let

let the words come out of me
let this be your story
let your gifts flow back to you
and show your beauty in all its glory.
let me be a vessel by which
you can be shown to the world
let the words become your works
but not by me alone.
let your love work through me
and let it be all by you
let me be a channel through which
a one can be made new.

-dsb
7/9/2014

saved

i've no grace
else what you've given
and to that point
i'm in a debt
that man can't pay
for he's a sinner;
you paid the price.
i've been saved yet.

-D.B.
4/3/2014

purification

i'm drowning in a desert
and nothing's making sense
my world is turned upon me
as i reach up my hand
above the waves of golden grain
that rain on me like fire
crashing down in waves that scourge
and bruise me without tire
my lungs are drenched with desert sand
as the dunes grow ever higher
upon my shoulders they build for me
a murky, hidden pyre.

it's caught me in a whirlpool
of unprecedented heat
the anger that's within
comes from my burning, my defeat
it brews around as hurricanes
that will themselves to grow
and boil and froth more misery
as on their path they go
through oceans of insanity
and seas of salty doubt
that seep into my every wound
searing and stinging throughout.

i know not why i'm in the ocean
nor why i'm in a drought
nor why i seem to be forgotten
when i'm crying out so loud
i am drowning in a desert
and burning in the water
i cannot grasp, can't understand
this paradox, this hour,
but if i'm here i ask of You
to purify me now
to cleanse me of my bitter sins
and make of me a tower
wrought of that which is sublime
of joy from sadness grown
of misery to loveliness
of beauty turned from woe.

-D.B.
3/9/2014

of dead ends and candles

dead leaves.
dead trees.
all i see
is another dead end
lit by the light of another candle.
what's left to do
but turn around
ask God for help
once again
be washed clean
once again
take a chance
once again
that all will be well
once again
and over and over
it keeps coming back
i'm at the start
just like the past
another candle's lighted wick
burning bright with hope
and so
i follow my new flame
down
down
to the end of the wick
as i wander deeper
down
into the length of another road
all my heart and
all my hopes
burning bright inside a flame
this one may just be eternal
and'll lead me to myself
at last

and then it goes out.

just like the rest.
i've hit a dead end.
once again.
i'm surrounded.
dead leaves.
dead trees.
all i know's
there's another dead end
and i need another candle.

-D.B.
2/4/2014

cookie cutter series: part 1

i was not formed
like the cookie cutter shapes
that you try to fit me into
in the world you call reality
i'm not so cut and dry
made with a straight-edged knive
jagged blunt and rusty
is more descriptive of the style
a cloud with pale blue lining
soft and soothing from the looks
it lines a mounting plume
of insurmountable despair
pairing drops of deep compassion
with temporal hidden grief
and a lesser known oration
of injustice-fueled rage
that builds in rolling fashion
making mockeries of your shapes
weaving tales of desperation
through the tales of pure deceit
wound around desire for 'freedom'
brought about by non-belief
in the Maker who released us
from our own eternal grief

-D.B.
1/17/2013

words

my thoughts are mine
as such
my words are mine
they form
inside my head
they brew
a storm
of pure emotion
mixed with thought
a dash of inspiration--
thank you God--
i give life
to words
because
they yearn
for freedom
full release
from my head
because
they swirl
in spirals
outward
pressing out
against my skull
moving
to my mouth
and out
or else i keep them
in
and then
they move
to my heart
and strike
a chord
or else i keep them
in
and then
they move
to my fingers
spirals
create
force
of highest energy
it transfers
to the surface
either paper
or the screen
visible
at last
they scream
wanting
to be heard
and
at last
i am relieved
of
beauty.

-d.s.b.
11/13/2013

falling falling falling

a leaf is falling falling falling
falling
for a gentle breeze.
she was falling falling falling
falling
from a rotten tree.
the tree did hate her take her break her
make her
heart feel so unclean.
each branch did hate her take her break her
make her
red so she could bleed.
it thought it had her heart her soul her love
her self
within its reach.
but no her heart her soul her love
her self
then found a way to leave.
so now she's falling falling falling
falling
to a love so sweet;
now she's falling falling falling
falling
love has set her free.

