COCOONED

Wrapped around in a silken sheath,
I lie hidden in the darkness beneath.
Are these the coils of grave and death,
Or bindings that portend a freeing rebirth?

Bathed in the sunshine flooding the air,
I used to bask in the light without a care.
Why didn’t I know about this silent stage,
Or warned of this inevitable slowing of pace?

Here I now sit clueless and confused,
Not knowing why I am confined and bruised.
To what end this dismantling of past growth,
Or the rearrangement of my parts without any oath?

Yet I sense a stirring of new life within me,
A quietening influence that comforts me.
A voice that whispers softly the key,
“Don’t resist just submit to the new decree”!

So I wait in stillness for that quiet call,
To come forth and be free, once and for all.
I shall surmount heights I’ve never scaled,
With wings of strength and beauty unveiled!

© SABINA TAGORE IMMANUEL

*A painted lady chrysalis. Photo by Deanster1983 via Flickr

*http://www.laspilitas.com/images/grid24_24/6855/butterfliesButterflies_and_Moths/American_Painted_lady/painted_lady_butterfly.jpg

INTREATING INCENSE

Pray without ceasing,
As its the breath of godly life.
Pray without relenting,
Until you cross to the afterlife!

Pray that we may be daily transformed,
For to His image we must be conformed.
Pray that His Body may grow and expand,
Until we mature as God’s holy band!

Pray that you may ever be set free ,
From words that limit your destiny.
Pray that you may be wholly healed,
From things that disturb your equanimity!

Pray to be delivered from the hand of the enemy,
So that you may live in peaceful safety.
Pray to be forgiven of your sin and felony,
So that the nation may enjoy quiet prosperity!

Pray for it only depends on the One its addressed to,
He won’t mind how awkward or feeble it comes through!
Pray for the Holy Spirit empowers you,
You make a big difference when you do so!

*Poem inspired by Sunday sermon at NLAG, India

*Photos courtesy https://unsplash.com/search/photos/prayer

© SABINA TAGORE IMMANUEL

I MARRIED YOU

Living together with another you can’t live without,
Butterflies in the stomach is not what it’s all about!
It’s not even about being treated like royalty,
For that’s such an unsustainable reality!

It’s not about looking good or pretty enough,
It’s not about fetch and carry or doing other stuff!
It’s not about agreeing or not fighting,
It’s all about of who you are thinking!

Love is not just an emotion or even a motivation,
Love is not just an option or even a reciprocation!
Love is actually the choice of going beyond oneself,
Love is being in the image of God Himself!

Love is what makes the world go round,
Loves is what keeps us coming again and around!
Love transforms the mundane and the normal,
Love moves the natural to the supernatural!

                                                                           © SABINA TAGORE IMMANUEL

*Photo courtesy Lotte Meijer on Unsplash

BEAUTY AND BEST

Shorn off your glory,
You still stand tall,
Bearing in your basic berry
New life for self and for all!

Your beauty may wither and fade,
Your covering may shrivel and decay,
Your worth remains but unchanged,
For your hips hold within a potent seed!Beauty without depth has no claim,
Of power to impact beyond the grave.
Charm without content is no gain,
If it sustains for only immediate fame!Nature in many forms shows the way,
Of what is key beneath the display.
Rosy allure is not for dominating sway,
But for sustaining life & transcending the day!

LIGHT-CENTERED

Shobha, look, beautiful it is!
Yeah Sulekha! There’s a sense of homecoming and peace that’s almost visible!
Don’t forget the light! It sort of draws attention with its brilliance!
Of course! Reminds me of two things.
What two things?
Newman’s words that became a favorite comforting hymn. Guess it?
Of course. Lead Kindly Light!
Yes and the other is Portia’s speech in Merchant of Venice.
The quality of mercy discourse?
Nope, the one about a candle when she returns home.
Hmmm , I remember it! She compares the light of candle and that of the moon!
Right. I never forgot it!

