The Face of God

Desire

Desire Burns Within, photo by smkybear from flickr

Desire

Hunger and thirst

Until what is inside

Comes out in a burst

A yearning tide

Until outpourings

Release and reside

© January 29, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

“I charge you: Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.” –Song of Songs 8:4


This poem, Desire, was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, October 29, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

On the Flipside

Flipside Burger Bar, photo by drew robinson, from Flickr

On the Flipside

If this end is up

And the other is down

. . .If upside-down . . .

Someone is making

A turnaround

© January 21, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

This poem, On the Flipside, was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, October 1, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

Tenuous

Insecure, photo by Sagise from Flickr

Tenuous

Tread lightly

Upon my heart

Burden slightly

Insecurity

Comes nightly

© January 17, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Pour

Pouring Liquid Gold, photo by The Puzzler

Pour

Soaked in

Love

Filled within

Then poured

Out again

© January 4, 2012, Robbie Pruitt

“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” –Titus 3:4-7

This poem, Pour, was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, August 20, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

Nativity

Church of the Nativity Demo at 11th & Mt. Vernon, 
by Michael Bixler

Nativity

The Church

Has left

The building

Birthed from

Demolition

To Immanuel

No building

To contain

The Almighty

Omnipresent

To dwell

The building

Has left

The Church

Free from

Enclosure

God is with us

Spirit

In the hearts

Of humanity

Like Dove

Will perch

© August 1, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

This poem, Nativity, was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, August 6, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

My friend Michael Bixler is an excellent photographer, artist, writer, videographer and “adventurer” who took the photo above, Church of the Nativity Demo at 11th & Mt Vernon. Like much of his work, it captivated me and inspired the poem Nativity. Bixler has provoked me to poetry with Motel and Ghost Lake back in October of 2012, with his photo Late Autumn Epiphany in November, and with Homage back in December of 2012. I am a huge fan of his work and am grateful he allows me to use his art as my muse. To see more of Michael Bixler’s work, click here, here, or here.

Simply

Time and Space, photo by Brisbane Falling, from Flickr

Simply

I embrace

Time

With you

© March 1, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

This poem, Simply, was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

Starting Out

Start, photo by JakeandLindsay Sherbert, 
from Flickr, jakeandlindsay

Starting Out

Just begin

Start out

From where

You are

And go

To where

You will end

Just begin

© March 14, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

This poem was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, July 9, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

Coffee Bean

Coffee Beans, Photo by Nate Steiner, from Flickr

Coffee Bean

From bean to brew

The roast, the grind,

The water—

It filters through

From cherries on trees

To peaceful aroma and steam

The nectar that puts us at ease

© June 25, 2013, RobbiePruitt

This poem was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, July 2, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

Born Again

Born Again, photo by ۞DLB۞, from Flickr here

From the Born Inside Us Prompt from Tweetspeak’s Every Day Poems: “What is waiting to be born inside you today? Perhaps give it birth in a poem.”

“For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” –1 Peter 1:23

Born Again

Healing emerged

From within

Born from inside

Letting new life begin

© March 15, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

This poem was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, June 25, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

Mountain Laurel

Mountain Laurel, photo by Jason Hollinger, pellaea, from Flickr

Tomorrow, May 29^th, my wife Irene and I will celebrate nine years of marriage. One afternoon, about ten years ago, we hiked to this beautiful mountain cove with a stunning view of a waterfall. Irene painted and I wrote several poems. This is one of those poems about our love that the Mountain Laurel witnessed that day, before we knew.

Mountain Laurel

The Mountain Laurel sees little in their mountain cove

In their little huddle they call a grove

Hugging tightly the weathered steeps

Rooting down to watery deeps

Love roots down like the love the Laurel observed

On that fresh and new spring day,

As love hugged tightly the weathered steeps,

Reaching deeply to love’s refreshing waters deep.

The Mountain Laurel saw love that spring day
     in their mountain cove,

From their little huddle they call a grove,

They hugged tightly to love’s steeps and to how love shows,

Rooting down to love’s deeps,
     and now the Mountain Laurel knows.

© Robbie Pruitt, 2003

This poem was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, May 28, 2013. To see more poems submitted to Open Link Night, please visit the site here. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for thisweek’s poems.

Kalmia, Mountain Laurel, photo by InAweofGod'sCreation 

Park Swing

Would You like to swing on a Star, photo by mandolin davis

Park Swing

My city she sleeps

As she dreams and thinks of you

How she once held you

And cradled you in her arms

Watching your beauty

As you swung under the full moon’s light

And she misses you

And I miss you

© 2000, Robbie Pruitt

A poem from Finlay Park, Downtown Columbia, SC

This was one of the poems rejected for Sense of the Midlands, a poetry compilation coming out later this year from Muddy Ford Press. It is exciting that they picked up my poem ‘What the Moon Say’ for the book. I am thrilled about this project and honored to be a part of it. More to come.

