Lifes Growing Joy Poem Within a Poem

*** Life’s Growing Joy Poem Within a Poem *** My 70’s may be the decade For reaching my pathway’s Ends and Epiphanies: a service of ‘Lessons and Pains’ — To help my growing…. For example, Truths that I heard repeatedly, I now believe well enough to take My spirit from Dreams to Actuality — metaphorically then — — I lean into the sky as a noteworthy Gnarly Tree… Also a lesson such as, ‘God lives within us,’ although It’s hard for me to understand why Our Holy God opts To be threading through these rickety, — These creaking and oddly angling limbs…. Plus, like so many of the eternal, quite externally-wrought necesities Are thought to bring to us every happiness: from wealth or friends; Or, all the sweet, easy hours of comfort soaking in starlight and sun, — Ignoring the wildly waving grass underneath… The knowing of happines raises its cherished supports not from beyond, But from within hearts treasuring freedom and wonder, Focussed on what is Other — in those moments when ego’s set aside — — While divinely coaxed roots of Joy, grow deeper, longer Through time, betwixt Heaven and Earth to blessedly radiate and thrive… —————————————————————————————————————- (c) 6/22/2023 sally young eslinger Thanks be to God— * (In the Episcopal Church, just before Christmas, there is a service called “Lessons and Carols,” telling the story of the birth of Christ. ** Please note! This could be considered an “Experimental” Poem, because, in a 2nd read, following the dashes, there IS to be found a poem-within-a-poem. Hope you enjoyed them both! Hugs & blessings, sally