PAULIE'S POEMS - PMG

  Cruel Death The cruelest feeling is to mourn It tears us up inside A different kind of cruelty's  To mourn one who's not died To mourn one who has walked away In essence, died to you The death of a relationship  That's over, done, that's through  How do you mourn that kind of death When love is what has died To them at least, but not from you When your love's been denied Is there any recovering From that kind of cruel death What do you do with memories When that's all you have left There is no comfort looking back On what has come undone Memories are bitter now, not sweet Of love you've lost, not won If loved one died  but love remained Such horrid loss to bear 'Tis different to endure the loss When love's no longer there Do you let the loss destroy you Let it tear your world apart Does it cause you to grow bitter Or create a hardened heart How to pick up the pieces  Of a shattered love now gone How do you look ahead with hope Eagerly await each da...

  Judging You You think that I am judging you  Your deep, dark secrets, I see through Truly, dear one, it isn't true For I've kept many secrets, too You fear I might reveal your shame Heap on your shoulders all the blame But honestly, that's not my game For, I've more sins than I can name You're fearful I'll expose the truth Of struggles you've had since your youth Yet, I've behaved in ways uncouth And certainly deserve reproof You think that I look down my nose And label you as "one of those" Your true identity expose  We all have worn masks, I suppose Embarrassment makes face red hot Or guilt puts stomach in a knot Afraid I'll put you on the spot Let me assure you, I will not Dear, why should I be judging you When I'm deserving judgement, too But, if you'd like to feel brand new  Come sit beside me in this pew For here I've found the safest place To release all my shame and disgrace  God's loving mercy to embrace All given...

  My Plans Oh, what to do!? I want to cry My best laid plans have gone awry I had things thought out perfectly Things are a mess; how can this be All of my ducks were in a row Knew which direction I should go But now I seem hopelessly lost My stubbornness came at great cost For, though I sensed that things weren't right Held to my plans with all my might Ignored my growing fears and doubt Determined to carry my plans out Things are a total mess I fear Because God's voice I did not hear In fact, did not consult him first  So things have gone from bad to worse Seems plans weren't perfect after all For did not heed the Spirit's call To seek God's wisdom at the start And learn to play subordinate part Instead, I thought that I knew better Though followed my plans to the letter They were not destined to succeed 'Cause didn't let God take the lead So, now I find I must regroup And always keep God in the loop Not simply on periphery  But front and center, as should...

  Hardest Forgiveness  Why is this easier to do Extending forgiveness to you More willing to let you save face By providing mercy and grace Somehow, it is a heavier lift Extending myself the same gift My own transgressions, can't forgive And so with shamefulness, I live I know that God's forgiven me For I've repented honestly To have forgiveness - greatest wealth Yet, why can't I forgive myself Though, in my head I know I should And true forgiveness feels so good  Mistakes, I'm sure, are how to learn Yet, why do mine forever burn The need for penance is so strong That I can't let go when I'm wrong The driving need to make amends  Not once, but over and again Yet, I forgive others their vice With hardly even thinking twice In fact, I'm the forgiving kind But, find it hard to forgive mine If unforgiveness' where I stand I'm sure it's at the devil's hand He comes to lie, destroy, and kill All unforgiveness fits the bill My confidence and pea...

  It Ought to Be Easy  It ought to be easy, so why is it hard Allowing my Savior to play all my cards  For if I am honest, he holds every one Then why do I always keep taking back some It ought to be easy to give God the reins Yet, why then do I find I grab them again For he's so much better at steering the way While too often, I find life's led me astray It ought to be easy to witness for Christ It's something I should do without thinking twice For he's done such great things that others should know  But sharing, that's often a place I don't go It ought to be easy to speak to the Father But, if it's 'bout small things, perhaps I don't bother  Yet, when troubles are huge and I kneel down to pray  It's sometimes so hard to know what I should say It ought to be easy to swallow my pride And share my mistakes, for there's nowhere to hide And my Father forgives them before they are said That's a thing my heart knows, but it's hard for my h...

  Competition  To be the best might be one's mission Seems much in life is competition  We even label it "rat race" And strive to be one in first place Why, even talk's a competition  When others speak, we halfway listen Instead, wait till they take a breath  So we can do the talking next For, when we hear their story's done We'll want to tell our better one  Diminishing the words they say To build ourselves up in some way It's not enough to be best self But better than everyone else Not just climb ladder of success But get there faster than the rest To have God's love, Satan will lie Just best and brightest need apply If any way you've fallen short Well, God can't love that type or sort On surface, competition's good Yet, could that be Satan's falsehood Jealousy caused competition with the Lord His downfall became his reward At heart of sibling rivalry  Do parents love you more than me? Can happen to all Cains and Abels Competition tri...

