Christian Poetry and Spoken Word Media for Churches and Faith

Life's Edges

22.09.2013 Filed in: Poetry |Christian |Video |Spoken Word |Seeker Written by: W Grieve

Box trapped
Straitjacket message from hell
Walls surround,
Dark gnawing at
edges of life.

Whether I walk
the streets
Or few metres to cell bars
I am in prison,
Forever blackness,
Somehow worse, exposed
in sunlight or florescent tubes,
So dry, no tears only anger
So buried, no hope only pain,

I can't do broken alone,
Where do my thoughts leak?
Who else can know my thoughts?

Starting Thoughts: Sometimes the walls in life seem so bleak and closed in we are close to what we think prison might be like, but know this is really unreality. There are other choices.
Poem Topic Tags: #anger, #box, #broken, #decision, #hope, #pain, #prison, #reality, #seeker, #thoughts, #reallife, #trapped
Posting Tags: #artist, #christian, #creativewriting, #instawrite, #poems, #poetry, #poetsofinstagram, #poetryisnotdead, #poetrycommunity, #poetryinmotion, #spilledink, #spokenword, #typewriter, #videos, #wordsmith, #writing, #writinglife, #writerscommunity, #writerscorner, #writersofinstagram,

Sometimes we feel in prison and unreal reality, poem and spoken word

Tags: box, prison, passion, reallife, pain

6:30 AM Refugee

04.05.2013 Filed in: Story |Seeker | Written by: W Grieve

A 6:30 am refugee from our warm kitchen, I was thinking about how invisible blocks in the mind can stop you from trying something new. I had just emerged from the changing shed into the dark, having decided to give the outside fifty metre pool a try instead of the usual twenty five metre that I swam. As I walked across the tiles, I looked for a place that was open enough to view from the pool, to place my gear bag there. The signs around Jellie Park warned you about thieves although I thought thieves wouldn't be good at getting up this early for physical exercise.

The chlorine from the pool was rising in mist off the surface, mixing in the darkness and floating towards my nose. I then assessed the lanes for one that wasn't too crowded and didn't have someone who was a powerful swimmer who would want to keep passing me. The plastic red and white discs of the lane seperaters dipped from the edge and lead off down both sides into the dimness of the middle lane, the one I had chosen.

I imagined that this pool would be colder than the inside pools but I decided not to think too much about it. Pulling on the rubbery headgear, I fastened my googles with a slap of water from the pool to help seal them, to my face. I dived cleanly into the water.

The cool water crisped up my skin as I free-styled the first twenty. The outside pool was certainly different I discovered as I cleaved through swirling mixes of chilly water and then warmer threads. As I settled into the rhythm of the swimming lane I learned that the mental block I had about the pool was only a minor eddy in the whirlpool of life. The fifty metre was great. The tower lights dappled the bottom of the pool in patterns, you don't have to turn direction so often and it was much quieter than the inside pool, just the tempo sounds of my inhaling, fingertips hitting the water and exhaling underwater.

Half-way through the swim I said a cheery good morning to the hawk on the metal ladder tower who was huddled in her red and black jacket against the chilled air. The sunrise was creeping up behind her back and across the silhouette of the pool buildings and starting to hit the tops of the trees around the pool. The light patterns on the pool floor through my googles were even more interesting. Just the thing I like on a long swim, a few thoughts floating through the depths in my mind, but nothing serious.

As I picked up my bag and looked back at the pool the sunrise was hardening a line of light halfway down the trees and the water was gaining blue colour in response. Two kilometres of exercise finished and a new experience started, not world shattering but I gratefully decided that the fifty metre was good times that would be repeated.

[Success Criteria: In this recount writing we tried to use the five senses and some similes. We focused on telling a story, and slowing down the action. Some of us tried to use good sound words also.]