-D.B.
5/3/2012

5/6/2013

hollowed out
no spike in my blood
no punch in my words
no spark in my eyes.
all i have for the world
is a mind full of spite
that's all i can share
i just cannot fight.
there's nothing i do
that can bring back the vigor
i'm trying, i swear,
but i just can't succeed.
there is only one
who can carry me through this
i asked Him to help
and he reached out His hand.
i wanted to grab it;
by then, i'd been poisoned
to believe i was hopeless
so i all but ignored it.
now enmity creeps
between me and my demons,
it's always been there
but i see it more clearly:
when you give into them
and they all but control you,
they leave your heart hollow
and your soul ever lonely.

-D.B.
5/6/2013

missing sunsets

i've missed another sunset.
should i live another day,
i should not hope to do that
for it brings me too much pain.
to be left behind by sunset
is more than just a shame.
nothing left but soulful remnants,
fading colors of God's paints.
in missing just one sunset,
i have missed the rainbow flames:
they come forth from the distance
from a land that can't be claimed.
'i will never miss a sunset'
has become the false refrain
of my mind so drenched in sorrow
from the storm of sinful rain.
oh i wish i'd seen the sunset,
i've missed more than i can say.
like repetition of this rhyme
is repetition of this pain.

-D.B.
4/22-26/2013

have you ever watched a sunset,

really watched it as it burns
with brightness great as heaven's glory
for which the heart does yearn?

have you ever stared so deeply
that you cannot look away?
been blinded by the light
that gives character to day?
have you ever longed so greatly
for the brightness of the skies,
believed you could be up there
and wished that you could fly?
have you ever felt an aching
set so deep within your soul,
when you look out at that sunset,
does it fill an empty hole?
have you ever faced your maker
in the setting of the sun
risked to lose your sight forever
in exchange for eternal love?

-D.B.
4/16-17/2013

silently waiting

Silently He bowed His head

and said, Lord, "It is done."

He passed from earth

and willingly

gave all that He was worth.

Now silently the earth does wait

for Him to rise again

and on that day

the third of all

salvation will He win.

-D.B.

4/7/2012

little white pill

there's more to me
than that little white pill
there's more to me
than i get from a drug
i am a human
i have a heart
and a brain
and a soul
that is tearing apart.
they tell me i'm destined
to do these great things
they tell me i can do
whatever i dream
but it comes with an asterisk
a bit of fine print:
you can't do it without
that little white pill.
but this is who i am
what i am
how i'm made
are you telling me now
i'm improperly made?
am i defective
will i fail as a human
did God overlook
some careless mistake
that i have to suffer
that's madness i say
that i can't be without
that little white pill.
i'm convinced of my value
with no drugs in my blood
it's not much i'll tell you
so you'd better ask God.
so i guess now i'll ask You
will my purpose still live
if my blood can flow free
from the drugs that they give?
will i choke under pressure
of doing Your will
if i don't choke down
that little white pill?

-D.B.

3/27/2013

Evening Prayer (revised (again))

To become an expression of this love so true,
Lord grant me the graces to be as you will me to.
Words cannot describe it or do the justice due
to that state of being that comes from Your holy truth.
I'll willingly give into it and submit to one so pure,
more beautiful than anything, the one whom I adore.
You've offered me the light; how could I ignore
the love that is within You, so great is your allure.

-D.B.
2/15-16/2013

Quatrain Throwback #5

A child so lovely in her corner sits
believing she's always alone.
Oh, that she could feel His great presence there
that makes every corner a home.

-D.B.
2/9-10/2010

Wanted: Hope.

it all comes crashing down on you,
future
past
and present.
like waves of water drowning you,
they slam
they crush
they pound.
there's no escaping so it seems,
you're trapped
you're broke
it's hopeless.
time, it goes so rapidly,
one blink
one breath
it's gone.

-D.B.
10/12/12

*Remember: God will never leave you alone during this hopelessness and He will make sure that you are raised up out of it when you truly cannot take it anymore.

Morning Prayer

I long to be a child of Hope,
a light to those in darkness.
I long to be a child of Faith,
to trust though I've been blinded.
I long to be a child of Love,
to show all Your endless mercy.
I long to be a child of Yours,
if through Him I've been made worthy.

~DB
July 2012