Redeemed

It was a snowy cold day
 But the trumpets they played,
Little did they know that he was all she had left...
Unknown, alone, forgotten, and used,
With naught a soul in the world;
Her eyes filled with tears as she sought for a light...a light to illuminate her very dark path.
But then he had come into her life...
He loved her, accepted her, carried her through the night
Into a loving light.
She thought about Heaven so much that she dreamed that she tasted the river of life...
You see, this girl's name was Leánna,
She had shed her tears all alone...
Used by her father and shunned by her mother,
Thrown about, kicked out, left on the street...
She had begged for her food and eaten with the wild dogs,
Until she found had a place, but a pit of the devil was it...
 There she was used and torn and abused for a dinner and a pillow for her head;
Too battered to eat, too sick to seek sleep, disease-ridden, flea-bitten, foul as the last days,
But then came the face who didn't care what you'd done, who bore it all on Himself, no matter the pain
He loved, He died, He shed His own blood, to give her a new life, no matter what she'd done;
This is a Savior, this is a King, this is the Lord of Lords, Ruler of everything.
He saved her that day, and took her too,
And now she's drinking the River of Life,
   Just as you can, my dear one, too.

A Story

"Oh, bonny Bess, with the fairest blue eyes,
  Kiss me once, kiss me twice, I daresay-
'Tis but a bright sunny day, what pray,
  'Tis it milk day?"

"I shall love thee", she cried,
  "'Till the day that I die-
Oh, bonny sweet prince of the
  Place a' here hence-
But her, I fear I must go"-
And she placed a sweet kiss on his cheek

"Before you go," said he, "you must
  Know where I will be- over yonder hill and
Across the large river, a manor ensconced  in
  Pine and in silver.
Come before the week is over, I'll make thee my
  Wife, my friend, and my lover...
Oh bonny sweet Bess, my heart
  Yearns for a rest...
A rest by the fireside,
Your sweet laughter by my side-
  Can it be so-
Don't delay! I'll see thee by the
  Seventh day?-"

Oh, my dear prince, you flatter me so-
  Your wife and much more-
I would gladly bestow all you want and much more...
  I shall come to thee dear, never fear.
And with thus she went away
  And turned back just to say,
"I'll love thee dear, forever."

1st day came- "Oh my dear," cried
  He, "why aren't you here?"
2nd day came- 3rd day- 4th day-
  5th day- 6th day came, still no word
From the lowly, love-sick maid.
  7th day came, a party it is!
Let us celebrate with cake and good cheer!
  But not because his love was there...

Heavy the snow and colder the wind-
The maiden trudged on with a shrug
  And a grin-
"Oh, I must make it, a week he has said,
  I saw in his eyes a love uncondemned..."
At last she made it to the manor-house,
  But bright and loud and festive was it-
Celebrating the love of the prince's short life-
A lady so rich and lovely was she-
  Covered in jewels and sparkling in entirety,
A ring on her finger and a grin on her face-
  She caught her prize and what a doll was he!

Stunned into shock the maiden sat staring-
  The bejeweled new princess,
Her prince as her side-

In the great study, when all was finally through,
  The prince and the princess sat warming at the fireside,
Laughing, laughing...together...
  The maiden's heart turned to stone in her chest as she looked
Upon them nestled in- cozy and warm- laughing by the fireside...
Oh, she tried, she tried to forget the burning pain that sparked inside,
  But again and again her heart spied them sitting together
By the fireside, always forever...
   Always together...

Bitter was she, as a cold winter's night, a wolf's howl
  As the wind brought a shiver to her hand, to her lip,
To her chin...
And once again she saw them, laughing by the fireside,
  Always forever,
  Always together...

She looked once more through the window, just to
  See if her eyes were right...but she was.
Cape pulled around her head,
  A sense of urgency filled her with aching dread...
There they were, nestled in each other's arms, together-
  "NO!" she whispered, and so she fled...

Fled into the night did she, her demons following her all the way.
  She crashed through the brush and shoved through the thicket
Until she pressed against the wall...but it still rang in her ears,
  Their laughter, their cheers-
Together...together forever.

She sank to her knees and bewept her sad state...
  Alone and afraid,
Tired and unchanged...
She thought her love tried and true,
  Pure and holy,
Unequaled, unbreakable...
  She shuddered to think of the thoughts
She was thinking-
  Preposterous, presumptuous,-
  Contemptuous...
But then came her laughter, floating still over the harsh wind-
  She had to break it, had to stop it...had to stop
Her laughter...then they wouldn't be together...
   Together forever.

With not a sound she rose from the ground-
  The wind howling and hissing about her-
With determined steps she walked toward the manor
  Following her voice on the wind.
Mesmerized, she walked, her boot
  Crunching upon the snow
Until the wind turned into a chill in her bones
  And rustled the note upon her hand.

Then the voice upon the wind
  Became a scream-
   Then a groan...
  Then a breath.
All alone...upon the steps,
  Frozen lay she, with naught a word upon her lips,
But a note in her hand-

They opened the door and exclaimed
  To the prince, "Hay, my lord, but a dead
Girl upon your steps-"
He  reached down and unclasped
  The note from her frozen grasp-
Looked at her face- "Oh no! It can't be!-
  ...But nay, see here, she said she never did
  Love me."

Lost Dreams

My dream is like
A lake of fog and mist,
It starts and ends with no beginning,
  Or end.
And there I am, lost in it's midst...
Walking, walking, wandering, and looking,
  Vainly looking for a way out.
I trip and fall, for I can't see my feet,
And my crying voice is smothered by the
  Mist's hand upon my lips-
His strong arms held me back when I almost broke
  Out of his grip-
This hated fog...this prison of nothingness...

But in between the waves of mist I see
  Glimpses of fantasy, of fiction, and reality...
As real as the letters on this page-
Like a silent, solemn face staring back at me-
The laughter of distant friends-
  The hate and ugly sin of the world that
We happen to be living in-
All in the glimpse of another dream...

Horror and love and shame mix with passion
  And kindness and peace.
Flowing together, they're indistinguishable-
But it never fails- it never does...
   You're there.

Your cold eyes stare at me,
  And at times your finger even points.
You search for me, but don't find me in the maze...
  I wish you would, but alas, I'm lost to you- oh, so lost...
Sometimes your love and warmth shine through-
   Like a candle in the darkness.
A hug here, a kiss there
  Shocking me to my knees...
Your words reverberate in my heart
  Like ripples upon the lake shore-
They never leave my mind.

Oh, but alas- twas only a dream at last-
  A dream- just a foolish dream lost to the mist-
The mist that holds my memory and the
  Chains that bind my pen.

When will I be free of the torment I feel, God?
  Of the love and the anguish and longing
For a soul so lost.
  Illuminate my path, dear Jesus,
Make your face shine upon me- open my
  Heart, and open my eyes- help me to see
You're the only way out
  Of a dream that turned
Into a nightmare.