Love Carries

Ocean, photo by Stephen Edgar, from Flickr

Love Carries

Love carries like an ocean’s tide

Carries along two lovers

By the shoreline

The cold wind against them

Under overcast skies

As they bask in the sunlight

Of love filled eyes

© 2001, Robbie Pruitt

     Inspired by a long walk on the beach--
          in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

This poem was submitted to Open Link Night at dVerse Poets on Tuesday, May 7, 2013. To see more poems submitted, please visit the site. The links will be live at 2 p.m. Central time on Tuesday. Check “Mr. Linky” for this week’s poems.

Anticipation

Anticipation, photo by Rebecca L. Daily from Flickr

Anticipation

Holding

Hands

Open

Need

Desire

Empty

Craving

Hungry

Anticipating

© February 19, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Noticed

Coffee Shop, photo by edenpictures from Flickr

Noticed

We locked eyes

Momentarily

As you scanned

The room

Full of people

Awaiting a moment

Lingering and expecting

Anticipating

The door jingled

And he walked through

Your expression said it all

As you passed by

Noticed

For the first time

© February 12, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Hope

Hope, photo by mrsdkrebs from Flickr

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” –Hebrews 11:1

Hope

Hope

She hangs on

Until tomorrow

Hope is assured

Of time borrowed

Hope

Is exacted in faith

That tomorrow

Will relinquish

Its sorrow

© February 11, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”  –Hebrews 11:6 

Words of Gray

Cracked Earth Seamless Texture, 
photo by Patrick Hoesly from Flickr

Words of Gray

The words you uttered

Caused my heart to bleed

And you to leave

Echoes swarm the mind

Of words not spoken

Only what was assumed

As you walked away

And dispersed into gray

© February 8, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Sidestep

EVADE, photo by Big Ed Mustapha, from Flickr

Sidestep

If I’m shifty

Eyed

Would you

Let it slide

If I’d elude

Would it be

Misconstrued

If you’d reflect

And I’m

Circumspect

Don’t reject

If you’d persuade

And I’d evade

Would you’ve stayed

If things were eschew

Would you

Know what to do

If we circumvent

We’ll never know

What it meant

© January 21, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Buttons

Buttons, photo by sharonstoned1, Meike Schönhütte, Flickr

For a soundtrack to this poem, listen to Buttons by SIA here

Buttons

You push my buttons

And I push your buttons

These buttons

Look like labyrinths

In the way they swirl

And look—In pattern

These buttons

Have rings like Saturn

These buttons

Conceal and hook

These buttons reveal

All that we mistook

Did we miss a button

. . .or was it overlooked?

© February 2, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Poems Like Bread

Give Us This Day, photo by Mr. Kris, from Kris on Flickr

"It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God" –Jesus, Matt. 4:4

Poems Like Bread

Poetry is like bread.

The Word sustains

We get life from what is said

Poetry is like bread.

Expressions we feast on

The Word we ponder in our head

Poetry is like bread.

The Word brings life

And resurrects the dead

Poetry is like Bread.

© February 5, 2013, RobbiePruitt

"It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God" –Jesus, Matthew 4:4

“They are not just idle words for you--they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess." –Deuteronomy 32:47

Blue

Weird Blue Dot, photo by awshots, Richard from Flickr

Blue

Melancholy

Uttering regret

Despondency

In response to you

Enveloped by blue

© March 5, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

All is Yours

Give Up, photo by bk2204, brian carlson, from Flickr

All is Yours

Since all is yours

Who are we—we are nothing

Nothing to look at—nothing to see

Since all is yours

We give generously

Pour out abundantly

Since all is yours

We give nothing

From our own hand

Since all is yours

We are beholden to you and

Are at your command

© March 16, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

"But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”
–1 Chronicles 29:14

Our Coffees Have Become Famous

Photo by Mark Winterbourne | Photography from Flickr.com 

Our Coffees Have Become Famous

It’s not our friendship

Nor has coffee gone awry

It’s your paparazzi

They have gotten me shy

© March 4, 2013, RobbiePruitt

City of Exile by Glynn Young

Photography by George Hodan via Public Domain Pictures. 
Used with permission.

I am excited to guest post the poem City of Exile by my friend in poetry Glynn Young for National Poetry Month. Glynn is an excellent poet and writer and is the author of A Light Shining, Dancing Priest, and the blog Faith, Fiction, Friends. Glynn writes extensively about faith and culture, life and work and writes for The High Calling and Tweetspeak Poetry. It has been a great pleasure and joy reading Glynn’s work over the years and I am sure you will enjoy it too. Here is the poem City of Exile by Glynn Young.


City of Exile

A city of granite walls
and marbled streets, cold,
a city of exile, not inclined
to mercy or pity. I walk
the streets of the city
of exile, sent, preferring to be
in the belly of the whale.

