The leaves have fallen,
the rose has withered,
and snowflakes bury it,
in a blanket of ice,
preserving life for the spring.
Teardrops on rose petals,
the past flies away,
on the cold winter wind,
and I learn,
to hope for the spring.
Out of nothing,
new life is born,
when I bring my soul,
to the heart of the light,
where rosebuds are born in the spring,
and petals unfold in the summer.
With my wings,
as white as snow,
I fly above the clouds,
and dance mindlessly.
One with the birds,
I stretch my wings,
and dance in the sun.
My feet move on the air,
as I close my eyes.
Joy and peace settle,
like a little bunny,
deep within his burrow.
My arms and wings spread,
on the light of your love.
I fall and I rise,
tumbling through the air.
My laughter fills the earth,
and my joy reaches heaven.
As I rest on the wind,
of your holy breath,
the music of my soul,
fills the blue spring-sky,
and our minds meet,
on the soft piano sounds.
I fly and I dance,
on the wind of your love,
and in your peace,
I surrender.
A flower growing between the cold stone rocks –
in temperatures that reach far below zero,
and where even the animals do not choose to live,
still survives on the strength within,
that searches for life in the midst of an expected death,
that is who I really am!
It is not the hope or the love that forces me to go on,
but the ever-present reluctancy to give up.
A faith that lives deep inside of me,
tells me everyday that there has got to be more.
More than this endless suffering,
more than this heart-wrenching pain,
that forces my pillow to catch my tears in the night,
and my soul to hide them during the day.
A Force that is bigger than all of this –
bigger than our entire universe,
is what the last piece of my heart holds onto.
All I hope for is that this Force,
takes my pain and nails it on that cross,
where it can die along with my tears,
to restore the hope,
born from love,
that establishes a fountain of joy,
within every corner of my heart!
In my disbelief
When the land is in sight,
after an endless journey,
my heart fills with joy,
until I remember,
that the last steps,
are usually the hardest.
With the sweat on my brow,
I cry silent tears,
in my hopeless heart.
Is it a fata morgana?
An illusion in my mind?
In the extreme exhaustion,
my heart becomes confused,
wondering whether I had it right.
Was this the land,
the land that God asked me to go to?
Or was I mistaken,
wrong about everything I thought,
God spoke to me in dreams?
I pray,
first silently,
then louder and louder,
until my heart screams,
“Why have you forsaken me”?
The inches I walk become slower,
until I stand still in awe of myself,
my misunderstanding,
my hopes and dreams in something,
that might never be.
So, now I am at a crossroad.
Wondering whether to continue,
this extreme endurance,
or whether to go back,
to the life I knew before.
I do not know…
So, I wait for the silent whisper,
gently encouraging me,
to put my one foot,
in front of the other,
in blind courage,
in blind faith,
of an invisible God,
a promise I cannot see,
a situation that seems,
impossible.
Faith is like a mustard seed,
that fell into the ground,
and died.
As my heart is slowly dying,
I know a tree will spring up,
in the depth of my heart,
with strong roots,
able to conquer any storm.
Looking around this endless desert,
I still see the small houses,
shimmering at the horizon,
and no matter how impossible it may seem,
I know,
all I have to do is believe,
that those houses,
no matter how unreal they seem,
are put there for me.
Victory comes to those,
who choose to go on,
when everything inside,
tells them to give up!
So, I choose victory,
in whatever form it comes,
so that one day I can tell,
a world of disbelief,
that the Spirit kept me going,
when I could not belief.
To God be the glory,
for He was with me!
The phoenix catches me
I try to catch the phoenix,
who rose from the ashes,
but he is a mere flight,
a soft summer breeze,
who delights me with a feather.
A feather of dreams.
A soft distant sound.
When the feather,
strikes across my skin –
uncatchable is the wind.
If the wind is untouchable,
unnoticeable is Your presence.
But if I concentrate,
on the soft distant sounds,
the breeze of memories,
rushes through my hair.
I lift my hands to receive Your love.
Love is stronger than the feathers,
and rests on the wings of the phoenix.
Gentle are the lips that spoke.
