Poetry Explication: The Joins by Chana Bloch

 Poetry Explication: The Joins by Chana Bloch

First read this Poem.


For those of you who didn’t click on the link, now I’m going to have to insist that you CLICK THE LINK!! Seriously!

Now for added measure I’m going to put the poem here for you to read, just in case you didn’t already….

The Joins

Kintsugi is the Japanese art of mending precious pottery with gold.
What’s between us
often seems flexible as the webbing
between forefinger and thumb.
Seems flexible, but it’s not;
what’s between us
is made of clay,
like any cup on the shelf.
It shatters easily. Repair
becomes the task.
We glue the wounded edges
with tentative fingers.
Scar tissue is visible history,
the cup more precious to us
because
we saved it.
In the art of kintsugi,
a potter repairing a broken cup
would sprinkle the resin
with powdered gold.
Sometimes the joins
are so exquisite
they say the potter
may have broken the cup
just so he could mend it.

CHANA BLOCH

Now here’s what I have to say about this poem. It’s magnificent. I really love especially the last stanza.
As I was reading this I had a kind of ephiphany. God can do this in our lives. Sometimes He breaks apart what we consider to be a really good thing so that He can work on it or so that we can work on it. But later He may bring it back together into something much more beautiful than we could have ever imagined.
As stated in Ecclesiastes, there is a time for everything.

1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2 a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

6 a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace

(You can preview the rest of the passage here.)
Even a time for mending what has been broken. Who knows, maybe it will end up better than you ever thought.

Held, By TreAnna B.

Held
By TreAnna B.

I feel the crushing weight
of life slowly leeching
away my light. The light
You gave me to shine—
burning so brightly.

Extinguished.

What good can I possibly do? I’m
only one. I’m only a girl. I don’t hold
the knowledge of those twice my age...

Yet I am held.

Doubt weighs me down. What
do you want me to do? I can’t...
I’m not...
worthy?
Smart?
Beautiful?
I don’t possess these attributes.
At least...I don’t...think...

Yet I am held.

Temptations. Sparkling bits of sin
that draw me closer, closer, closer,
TRAPPED!
I can’t find my way out, I don’t
want to find my way out...

Yet I am held.

Held so tightly, tenderly
in hands scarred by my own
transgressions. Hands
that can bring back the light.

Hands that can crush the doubt.

Hands that can free me from temptations.

I am held.

My Sacrificial Understanding

My Sacrificial Understanding

By TreAnna B.

Page after page filled with blood
Spilled by my own reckless hands
But not my hands.

The hero takes the bullet
Saving his love from death
Even at the cost of his
Life.

The hero takes the beating
Even though it wasn't his to take.
He revels in each new agony
For it proves his worth.

Hour after hour of searching, questing,
Demanding an answer.
Finding none.

Prince turned pauper, saint turned sinner
Undeserving of his fate but he accepts it.
Death is a small price to pay but
Why does he pay it?

Tired yet relentless,
The pages grow as the stories multiply
No longer do I seek of my own volition.
Every new story displays my favorite theme.

My heart spilled onto each page
wanting so desperately to understand--
We write to understand.
Why can't I?

Alone, I Will Fight, TreAnna B.

Alone, I Will Fight

By TreAnna B.

Every brick and every stone
Has been cast aside
Making a new society
Filled with hate, greed, envy

The world we made will come undone
The mortar will crumble
As the guise is stripped away
Revealing the gilded trap beneath
The corruption at the core of our society

I can't feel You here with me
Our world has rejected You
Disowned You
Forgotten You

In my sleep I call your name
But you don't answer
My calls are in vain

When I wake I need to touch Your face
Draw closer to You remember 
This world is only a temporary measure
There is more there is hope

I need to feel You here with me
Breathe You in
My silent reminder
My only strength

I will burn for You
Alone
The only one who still believes
I will fight

With fire and fury
I will never give up

Authors comments:
In our world today, too many of us know or know of camouflaged Christians--the ones who go to church and look like they're living the Christian lifestyle when in reality they aren't. As a general statement, that's much the same with our society. We believe in worshiping our idols before looking to God. Just as the poem states we have forgotten God, cast Him aside. This poem is based off of the Bible verse "If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." As well as the song Fire and Fury by Skillet. (You may notice that each of the stanzas begins with a line from the song...that's a type of poem...)

Very First Christmas, TreAnna B.

Very First Christmas

By TreAnna B.

Sparkling icicles hang in a row 

The landscape is covered with pure white snow 

Delicate flakes still fall from the sky 

Reminding us all that Christmas is nigh

Decorations, parties, presents, and bows 

I sigh as I watch how our Christmas tree glows 

This is all beautiful, enchantment galore 

But I just keep wondering isn't there more?

I feel as if I'm missing a piece of the puzzle 

Christmas should be more than eggnog to guzzle 

Isn't there a story told every year 

That shows us the meaning of Christmas so clear

An infant born in the soft sweet hay 

Because every inn turned His parents away 

This was the birth and the very first year 

The reason behind all this holiday cheer

A star hung so brightly that night in the sky 

For three wise men to find the Christ child by 

Angels sang sweetly in the sky up above 

Telling the shepherds of God's great love

Animals gathered around Him as well 

For even they knew of the story to tell 

On this night of all nights, gathered round in the hay 

No one knew of the great price he would pay