Faces of strangers confront
the stranger’s face, my face,
and I listen, sent to listen
and to pray for this city
of exile, this place of aliens
for aliens. My footsteps echo
on hollow stones.

I walk the streets of this city
of exile, to seek my home
I this city thirsting for light,
the light I thirst for, seek
desire in this city exile where
few speak and none smile.
My singing attracts stares.


By Glynn Young
Faith, Fiction, Friends

Treasure in the Field

Field photo by Lel4nd, Leland Francisco, from Flickr

Treasure in the Field

A jewel laid long ago

In a secret place

Where few would go

Called out from concealment

Beckoning everyone to know

The treasure in this field

Would soon be revealed

Her value more precious

Than gold or life,

If anyone would pay the price,

Sell all that was owned

And buy that secret place.

Trespasses would be forgiven

And Glory would adorn each face.

© March 14, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Vintage

Cover Photo of 'Crying At The Low Bar,' 
courtesy of ‘The Sparklers,’ from their album 
‘Crying At The Low Bar,’ © July 2012

Vintage

You’re my retro lover

Floral patterned

Undercover 

Style—

I’m worth it

Stay a while

Under slanted roof

Look at me

I’m your proof

Retro—

Throw back

You want to go?

Flash—

For show

Nothing you want to know?

Vinyl record

And duffle bag

Be my feedback stag 

Let’s make life

A drag

© January 7, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Remise

Photo from Flickr by Storm Crypt

Remise

Looking where

We last saw it

Searching

For tenderness

Discovering

What we had dismissed

Searching

For compromise

Remise

© March 7, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Pine Barren

In The Pines, photo courtesy of Michael Bixler, 
© March 17, 2013

Pine Barren

Blood cries

From the ground

Desolate

My heart

Pines

Barren

Tall stalks

Tower

Long walks

Buried beneath

Overtures

Bleak

© January 7, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

My friend Michael Bixler is an excellent photographer, artist, writer, videographer and “adventurer” who took the photo above of the Pine Barrens, In The Pines. Like much of his work, this photo captivated me and inspired the poem Pine Barren. Bixler has provoked me to poetry with Motel back in October of 2012, Ghost Lake also in October of 2012, Late Autumn Epiphany last November, and Homage back in December of 2012, I am a huge fan of his work and am grateful he allows me to use his art as my muse. To see more of Michael Bixler’s work, click here, here, or here.

The Door

 

Photo of the purple door from Flickr by Patrick Feller

The Door

HE

RE

IA

M!

Standing

Knocking

                         Calling

         Anticipating

Will you dine with me?

Enter into eternity

Transcend beyond

This closed door–

What little you see

© February 4, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.”  –Revelation 3:20

Flower

Flower photo from Flickr by audreyjm529

Flower

Soft petals

Funnel

Along smooth

Rounded ridges

To center

Enter

Before the coming

Of winter

© February 5, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

Too Old to Hula

Photo from Tweetspeak Poetry

Too Old to Hula

No poems of pink

Hula Hoops

Smiling faces

Turn to frown droops

Life drags

And the body sags

Joy stolen—an age grab

Color turns drab

From fun to “fab”

Too old to Hula

Inner child needs a Doula

© January 17, 2013, Robbie Pruitt

She

Three Beers, photo by Kuba Bożanowski, 
Creative Commons, via Flickr

She

She spoke as the wind blew

Her words more blurry

With every pint of brew

The night would soon see to

What becomes of us

After three brew

The palms rustled

At the breeze off the sea

And there walked the one of us

For there was no she

© October 1, 2012, Robbie Pruitt

This poem, She, was originally submitted to the October Beer and Wine poetry prompt on Tweetspeak Poetry here. While it as not chosen, it got a mention here as “stiff competition.” I was very honored just to have written alongside of my friend Glynn Young and all the other wonderful poets on Tweetspeak. Glynn’s poem Art Form, With Beer was the best overall. You can see Glynn’s poetry and his winning poem on his website Faith, Fiction, Friends here.

Pilgrims Transforming

Transformation, photo by Hoot Owl from Flickr

“Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.” –1 Peter 2:11, ESV

Pilgrims Transforming

There is no compromise

Looking to Jesus with these eyes

No sport with the enemy

No competition to be seen

We are non-conformers

We are transformers

Pilgrims and strangers

In a strange land—Aliens

To anything but God’s command

Feeding on The Bread Life

Which came down from heaven

We live without strife

Every Word of God—our food

And we avoid the Viper’s Brood

We baptize into new life—

New covenant people—Born again

Unfettered from slavery to our sin

We are pilgrims transforming

Settling for nothing less than restoration

With compromise—there is no norming

It is the very gates of Hell we are storming

Until His Kingdom comes, until His will is done

And all come to know Jesus, God’s own Son

© April 4, 2013, Robbie Pruitt