Tags: swimming, pupils, fitness, recount, pov

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Walk the Plank

04.05.2013 Filed in: Story |Seeker | Written by: W Grieve

The clear blue sky had no hint of the blackness I would discover later as I clambered down the rocky path from the cliff-top to Pirate’s Bay in Dunedin. Behind me, my brother and sister had struggled to keep up and my parents who carried a picnic basket. On the beach and behind tussock covered sand-dunes were bunches of other families already enjoying the waves and sun drenched sand.
We unpacked our basket, spread out the rug and Mum and Dad started getting lunch ready. My brother and I grabbed our new inflatable beach-ball and eagerly ran over the last of the dunes onto the beach.
We started our epic brother battle with a game of force-back. We each tried to throw over the top of the other so they were forced back until they either stepped back too far or we were able to throw the ball past a certain point. As always I had the upper hand, maybe something to do with being older!
Suddenly, as I threw the light multicoloured ball, the wind picked it up and the next second on inflatable ball was floating in the gentle shore waves.
“Go and get it.” Graeme yelled at me.
I replied with a casual, “No. I threw, you fetch.”
“It wasn’t fair,” he moaned, referring to the wind.
“Just ‘cause I’m winning, you have to get it.” I countered.
Meanwhile the ball, delighted at its new found freedom and assisted by its friends the waves and wind, took an escape route to the sea.
“Get it,” I yelled at him, “before it gets out too far.” I was getting nervous as I was supposed to be the responsible older brother. He just refused and so I decided I better get our new ball back.
I shot down to the sea edge, splashed over the shallow waves and up to my knees. I pushed through the growing waves towards the ball. I remember thinking that I wasn’t too far from it when I found out a nasty surprise. The sand was no longer under my feet. The bottom was gone. The beach suddenly shelved into deeper water and down I plummeted.
I can still feel the panic that gripped me, the bands of pressure that started to burn in my lungs as I tried to claw my way back to the surface. Maybe the lady had seen me go under or saw my hand briefly break the surface but she stopped what she was doing and plunged in without hesitating to save me. She too discovered to her cost that the beach shelved and that this is not very good when you can’t swim, just like me.
I remember looking up through the sun beams in the water and thinking the top was too far away. Bubbles from my lungs were flowing up. It was a weird peaceful yet panicking feeling, a sweet and sour nightmare.
Unexpectedly, a strong hand seized my arm and I was first pulled from the water and then into the safe arms of a man. I don’t really remember him carrying me back to the beach, I do remember retching and throwing up seawater onto the beach as concerned people stood around. I can’t even say if I thanked them for helping me but I do have a vague memory of the lady, they pulled out with me, lying nearby.
My brother helped me on my wobbly legs back towards the dunes where Mum and Dad were and we were not at the beach much longer that day.
Someone must have told them what happened because not long after we had a whole series of swimming lessons. The bigger mystery is what happened to the ball. I like to imagine that it washed up on a beach in Japan somewhere or got pierced by a narwhale but then I have been told I am a bit of a dreamer. Certainly, I had some dreams about water surrounding and bullying me for quite a while.

Success Criteria for this recount: Follow recount form, use five senses, improve words with thesaurus and use similes.

Tags: swimming, pupils, drowning, recount, pov

dapples_light_poem_poetry_children_topic

Light my Life

04.04.2013 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker | |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

Dapples
flicker leaf sheets
wind blown branches
dance shadows on the grass

Torch
reflecting light on words
book hidden under
the sheet with me
reading
late night
parents asleep

Darkness
stolen centimetre
by centimetre
Sunrise.

Hot sun
through Sunday afternoon window
Head nodding
eyes drooping
warm sleep.

WALT:
To communicate experiences, with descriptive language, so that others can feel they are there.

Success Criteria:

Write about the topic from different points-of-view
Focus on strong adjectives
Use a wide range of contrasts in the poem
Use commas to set the rhythm of the poem
Short interesting thoughts, one per line
Unnecessary and small words cut out.

Inspired by Extreme Poetry resource (131+ pages of poetry tips and ideas). Click to view and gain access to great poetry forms, lessons and activities.

Bush Fringe

02.04.2013 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Pupils |Spoken Word |Video Written by: W Grieve

Written 2013. Living Springs Camping site. Christchurch. Love our bush close to cities. High Resolution Version

Inspired by Extreme Poetry resource (131+ pages of poetry tips and ideas). Click to view and gain access to great poetry forms, lessons and activities.

Tags: bush, pupils, memory, life, memories

Can I?

30.09.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Christian |Video |Spoken Word |Seeker Written by: W Grieve

Can I
Have someone
see deep?
me,
The hidden real
The faked real?

Chameleon - thousand shades
Camouflage dirt
Concealing pain
Capable indifference
Covering smiles
Cracked mirror.

