
Father wanted to hold mine
Connection was created, rivers flowed
No effort at all
When all seemed barren and dry

I have danced before no one
Nothing to see
Heaven moved and right before me
The universe became my playground
Yet for all this depth, all so profound
Everything visible was moved
With the release of a breath
Silence stilled, canceled death
Hurricanes averted, trembling ceased
Depression lifted, joy released
As the earth shook gently beneath my feet
In all of the stillness…

I have borne the weight of the quiet
Lying heavily on my chest
And in this place of quiet rest
Winds of change do blow
The only thing that I do know
Is this is what sons do
When Father makes all things new

K, Duane Carter 3-11-11 

Thursday, March 10, 2011

Frustration

Frustration

When frustration is a large brick wall
That I continually am running into
Even if it is a small brick wall
It still hurts.  It still bruises.  It still shames.
Yet I refuse to let it squash the names
The name I have been given
The name of the One I know
And when toward that wall I go
Once more and once again
I reach for the hand of my Brother, my Friend
Bursting through the banner, entering the battlefield
To fireworks, smoke, and laughter

K, Duane Carter 3-10-11    

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Wonder



The curtain has been raised
And this is what is seen
What to others looks like a giant mess
Yet to my Maker it is serene
He sees the beauty in the silks
He sees color, symmetry, lines
He sees life is drifting right in the midst
He sees wonder in the chaos that is mine
The curtain has been raised both for me and for you
So what has been stolen and plundered?
All of this is just a beginning for Him
A beginning of art, glow, and wonder

K, Duane Carter  3-6-11

Written for onestoppoetry challenge.  In honor of my son, Eli, whose birthday is today, adopted from a Chinese orphanage four years ago because someone saw the wonder in the chaos.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Discovery


Discovery

I sit here quietly, pondering
Waiting for words to drop like the rain from the sky
A constant, a constant wondering why
Looking for reasons that don’t exist
In the place where I understand
Things formed by a greater hand
Infinitely great, infinitely small
Infinitely vast, infinitely all
Which is why I am quiet in my pondering
Somewhat afraid to journey into that
For when could I ever return?
For when could I ever learn,
When there is no end to the learning?
Yet I cannot deny the burning, yearning
Heaven strikes its most beautiful note
And my heart just sings and rings
Sounds I don’t understand
Lyrics I don’t comprehend
Yet they are placed right here before me

In the faces of my wonder-filled children
In the smile of my beautiful wife
In the breath that flows through my being
In the Presence that gives me my life

I take the step,
Discovering I actually have wings
See what happens when heaven sings?
My heart still rings…

K, Duane Carter 3-5-11