"The strength to plow forward"

Poem of the Day, Sunday, November 19, 2023

"The strength to plow forward"

Sometimes the dregs of life shroud our minds,
even overwhelm us without even asking
if we are ready for them or even want them.

They just descend in torrents
like the Puerto Montt rains in the winter.
They are even embellished by the media

and our so-called friends who wallow
in negativity every single day on their pages.
They paint callous pictures of darkness and doom,

even the “woe is me” in a threatening
and deviant cadence that usurps my power
to decline or accept the inevitable.

Yet there days when I immerse myself in mountains,
walking along the paths of changing colors
from greens to yellows to deep browns, golds, and reds.

A slight breeze beckons me to hearken back
to the light that gives them life, propelling
life’s juices to flow readily and happily

through their veins all the way to the roots,
pressing deeply beneath the ground,
establishing the never-ending underpinnings

of strength, courage, and resilience,
creating life above and below the ground,
extending itself throughout the forest.

It is at these times when those awful dregs dissipate,
disperse across the landscape, disappearing
into the deep crags of rock, out of sight,

sound, and senses, leaving me
whole again, full of light and hope,
gifting me a new direction and meaning.

It is at these times when I feel the Son
more powerfully upon me, in me, giving me
the strength to plow forward and beyond.