Bloom Where You've Been Planted!

How easy would it be to just cast everything off and run away!
One doesn't need to live this way of hardness and sacrifice, after all.
But, a proverb reminds me to stay on and bloom where I'm planted,
But, I question, if it's worth it all, after all.

Lord, I've been too cautious about every step I've taken;
Yet, haven't I failed many times in thought and in choice?
Still, waiting for some answer, I feel so forsaken,
While in some maze, it seems, my prudence is lost.

I wait for the audible, I wait for clear direction,
I wait for the miracle, I wait for some conviction;
Yet, none do appear, I'm left to my confusion!
Still, Your unfailing presence does guide me through this all.

The flower winds upwards through sunshine and rain,
It blooms where it's planted, be it mountain or vale.
O worry, you're over, your fears are all vain;
The unnoticed flower to blossom never fails,
It never fails, after all!

© Domenic Marbaniang, August 2010.

Peace - A Poem

The copters up grinned as down dropped the bombs -
"How easily have we humanity erased!"
"No, it's not we but they who pilot us
That have first erased humanness from their own hearts!"

The copters bladed away as bullets ripped the air -
"Metal kills metal as men kill men!"
"No, metal is lifeless, men are alive;
Only metal kills men and metal alike!"

"So, these men are as us without mercy or shame,
What made them so lifeless, what power what name?"

"Fear, anger, hatred, and doubt
Are the negatives that deaden their hearts."

A little girl below (running with her brother in arms):
"Cry not, my brother, my little dear doll,
The copters will go away and with it all noise!"
"I want my mother, I can't see her around!"
"She is now in heaven, and sees us here down."

The girl cries...
"O mother, O mother, we're left all alone,
We're left with no mother, we're left with no home!"

The copters returned with more anger and ire,
They poured all their fury in brimstone and fire.

The girl ran for shelter with the toddler in arms,
The bombers rattled after unaware of this all -
For, as the smoke and the dust rose into the sky
The eyes of truth were curtained.

The next morning, a Priest wails:
"Why God, my Master, did You all this allow?
O terrors of darkness, what else you seek now?"

GOD answers:
"This history is yours. It's you who'll write
The story of man devoid of His God."

"The story is sad... it's still You who allowed -
the guillotines, the gas chambers, the fiery clouds!"

"If it was I who should have governed the earth,
Then why create man to have dominion on earth?
These are your inventions, your wisdom, your resolves
That drive these divisions, that compel these discords.
It's you who for religion hate each other and all
And become more repulsive in the eyes of God.
It's you who for your mission of justice for all
Give in to the religion of violence and harm.
It's you who for riches of this fleeting world
Have exploited your brothers, your own flesh and blood.
And, shall I not requite this faithlessness of you all
Who abused your power while stewards in My house?
I'll return your violence into your bossom,
Your withdrawal of justice, of mercy and compassion.
For, the end of all things will surely come,
Men shall be judged for all they've done.
For, what could be rewarded unless it were done;
But, you've chosen hatred and love you've shunned.
O, turn now from evil, turn now from shame!
Turn from judging each other by some name!
For your hearts are fashioned all alike,
But, evil is a venomous viper that strikes;
So, beware and make amends, make peace with all first,
Cease from all violence, from treachery and lust.
Then, shall righteousness spring forth from the ground
And bless you with assurance of glory from above."

The little girl comes in between...
"God, I see Your answer is so true and so wise;
But, we've lost our mother, we've lost all we had!"

GOD answers:
"You've lost not your heart, my daughter,
You've lost not your child-like faith.
One day and sooner after,
The world will get a bold shape.
Then, you shall reign in glory
Over princes, rich and strong,
And they who are now stronger
Will then be proved wrong.
Keep this heart of yours as innocent
As I've made it with my heart;
I'll return to give you justice,
I'll come back with my reward."

Then, GOD vanished into thin air;
And, the copters bladed through the air again.

© Domenic Marbaniang, 2010.

To the Ground My Face

I wept and cried, but still I failed,
'Cos all the while my heart was still veiled;
I sobbed, I shuddered, I wriggled in anguish;
Yet, all the while my self didn't relinquish.
And, as with words and thoughts the pulpit mounted I,
My 'I' did mount tho' so humble felt I.
If but a prick would have touched my skin,
The ire would've oozed out with ounces of sin.
Yet, in Your deep mercies You've chastened my soul,
You took me through failures to make me whole.
I may, yet, fail a number of times, but this assurance I've forever,
That Your mercies from me shall depart never.
Lord, forgive Your child, cover me with grace.
Unworthy I shall be to ever see Your face.
These days will pass, one day You'll return,
The elements will melt, the universe will burn.
Then, these shadows of falsehood shall dissolve in Your Sun,
Eyes shall see Your Glory and wail at Your return.
For, what is man, this particle of dust,
A mask of vanity, a vagabond on earth!
I cover my eyes, I cover my face,
Oh Lord, my Savior, I can only live by Your grace.
I fall before You, Master: to the ground my face!

Domenic Marbaniang, August 2010.