The air of love is like honey.
Kind is the heart that gives.
I miss the sweetness of Your soul,
so, I live on the waves of memories.
I try to catch the phoenix,
who rose from the ashes,
but he is a mere flight,
a soft summer breeze,
who delights me with a feather.
Until one day,
the phoenix catches me.
Cultural Differences
Differences in cultures confuse,
yet only through observation,
can we learn to see things,
from a new perspective.
So embrace the unknown,
kiss the familiarities,
read the scripts,
and learn the words.
Our understanding can only grow,
when we let go off what we know,
to open our hearts for the new.
Let our minds first meet,
before we let our tongue speak,
idle words that lack knowledge.
Hearts can only connect,
when we open our soul to each other.
Lives can only embrace,
when we open our arms in love.
I do not have to forget myself,
nor ignore the person that I am,
to embrace someone who is different.
Where love opens her heart,
she does not exclude anyone,
for in the eyes of love we are all the same.
Children of one Creator,
we are all loved by One,
who understands love,
embraces love,
and is love.
So let us be like our Creator,
let us be love,
not just to ourselves,
or the ones we know,
but to all.
Differences in cultures confuse,
but when we become love,
we can see Heaven in a broken world.
The road of self-discovery
The end of the bowl is in sight,
when I eat the last of my grapes.
With the juice still on my lips,
I meditate on the sweet taste,
lingering in the corners of my mind.
Every memory is a treasure at heart,
where growth is gently formed,
in the deep core of perseverance.
Whether we like it or not,
every moment in life is a learning process,
where we learn more about ourselves.
Fear is not the master of our faith,
nor is grieve the root for our future.
We overcome the darkest facets of ourselves,
when confrontation is not avoided,
but embraced with a heart of understanding.
To understand who we really are,
is understanding who God really is,
and wants to be inside of us.
The strength, wisdom and beauty,
that we pray for every single day,
is already present in our souls.
When we search for the treasures,
the gifts that God has hidden inside of us,
we learn that strength is always present,
that beauty is something we already possess,
and that wisdom is a tangible element of who we are.
In every aspect of our life,
gratitude is the only answer,
and love the only motivation,
we should be looking for.
The Flame
Your feet dance,
a ballet performance.
In your orange dress,
lighting up the room,
you steel many hearts,
and wrap them,
in warm blankets.
My eyes search you,
when the night sets in.
On the music of the wind,
you dance the darkness away.
A heart of gold,
beats inside of you,
and all you want for the world,
is to be illuminated.
To many of you,
set a great fire,
where emotions are lost,
and goodness loses the battle.
Sometimes I wonder,
on which side are you?
Or do you dance,
for whomever wishes to see you?
To be controlled,
is only possible,
in the hands of the Father.
To be seen,
is a wonder on its own.
In His hands you are,
who you were always meant to be.
In His heart you are,
the flame.
Inside of us
Withered away,
I wait for life to grow again,
but the green stems break,
in my frightened hands.
The black shadows speak,
their toxic words in pink colors,
to hide the lies from my fragile heart,
until the truth vanishes out of sight.
Screams of pain fill the sky,
but a blue blanket represents the silence.
The louder I scream,
the greater is the silence.
So I have to become calm,
in order to find peace.
Memories engraved in stone,
are written on the walls of my heart.
Portrayed on parchment paper,
they are shaped into hundreds of poems.
Looking back at the past,
invites me to learn lessons,
to celebrate new hope,
illuminating my soul,
in millions of colors.
When Heaven remains silent,
lessons we have already learned,
become the indicators on our journey of life,
and growth appears inside of us.
The importance of love!
Fighting without victory,
drains all the energy,
emptying the heart from love.
In all the mirrors I see myself,
but the truth is uncatchable,
in the reflection of yourself.
Only through God’s eyes,
the truth shines like a beacon in the night,
illuminating the darkness around us,
so the shadows flee in our sight.
In one single second the world changes,
one choice can make the heart break.
Therefore the importance of love,
is more worth than silver or gold,
for only through love,
the toughest battles,
can become your greatest victory.
Gineke van Keulen 