Mindside
I silent inner scream,
Sacrificed life
for inner dark uncomfortable.
Hidden life
in the midst of many.

Where can I trust?
Where can I belong?
Where can I sing?
Where can I be?

Prompt
Where can we turn? Who can we trust? What do we try to hide?
Poem Tags
#chameleon, #christian, #fake, #identity, #life, #poems, #poetry, #seeker, #spokenword,

Can I explores identity through Christian poetry video

Channel Surfing

17.06.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Christian |Video |Spoken Word |Seeker Written by: W Grieve

Channel surfing…
All I can eat
All mine
Yet never me,
Entertainment worlds in a button,
All the colour, life and choice,
Yet lifeless, death in pixels
Nothing that means,
No connections,
Ads and advertising
Promises and pleasures,
High definition creations
Giving blurred zero self-images
Unreal masquerades of the real.

Can I
Leave the hate
Lose the forgery and fakes
Vacate negativity
Cut the crap
from my life,
Take any truth
I hear and see
and become different?

In a world without reason
feeding lies to sensations
where lies my lifeline?

Starting Thoughts: We live in a saturated media world that is sucking more and more reality from our identity and relationships, death by a thousand pixels in many ways. Is there an answer to the rising mental health and anxiety issues in our world?
Poem Topic Tags: #death, #hate, #identity, #lies, #life, #meaning, #media, #reality, #reallife, #reasons
Posting Tags: #artist, #christian, #creativewriting, #instawrite, #poems, #poetry, #poetsofinstagram, #poetryisnotdead, #poetrycommunity, #poetryinmotion, #spilledink, #spokenword, #typewriter, #videos, #wordsmith, #writing, #writinglife, #writerscommunity, #writerscorner, #writersofinstagram,

Media and truth, reality and meaning, where is our lifeline Spoken Word Poetry

Clock Watching

16.06.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Christian |Video |Spoken Word |Seeker Written by: W Grieve

In risky conversation
my words fell
into your listening ears
and I uneasily started…

Clock watching
the minutes
seconds
of day
pass
slower
Little dribbles
of leaked time
as I waited...

Nothing happened
no great drama
no loss of me
no laughter at me...

I realised
that while I have given
a part of me
never shared
It adds
to this world,
rarely subtracts...

Why was I worried?

Starting Thoughts: Sometimes, accidentally or deliberately we share something we've never told anyone before. It becomes a moment when we wonder what we have just risked, will it backfire? Will connection be broken as we share the pain, the struggle, the failure that we have been holding?
Poem Topic Tags: #body, #clock, #confess, #conversations, #friendship, #identity, #risks, #secrets, #seeker, #sharing, #time
Posting Tags: #artist, #christian, #creativewriting, #instawrite, #poems, #poetry, #poetsofinstagram, #poetryisnotdead, #poetrycommunity, #poetryinmotion, #spilledink, #spokenword, #typewriter, #videos, #wordsmith, #writing, #writinglife, #writerscommunity, #writerscorner, #writersofinstagram,

Sharing our secrets in a risk Spoken Word Poem

Knife Moment

16.06.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Christian |Video |Spoken Word |Seeker Written by: W Grieve

Refugee from
dark kaleidoscopes
of noise machine demands,
I can't find a place,
Firm
where I find me,
Strong where my heart
is held in something more.
Random in a random world?
Nothing beyond
No reason
No soul,
In stark thought,
Naked reality,
Just white tree bones
of scattered self
on a firestormed landscape,

I laugh
slightly mad
Yet crystal clear
It is Time to snap,
Die,
Or find life.

Starting Thoughts: There come times in our lives where we know we are on the edge of an important decision, a moment that will change our future directions, hopes and dreams. We know the choice we should make and what it means if we don't but somehow it still seems so hard to make and year paradoxically easy.
Poem Topic Tags: #choices, #death, #decisions, #identity, #life, #pain, #personality, #souls
Posting Tags: #artist, #christian, #creativewriting, #instawrite, #poems, #poetry, #poetsofinstagram, #poetryisnotdead, #poetrycommunity, #poetryinmotion, #spilledink, #spokenword, #typewriter, #videos, #wordsmith, #writing, #writinglife, #writerscommunity, #writerscorner, #writersofinstagram,

We come to moments of life decision poem spoken word risky!

