Posted 7/23/21
“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” –Luke 7:23
Quite a week indeed. Lots of folks with the virus and/or other ailments in our area and mom has had several…perhaps many seizures in the last week. It has been taxing on her and, truth told, on us as well. We hate this for her… For me it helps to do a few things when things are in disarray: pray for peace and guidance and then dip my toe into the artistic side of my brain. With that in mind, I offer you a little poem I whipped up yesterday that expresses my take on life and making the most within its brokenness. Thank you for your encouragement and prayer as mom’s swan song fades away from brokenness to her beautiful destination.
#EndALZ
Hidden Misery: Beautifully Not Unbroken
Mosaics-
Shattered, small ceramic shards spark no particular hooray.
Sliced skin, dashed artistic dreams, and mom’s crushed vase
are sad “road crosses” to this untimely broken clay.
Started strong, solid, and whole, now a broken disgrace.
Then the artist gathers these broken shards and gets to work,
She sees what we cannot see in the broken whole.
Applying her mind’s eye to every shard’s special quirk
Like the True Master who, out of chaos, asserts total control.
Iridescence-
A beam of light is God’s great and grievous pointer
Travelling 93 million miles, much faster than the blink of an eye.
Every speck in the air these rays show as a loiter
And clean is only clean ‘til the next speck of dust can fly.
But break up this light’s momentum just right
With oil on a road or a fluttering butterfly’s wing
colors will swirl, whirl, and seek to take flight
And what was hohumm becomes a whole new thing.
Stained Glass-
Is there anything that enhances sunlight like stained glass?
Worshippers learn from stories these glass canvases tell.
Saints’ and sinners’ trevails, the subject of their class
And their destination promised: heaven or hell.
However, these windows are made of broken, glassy panes.
Oh, they used to tell a much different story.
This plain pane’s pain the artist retrains
What was broken, returned to a much improved glory.
Environments-
Not everything that is broken is as easy to see
Environmental damage falls into this category as well
Booted from the Garden from eating from that Tree
Caused brokenness that fallen man can’t quell.
Things were still nearly pure in those days of the Bible
And while each passing century has taken its toll.
To say that all of our subduing nature is bad would be libel
Have you seen the Taj Mahal or smelled momma’s casserole?
Relationships-
Friendship and love are the worst things to break
Toxic relationships: the only exception
Seeds of jealousy brought by that snake
And today we feel the pain of that deception.
But these relationships don’t always end in strife
But by distance, circumstances, or disease.
As Alzheimer’s has come to take my mom’s life
It steals her piece-by-piece, and does so with ease.
You and me-
So what do we do to fight this broken world,
with fractures as far as the eye can see?
How do we escape as misery is unfurled?
And restore our past joy and sanity?
Finding beauty in the broken should be our goal
Focus on what’s here, not what used to be.
When we can help make our love whole
And point others (and ourselves) to eternity.
#EndALZ
-Mark Applegate
Such a beautiful poem especially the last two parts==“relationships and you & me.” Finding the beauty in the broken is what i will focus on when dealing with my blessed husband. I have passed along that concept to my family—-daughters—-as how to have the mind -set for their father. Thank you for sharing your gift of writing.
Thank you so much 🙂 We have to focus on what is left. If we dwell on what was lost too early, we miss the beauty in today. There will be a time for mouring later.
Thank you so much for your encouragement.