Poetry – Page 4 – Skelton Sketches

All Glorious!

Posted on June 27, 2012April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

O worship the King, all glorious above,

O gratefully sing His power and His love;

Our Shield and Defender, the Ancient of Days,

Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.

O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,

Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space.

His chariots of wrath the deep thunder clouds form,

And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.

Thy bountiful care what tongue can recite?

It breathes in the air, it shines in the light,

It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,

And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,

In thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;

Thy mercies how tender! how firm to the end!

Our Maker, Defender, Redeemer and Friend.

[O Worship the King, from Ps.104, Robert Grant, c.1779-1838]

—Just have this song singing through my head today. So much enjoying the coming of summer with that fresh summer day smell and berries for the picking in the garden. Delightful!

–LS

Risen!

Posted on April 13, 2012April 30, 2017 by lindaskelton

Let no one caught in sin remain
Inside the lie of inward shame
We fix our eyes upon the cross
And run to him who showed great love–
And bled for us
Freely you bled, for us

Christ is risen from the dead
Trampling over death by death
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave!

Beneath the weight of all our sin
You bow to none but heavens will
No scheme of hell, no scoffer’s crown
No burden great can hold you down
In strength you reign
Forever let your church proclaim

Christ is risen from the dead
We are one with him again
Come awake, come awake!
Come and rise up from the grave

Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh Church! Come stand in the light!
Our God is not dead, he’s alive! he’s alive!

Matt Maher: “Christ is Risen”—Listen here!

This song resonates with the power of Easter morning’s joy. I so enjoyed singing it Easter morning and share it now in case you have missed it. It is a song for today and every day as we ‘walk in the light as He is in the light’ enjoying fellowship with the Father and with His called out ones because Christ is risen!

Blessings!

–LS

Storing September*

Posted on September 23, 2011April 28, 2017 by lindaskelton

‘You ask me what I did today.
I could pretend and say,
“I don’t remember.”
But, no, I’ll tell you what I did today —
I stored September.
Sat in the sun and let the sun sink in,
Let all the warmth of it caress my skin.
When winter comes, my skin will still remember
The day I stored September.

And then my eyes —
I filled them with the deepest, bluest skies
And all the traceries of wasps and butterflies.
When winter comes, my eyes will still remember
The day they stored September.

And there was cricket song to fill my ears!
And the taste of grapes
And the deep purple of them!
And asters, like small clumps of sky…
You know how much I love them.
That’s what I did today
And I know why.
Just simply for the love of it,
I stored September.”*

*–Elizabeth Rooney
http://www.brighamfarm.com/september.html

Sometimes a poem captures just what you would like to have penned yourself. This one’s like that. I have spent some sweet days this month ‘storing September’ for safe-keeping. Good thing, because finally, after a beautiful extension of summer the rains have returned. A delight to gather our little harvest in and see what has grown this year. Our little apple, pear and plum trees are at last yielding a little harvest! The flower above is a new-comer to my garden, just now in bloom. If you know its name, please let me know. I love it!

–LS