Tags: gossip, lips, honour, righteous, confess

Door Rotation

16.06.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Christian |Video |Spoken Word |Seeker Written by: W Grieve

In the black wandering of my life
I found myself standing in front
of a darkened door,
seemingly random
in life's midst.

Heart scare -
a knock suddenly sounded
from the other side
which scared the heck out of me,
I had thought it was just a door
but it was more
somehow connected
entwined deep in my heart.

Someone wanted in,
was out there
had taken the time
to call by,
And I almost opened it by mistake,
Come to think of it
What right does that door
have to be there?
I closed my eyes,
wished
opened eyelids
but the door
was still there,
and the knocking repeats
echoes to my soul.

Starting Thoughts: Jesus said, "Behold I stand at the door and knock." How open are we in our lives? Do we hear but essentially screen the "call" and tell Him to go away. Was there an opportunity that we have just missed?
Poem Topic Tags: #call, #conscience, #decision, #door, #faith, #jesus, #knock, #soul
Posting Tags: #artist, #christian, #creativewriting, #instawrite, #poems, #poetry, #poetsofinstagram, #poetryisnotdead, #poetrycommunity, #poetryinmotion, #spilledink, #spokenword, #typewriter, #videos, #wordsmith, #writing, #writinglife, #writerscommunity, #writerscorner, #writersofinstagram,

Making a decision about the knock of Jesus on the door - Spoken Word

Tags: door, knock, soul, call, open

Signpost People

06.06.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Christian |Video |Spoken Word |Seeker Written by: W Grieve

I stand there
staring at their
identical smiles,
Laughing back
Fashion sleek
airbrushed exteriors
latest accessories
vogue beautiful people
same face,
in-crowd music
popular up-to-date values
carbon copied styled party,
They ask me to join
rent my space
be a billboard,
But I know they're
dressed to kill,
Sightless eyes
poster gaudy
but dark
grows in their minds.

Poem Tags
#beauty, #billboard, #facades, #fashion, #identity, #poems, #poetry, #popular, #seeker, #self, #signpost, #spokenword
Prompt
Billboards full of signpost people telling us how to live life.

Signpost People Spoken Word Poem. Beauty and facades.

Tags: perfection, facades, beauty, life, self

In the Son

02.04.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Christian |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

I stand
half in sun half dark
a person in pieces
life on one side, death on the other
Caught on the wire
trapped indecision,
caught in events
indifferent yet aware
caught yet sensing freedom
wanting to hope, not willing to try
ashes to ashes, dust to dust.
The light speaks, calls,
a confidence touch,
light of the world,
love bathed rays
penetrate my heart
call to my mind
I rise
hope’s smile calls.

Shattered

02.04.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Christian |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

Shattered,
Numb holes
In our soul's fragments,
Pain etched across
Faces, TV
Replays of scenes
In Mixed media
In minds
In conversations,
Swirling emotions
Holding pain
Sharing pain,
Questions
With no answers
Voiced into
The not knowing

Hope birthed
Neighbours knocking on doors
Student army young muscles
Shifting disaster spade by wheelbarrow,
Water shared
Meals shared
Stories shared.

Anger birthed,
Knock on darkened door
Torch flashed in face
Surprising back pack
Dark clad looter
Runs With adrenalin
Black heart into blackness

Waiting birthed,
Return text
From family,
Call to say
Loved one safe,
Water, power, food
Sleep weary
Simple day to day life
Routines desired.

Possessions hammered,
Learning stuff
Doesn't matter
Compared to life.

In dust
Crumpled buildings
Flooded houses
Liquefaction hit
Alive is celebrated
On scales
Grim to thankful
Stunned to action.

Others, randomly ok
Feel guilty spared
Unsure.

God we cry
Cry

A blink of time
In Your hands,
We trust
Now and tomorrow
To God,
Who knew shattered,
Had close family
Who understands human
Knew death
New life in resurrection power.

God we hope
Deeper into You.

Seen

02.04.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Christian |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

I saw you
a shadow part
of the crowd,
You’ve come again
to hear the words,
feel friendship,
something more,
Dying at the crossroad
yet fascinated,
that God’s spirit speaks.
Your crystal moment glimpse
is of living,
but this life scares,
so you embrace
freedoms
that generate chains.
“Let the dead bury the dead!”
You see...
almost,
but camouflage and dark glasses
are your world.