*In 1833, the young theologian and Anglican vicar John Henry Newman (1801-90) was traveling in the Mediterranean when he was struck down by a fever that nearly killed him. ‘My servant thought I was dying and begged for my last directions,’ he recalled in his autobiography. ‘I gave them as he wished, but I said, “I shall not die, for I have not sinned against light.”‘ Newman recovered slowly, but felt desperately homesick. On the way back to England, he took an orange boat from Palermo to Marseilles which was becalmed in the Straits of Bonifacio. Thus stranded, in an exhausted and emotional state, Newman was impelled to write this verse as a meditative poem called ‘The Pillar of the Cloud’, expressive of his longing for consoling Christian certainties in an age of mounting doubt.

*PORTIA: That light we see is burning in my hall.
How far that little candle throws his beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
NERISSA: When the moon shone, we did not see the candle.
PORTIA: So doth the greater glory dim the less:
A substitute shines brightly as a king
Until a king be by, and then his state
Empties itself, as doth an inland brook
Into the main of waters. Music! hark! (MERCHANT OF VENICE ACT 5 SCENE 1)

*Friday Fictioneers is talented group of enthusiasts penning down a story, a poem, a prose, etc., expressing their heart about a photo prompt, every week. Thanks for this week’s photo prompt ©Dale Rogerson

MILITANT ROSE

Shenbaga, praying with tears? What happened?

Roja’s husband Rishi has been kidnapped by militants?

Oh no! Why? He is only an Engineer!

He was sent to intercept military communications and so is a viable target for prisoner exchange!

Roja was so happy to be in the most beautiful place!

Her life was finally blooming in that paradise of love!

It’s her honeymoon period still! How is she coping alone there?

She is running from pillar to post to get him released.

I have great faith in her. She is feisty!

Everyone, militant or not, will find her a thorny deal!

*The valley of Kashmir, called the crown jewel of India, has become a hotbed of militant diplomacy.  A honeymoon paradise, one of the famed tourist attractions of India just like the Taj Mahal, it is being torn apart, literally and figuratively!

A film (originally shot in the South Indian language of Tamil and later dubbed in other regional languages) called Roja (meaning Rose) encapsulates the struggle going on in that place with the story of a young couple posted there for work. The film became famous as a first for many things. I would encourage you to please follow my link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roja or watch the movie with subtitles or just google it! Click on the second image to get the storyline!

 Please do look up details of the Kashmir valley too.It would be an eye-opener! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir.

*The photo prompt reminded me of this beautiful place and the movie!

*Friday Fictioneers is talented group of enthusiasts penning down a story, a poem, a prose, etc., expressing their heart about a photo prompt, every week. Thanks for this week’s photo prompt © JS Brand

 

 

 

COMMUNION COMMUNICATION

We gather together at His table,
As often as we can or are able.
On the first and the fifteenth,
Once or twice every month!

We gather together as a community,
To commemorate Him as one family,
We partake in a simple communion,
To celebrate Him in a holy union!

We gather together to REMEMBER,
His death and His resurrection,
That made us each a member,
Of His Body by His wonderful affection!

We gather together to solemnly REPENT,
Of evil ways and wrong intent,
We constantly need to reorient,
To Him one hundred percent!

We gather together to RECOMMIT,
Our lives in humble surrender,
To live according to His holy writ,
And to honor His saving splendor!

We gather together to RECONCILE,
With one another and not be juvenile,
We need to just forgive one another,
For we belong to the same Father!

We gather together to RENEW,
Our covenant with Him anew,
He will give us a needed breakthrough,
When we always keep this in view!

We gather together once again,
Around His table time and again,
He will REFRESH us with His gentle rain,
Until He comes to rule and reign!

(Inspired to write this as Ps Ben⁩ read I Cor 11 & prayed for communion in 4th service of NLAG Church, Chennai, S.India!)

SABINA TAGORE IMMANUEL

©NLAG, Chennai, S.India