TIME AND I

There was a time when sin and I,
Walked hand in hand together,
I let the world possess me
And it did with deadly sway.
It was a time in youth when I,
Was frequently quite foolish,
I never sought to find the time,
Nor did I will to  pray.

There was a time I walked alone,
In darkness, gloom and peril,
My innocence was threatened,
Through my ignorance of guile,
A time when frailty of spirit,
Often would beset me,
A time when evil sneered and sought,
To lure me with beguile.

There was a time of fierce distress,
And overwhelming sorrow,
Anguish scoured and seared my soul,
With stupefying grief.
A time for letting go to  God,
The baby I'd been given, 
Gone with no goodbye she left ,
Memories too brief.

Time and I have walked awhile,
Astutely she has taught me,
How sin corrodes the souls of those
Whose lives are shorn of grace.
I’ve learned the paradox that love,
Spends not itself in giving,
Suffering enabled me,
Meet Jesus face to face.

Myra D'Souza / 7 February 2012

I Will Not Be Discouraged

                                           

                                       No, 

I will not be discouraged,
When people don’t respond
With smiles
To meet my own.
When my hand,
Held out in friendship
Finds no answering clasp.
I will not feel dismay so readily,
When I reach out
With arms flung open wide
Expectantly,
Then have them drop 

Embarrassedly,
Seeing a vacant stare.
Why are people so afraid
To touch,
To laugh,
To love with abandon,
To look you in the eye?
Why are they afraid?
I’ll never know,
But it is I 

Who will decide,
Not to be discouraged.

Myra D'Souza / 7FEB 2012

LOVE RIDES AT DAWN

Love rides at dawn,
To rouse my soul from sleeping night,
His touch will set  it all aglow,
Enfolding it in light.

The slowly  dying embers,
Of my love  ‘neath ashes gray,
Will be rekindled  once again,
As I begin to pray.

From cinders, He will stir to life,
The flicker to a flame,
He'll cast aside all darkness,
As He gently calls my name.

His love evokes an antiphon,
Of  praise in joyous phrase,
He will imbue and permeate,
My soul with wondrous grace.

This bruised reed is strengthened,

By Him Whom I adore

The unction of His Spirit,

Restores to life once more.

Myra D’Souza
23 January 2012