A New Gift

A New Gift
By Larry R. Linville

I recently opened a great gift.
Opened at a most surprising time.
Was I to celebrate it and jump for joy
Or would it last for vanish quickly
And break
Like so many of the favorite gifts in my life?
This gift gave a self-expression
To put down in words
The deepest feelings
That resided in my heart.
Prose has been my most trusty tool
As I have birthed sermons for many long years.
Poetry was just a game for rare fun
And usually began with “Roses are red.”
I’ve tried
Yes, the Lord knows I’ve tried
To find the right words
To get from the depth of my innermost parts
An expression that could say what a sermon never could.
When I look to past writings
I now see a slight hint
That the talent was there all along.
But it took this new gift
To open it up and let it flow.
I no longer sit down with a plain paper sheet
And make myself labor for words.
After opening this gift
I find that the words are there
Calling me to find the page
On which they will take final residence.
From my heart to my head
A picture takes flight
And appears in my minds eye
And forms itself upon the page
As I, filled with awe,
Watch to see what God has done
Through me.
May each of us,
Whether poet or not,
Open the gift that God gives
And allow God to reach out to the world
By the way God helps us to live.

© Copyright 2007 Larry Linville (UN: larrylinville at Writing.Com).
All rights reserved. Larry Linville has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work.