Risen for Hope

The photo was taken just yesterday. Due to illness in the family, I’ve been staying mostly indoor as a caregiver. Yesterday was the first time I went out to greet spring and the birds. A Downy Woodpecker darted right into frame.

DSC_0614 (1)

While we’re enjoying an early spring this year, there had been times when it felt like spring would never come. A few years ago, I wrote this poem at Easter, when winter lingered and spring seemed so far away… and it was already April.

**

April is the month of empty dreams
Half the days gone
waiting for words and spring
still frozen ground
and on the screen
a frigid page as white as snow.

Brown could be the color of hope
After the white
for all I know
green is too much to wish for
I’m contented to see a patch
of dry and withered brown.

The sun is a perpetual sign
that there’s still hope
But it’s no herald of the seasons
for its presence comforts all year long
warming my blank and barren state
as I await for words and spring.

But Easter is an apt reminder
that The Word had come
spoken clear to half-frozen ears
His body hung on a lifeless tree
Blood and water flowed
onto parched and dusty earth

So what if no words come to me
That dreaded writer’s block
reigning the winter of sterility
numbing senses,
snatching thoughts,
seizing any sign of spring.

It’s not about a post or a blog,
Or even buds and melting snow.
The Word had come
lived and loved among us,
broken, bled, died and rose,
melting frozen hearts to greet
a new dawn and eternal Spring.

– by Arti, April 2011

  ***

We look not towards the climate, but the Christ.

Happy Easter to all!

 

 

Published by

Arti

If she’s not birding by the Pond, Arti’s likely watching a movie, reading, or writing a review. Creator of Ripple Effects, bylines in Asian American Press, Vague Visages, Curator Magazine.

17 thoughts on “Risen for Hope”

  1. Lovely poem Arti, you are so talented. We had a blizzard in Denver a few days ago and were pushed back hard into winter. It was an adjustment !!

    Like

    Reply

    1. Heather,

      We’ve been having warm weather for a while now. Guess spring has come to stay. Thanks for stopping by the pond and throwing in your two pebbles. 😉

      Like

      Reply

  3. Thanks for sharing your poem, Arti. I hope the Lord gives you the strength you need to be a caregiver. You got an amazing shot of that woodpecker.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Thanks Ellen, for your kind words. As for the woodpecker, my camera was in the continuous mode and that’s the advantage, taking a photo that I didn’t see with my own eyes.

      Like

      Reply

  4. What are we without hope, Arti? Such a poignant poem and perfect for Resurrection day! I’m sorry about your family illness but am glad you are able to give loving care.

    Like

    Reply

  5. Your poem is beautiful and I’m grateful that you are able to step outside and be with nature and the birds once again. Wishing you strength on the journey of life and hoping that your Easter was indeed lovely.

    Like

    Reply

  7. The poem is perfect: so true to life, so poignant, and so filled with wisdom. When I was young, and much more inexperienced at life, I thought those words — “He does not give us more than we can bear” — were just a little trite. How wrong I was.

    I’m so happy to see you posting a bird. Perhaps it’s your very own Woodpecker of Happiness — a feathered angel bearing a message of hope! Aren’t we lucky that Easter isn’t just a day, or even a season, but an Event meant to bring us hope?

    Like

    Reply

    1. Linda,

      Thanks for your kind words and spot-on reminder. It’s been quite an ordeal and yes, also a blessed journey too. As for our weather, it’s been very warm but no new growth of green yet. Here in Cowtown, we always heed the advice not to start planting until after Victoria’s Day. Oh, that’s May 23. And for birding, nothing spectacular yet. All the more for me to appreciate the blessings of the ‘ordinary’.

      Like

      Reply

Leave a comment