  Pause If I could hit the pause button  And put my life on hold If frantic pace of all my days Could somehow be controlled  I'd have the chance to catch my breath  Enjoy the day I'm in Instead of rushing through so fast It causes head to spin If I could pause my worried mind So I could get some sleep Or take each thought one at a time Not bunched up in a heap Then I could work each worry out With calm, measured reflection  Instead, my thoughts dart all about In every which direction  If I could pause passage of time So kids won't grow so fast  Or cling to lovely moments So the joy of them would last I'd savor every minute  Cherish each within my heart Yet, I can't make all time suspend As moments quickly depart  No, I can't pause my life or time With shear force of my will But with God's help, can pause my mind And learn to just be still Then, as my mind grows quieter My gratitude grows, too For time; the very gift of life Isn't meant for ru...

  Closer to God Tell me, dear God, what I must do So I can feel closer to you Should I read scriptures faithfully Or spend more time on bended knee Perhaps I would feel you more near If Christian music's all I hear Or if I spent more time in church Then maybe that would end my search All those are things worthy to do And can help me get close to you Yet sometimes when I'm in despair  Can't seem to find you anywhere  Your word says that you walk with me But often wonder, can that be For when I feel closeness I lack  I'm not sure how to get it back Dear Lord, you know I love you dearly So, can you help me see you clearly What I'm missing; what I must do For I know you want closeness too Wait, Lord, it's right in front of me Yet I have been too blind to see I could not get closer to you If neither heart nor mind were true For, I could sit in church all day Rotely repeating words to say Or sing the hymns without a thought The lyric's meaning, all for naught  Or ...

  The Road You Travel Every life's a journey  Each one travels their own road Sometimes, the trek is one of ease Other times, carry a load May feel like endless traffic jam Frustrating and slow going  Causing drivers to lose their cool And car horns to start blowing While other times, the open road Extends for miles and miles The journey's such a pleasant one Brings laughter and huge smiles Some roads are clearly marked; well paved Makes travel on them smooth While others, in need of repair Are rutted, bumpy, grooved Some roads are downright dangerous  Leading to nowhere good 'Tis wise to read the warning signs And avoid them if you could No matter how you're traveling  Alone or with a friend  At times, your path is clearly marked Sometimes, hit a dead-end  Though you can't always choose your road Or your traveling partners, too Your attitude while traveling  Is entirely up to you Can sing along with radio While waiting traffic out Or, though it w...

  Start Anew Frustrated? Don't know what to do? Ask God to help you start anew Seems trouble sticks to you like glue? Stick close to God; he'll see you through Anxiety's gotten hold of you? Take a deep breath; begin anew  Sadness has got you feeling blue? With God, you'll feel a better hue Sinned against God a time or two? Ask his forgiveness; start anew  Negativity's obscured your view? With God, your outlook can be new Someone you love has been untrue? God's comfort helps you start anew Your mortgage payment's overdue? Trust God to keep roof over you Been praying hard for a breakthrough? Hang on till you sing hallelu- Been far too long since sat in pew? It's not too late to come back to Though ran from God, he'll still pursue Return to him; begin anew No matter what you say or do  The Father always cares for you Your sinful nature, he'll subdue You only have to ask him to His endless love, don't miss construe He sacrificed his Son for you I...

  The Past I've tried to make peace with the past But somehow, it won't ever last Attempted to leave it behind Instead, my thoughts simply rewind Reliving what has come before Till I'm dwelling there more and more I know the past's no place for me Despite best efforts, can't break free Remind myself,  live for today Yet, still look backward anyway Forgetting,  whether good or bad Past's only a thing I once had I know when I look to the past Some parts seen through rose-colored glass Lovely perfection, like sweet dreams Yet, past's not always as it seems While other parts that fill my head Bring sadness or regret instead The warning signs I didn't heed Or past wounds that somehow still bleed Reliving happy memories  Is certainly alright with me But mostly, that's not what I do Rehash the bad things I've been through  Perhaps it's a forgiveness thing Hurts and mistakes of which I cling Until they're something I release The past will never g...

  A Dream I dreamt 'fore I woke up today All hate and anger went away  Self-centeredness was left behind  And everyone was sweet and kind  I dreamt that the whole human race Showed only mercy, love, and grace Peace, harmony throughout all lands No longer needed ten commands I dreamt that people hurt no more That every illness had a cure All jealousy and want were gone True paradise arrived with dawn Alas, I awakened to see My dream was not reality  For the whole world was broken still People still fought; people got ill But, oh, t'was such a pleasant dream That vanished with day's first sunbeam Though in dream state appeared quite real Yet, while awake, lost no appeal I think Creator had same dream Yet, Satan hatched an evil scheme Thus, what was lovely, good, and fair Turned into mankind's worst nightmare  And though devil tore world apart Could not change longing of man's heart That broken world, God could redeem As so much more than a pipe dream Indeed, ...

  God Feels There are oh so many feelings  In this life we all walk through  Feelings of joy, also despair Fear, anger, but love too The circumstances of our lives Put feelings on display  But we can find great comfort  Knowing Christ did feel same way For he was fully human So he fully felt as we And so whatever we go through  Savior has empathy  The awesome truth of knowing  this Is hard to comprehend  That Christ stepped from his majesty  To come and live with men To feel each human feeling But to do so without sin To master all emotions Yet, to feel each one within