Darkness Crushed (A Poem by Cathy Gruman)

She couldn’t see a way
Her life had been taken over by these last few years, living out the path she had chosen.
She didn’t see a way out
Darkness surrounded her
Her flesh showed the stains of moments she would try to carve away the pain
But the sorrow remained
Her soul is marred
A light glimmers faintly in the distance
Flickering like a match about to go out but steady, promising to stay
She wanted to go there but forces within her held her down and she couldn’t break away

And before His final breath, He said “It is finished.”
And as the prophets spoke before
The curtain torn
Our flesh he bore abolished in the grave
Death no longer had its sting
What they knew now
Was different from before
The earth rumbled in triumph and defeat
And the depths of hell screamed in defiance and conquered feat
His body was laid in a tomb
with a massive stone and guards
His family wept, still confused
The sun stopped shining as the brightest star was in the grave
But as promised like the promises before that came to pass, every one of them before
He rose on the third day
His Father’s side he will abide
His spirit with us now
With promise of his return
Another promise to endure, to wait upon
But like the others that were fulfilled
We continue to move on
What does this mean to you and me?

She will get up off of the floor, even without strength; she’ll reach to where the light is and faintly mutter the words “help me”, because it’s all she has within her to convey her deepest need – but she knows, she knows it’s where she needs to be. Because of the meaning of “It is finished” her need is taken into His hands and she begins to see the light, once flickering in her peripheral vision, is now enveloping her and embracing the stain that once had hold of her but is now behind her.

Time to Abate (A Poem by Cathy Gruman)

Much lost
much hate
held on too long
our love is gone.
Letting go was slow -
too slow to free the robin's song,
who flew away
to breath
to see
to soar;
could not take another day's roar.
No forgiveness
suffocation
emasculation
dead air
without the river's flow.
The window's stuck; the last day open was early spring before the unexpected storm,
and when the rains came
our lives were torn.
Dead today
could be alive tomorrow
if we let go.
It's time to abate the force of holding on to the past;
let the robin sing with joy,
and throw the window open to feel the wind again.

The Hope of Your Life (A Poem by Cathy Gruman)

The darkness continued and He held on
to the hope and the glory of His Father’s song.
His early years he played
Safe, warm, adored
with his mother near.
And as the chapters turn,
He’s 33 and wearing thorns.
I know who I am
I know whom I love
I know my Father is watching and crying from above;
and for all of you I’m here today;
it is for your lives that I stayed.
The next moment you will not understand
I will seem to disappear from this land.
My body broken,
my face my limbs, my blood - they show defeat,
but my hope and courage are shouting loudly
I am breaking through the clouds
The task is finished,
and into my Father’s hands I go.
Now the hope of your life will surely show.

The Clouds Grew Darker (A Poem by Cathy Gruman)

And even He, who claimed to be the Son of the Father of you and me
was frightened on this day.
The end was nearing
still no light
the clouds grew darker
his familiar power seemed not in sight.
And as the crowd shouted
confusion
loss
hate
empathy
apathy
surprise
laughter
cruelty
and dispair;
his body torn beyond repair.
His mother sobbed and screamed with his blood in her hair.
The power He knew
felt far away
but in His pain he chose to stay.
What a fool some would say
what a liar
only a lunatic would last this long -
and in my hour of need
when I forget that He chose to bleed,
is when that moment He held on because He trusted His Father's song
of a new day in three
renews my strength to carry on.

Neighborhood Walk (A Poem by Cathy Gruman)

Early morning walk to the coffee shop
through my neighborhood, just a few blocks away
This time passion tea with slices of orange
Coffee’s on the shelf for a while,
results of this are pending.
And as I walked I thought about my neighbors
of whom I do not know
Street to street I walked
iTunes snuggled in my ear,
with a mix of songs I like to hear
Each street had its own special glow
Pretty houses with green, brown, yellow, blue, gray, red and orange
and sidewalks lined with flowers and rocks
English gardens and desert landscapes
chairs on porches neatly swept.
I sent good thoughts and silent prayers,
for their happiness and lessened tears.
My son’s window I tapped with a pebble
The curtains opened
I saw his smile
he stumbled to the door from his sleep.
with tousled hair and open arms, we embraced and said I love you
then I continued down the street.
I should mention that it made my day.
I stopped at a yard sale and bought a hand-made pillow cover
from a fellow who held a “Diva Yard Sale” sign
It had yellows, blues, greens and cream in between
We spoke a while, he shared his dreams
Just neighbors, nothing in between.
Then we parted with a smile
And as I walked up to my place
warm thoughts of my neighbors were on my face.

My Trike (a Poem by Cathy Gruman)

that's my trike
grrrrrhhhh
don't let my low growl fool you
you're sitting on my trike
grrrrrrr.....
you're bigger than me
but i'm watching you
and when you move
i'll move
faster than lightening
and snatch it back
let's walk to the duck pond
i'll drag my trike
grrrrrrhhhhh
you can walk with me
but don't touch my trike
i'll ride it when i want to
put my feet on the pedals
when i want to
i'll ride it backwards
and drag my feet
if i want to
slowly we walk to the pond
to see the turtles and the ducks
hold my trike while i play with the ducks
but don't go anywhere
because i'll find you
grrrrrhhhh....
you're all surrounding me
but back off on my trike
or i'll strike.

Snowflake Day (A Poem by Cathy Gruman)

Snowflakes falling
tires treading
we're tromping on this february afternoon;
through the streets our boots will take us
to where we find our vegan treats.
Store facades and buildings stand
to greet us in this new land.
The snow keeps falling on our face
as we're tromping through
with giddy awe of this new place.
A cup of coffee we will find,
the lack of soy puts me in a bind
and you start to wind.
Artwalk studio
lots of fun
for a while
then I'm done;
keep on looking is what you do
so i go outside to tie my shoe
but it's cold so i come back in
my feet are wet
so I whine again.
Vegan store
Eureka!
We go inside
in our new diets we will abide
casing the store
we look around
alas, a wall of "sweets"
we love this town.