Tags: crowd, decisions, meaning

Milk Spilt

02.04.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Christian |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

Just Born
Exciting New birth
closeness to breast,
milk sustaining,
love relationship of touch,
tender words
Feeding on the tone of voice, words,
the hugs,
Not sure how to communicate needs
Sometimes just crying, unformed sounds,
Listening to the story, seeing the pictures
through learning eyes

Maturing
Milk part of the past,
Although a glass,
Every now and then, is good.
Feeding
in the Word,
Open to questions,
Knowing full reassurance of faith,
Solid, in honest
love with God,
Given in a daily walk.

Milk Delivery
Open the door
to today’s living, your world,
backpack slung over shoulder
ready with stored milk cartoons,
Searching, lead to
another new birth.

Indestructable

02.04.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Christian |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

My life has a dream,
snatches seen through grime.
hope's beginning
given love complete
helpless born
healing, challenging, friend
dark death cross
times claw suspended,
leapt to life,
defeated sin,
immortal payment
for you.

Jesus Indestructible
Lord,
power forever,
He holds
final key
eternities pathway
hope complete.

Tags: cross, death, jesus, hope, key

Justice

02.04.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Christian |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

Killed in a moments
inaction,
slow response to hurt inflicted.
the bully unchallenged
the weak who we pass by
the laughter of gossip...
Lighten up, get a life,
does it really make a difference?
If tomorrow you were...
Afghan... 3 year old gang- raped
in a country where women fear the daily road
OR Chinese grandmother beaten,
taken away “re-educated”
for applying for a legitimate protest card…

Do you not know what you have?
How precious justice is?
In your country, based on Christian history
A sense of justice strong.

So don’t ignore,
turn your back on the wrong
Hear the voice of the Spirit
The challenge of taking the cross
Respond to God’s love
Reach out, take action

Not frozen in the challenge’s headlights
But a hedgehog with tyre deflating prickles!

Tags: action, justice, jesus, hope, key

Extremes

02.04.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Christian |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

Heaven's glory
to earths pain,
love's closeness
to cross death loneliness,
Bright fullness of spirit
to greyness and questions,
Complexity surrounded
Simplicity discovered,
Wonderful paradoxes
both God and me.

In the extremes
Gods shadow of humility
touches my spirit,
my heart captivated in
a grace
encounter with God,
helping me to see
who I am.

loved
real
me.

Tags: paradoxes, love, real, identity, grace

Holes

02.04.2012 Filed in: Poetry |Seeker |Christian |Spoken Word Written by: W Grieve

An absence of something
a place of nothing
lonely space
the eyes focus point
the hearts waiting beat.

Holes
the bullets trace
deaths moment
an absence of life

Holes
Hands, feet and side
Pierced innocence
Forgiveness flowed
Pure sacrifice

Holes

Tags: holes, cross, easter, meaning, sacrafice

Perfectly Planned

04.11.2010 Filed in: Poetry |Christian |Video |Spoken Word |Seeker Written by: W Grieve

Perfectly planned
In time's span,
The arrival.

A baby
To fulfill prophecy,
A light -
Star signs and creator's spark
A man
entwined with Universe power

In a time where Jewish
Religion was official,
A murder -
Killed and resurrected
A power alive -
When roads had been built
By a Roman kingdom
To carry the revolutionary news
Of Kingdom life.

Not of might
Of love,
Not of weapon
Of forgiveness,
Not of anger
Of patience,
Not of death
Of everlasting life.

Time planned
Eternal breath
All hopes arrival.

Poem Tags
#christian, #christmas, #jesus, #poem, #poetry, #prophecy, #spokenword
Prompt
How was the birth of Jesus at Christmas perfectly planned in the human timeline?

Perfectly Planned Christmas Video Spoken Word Poem

Tags: love, christmas, baby, jesus, god

Matrix Moments

Media Moments: Question, reflect, connect

Privacy Settings

Life's Edges

6:30 AM Refugee

Walk the Plank

Light my Life

Bush Fringe

Can I?

Channel Surfing

Clock Watching

Knife Moment

Door Rotation

Signpost People

In the Son

Shattered

Seen

Milk Spilt

Indestructable

Justice

Extremes

Holes

Perfectly Planned