I look at cheering children waving wildly
Time stands still, then turns tidily to past periods
Pleasing tunes fill my ears, pure feelings fly through from the within
The world when I was an avid dreamer, innocent, impressionable
The field in which I played peacefully, rowdily rocking, running kid
Days of sunlight, brightness, breezy stillness, joy overwhelming
Nothing dampened by life’s weary shades, all shaded by trust
Belief simple, straightforward conception, uninjured heart
Today I remember, and think of bygone beauty, lost love
Evaporated essence

This is the era of energetic grinding to a halt
Battles to brew bragging rights, treks to thrive, to survive
Glass paned building of dizzying highs, might, defiant, arrogant
Flawed floured thatched shacks and shanties, lowly, must avoid
Pursue purpose packed and stacked as material, as showforms
Edibles and raised shoulders and pumped out chests, plus yachts
If need be
They were there, some needed, when I was younger
But now, no longer childish or simple, I am complex and compelled
Completely taken by sharper focus upon the world’s wants and wannabes
I had stage frights for fearful eyes
I have stage frights for finished ego
It was once nature’s patterns that intrigued me
Its now ultimate questions that jolt my conscience
I am rich, yet paupered
Because counting coins may picture greed, not humble learning
The sweetness is gone with innocence
I now smile wickedly, but detest that look on my face

I want the life back
All of the great adventures a carefree child undertakes
All of that freedom to fly further afield, fearlessly too
All of the nice smells from Christmas packages and dishes to savour
All of the looking forward to my loving Father’s return
I know He’ll bring me gifts I’ll delightfully devour, experience
He’s sure to take me up from my standing point
To raise me up from the rough patch of present wrinkles
To toss me into sky high joy, in jubilance for our victory
And place me on His shoulders, where true rest always will be.

Jesus, son of David, thou art Messiah, exemplar ultimate
Thine hands hath borne my iniquities, thrust them aside, made them as waste
There at Gehenna, where I should, barring this, rot eternally
Save that you saw it as sufficing, to raise my face from mud-slung past preoccupation
Jesus, son of the Most High, now I have hope
I have a life, one which cannot be destroyed
Jesus, my hope is you, my mind doest thread steady beats, silent, soft, longing
For thy presence is like the curdling hand of a million safe hands upon one single soul
Upon one otherwise bereft, struck fella
Jesus, Light, Grace, Life, my joy is that thou art near

Hear now, dear friend, my faintest heart’s greatest plea here present
The way you have shown, but more saviours proclaim themselves now
They say they hear you, louder than my ears could even pretend
They paint portraits striking, yet diverse and different
Yes, I see the way, but the waves follow in swift pursuit
Yes, I see the brightness showing forth, shading away darkness
But in response, dear Lord, darkness hath now taken course in shades varying
To confuse, to disrupt, to set ablaze fires strange to quench my fiery desire
My once burning thirst for your un-refashioned person
Now, my head is turned by chandelier glows several and once
By beeps and blares and roars
By fighting over what constitutes ideal life
The crowd moves with fury, to fatal end
But the groups, though small, fare none the better
I must choose, dear Lord, but the choosing is not the hard part
The choice is, the ordeal which bends my conscience to breaking point
They are, in apparition convincing, but they are, to clear gaze, deathly
None gives life, none is yours, none adores you in truth
God, my Life, the noise of the world keeps me in fear of living thus
So now, do mercifully quell it to silence
Or lead me to quiet streams, where the living waters flow without end
The pandemonium rages, but farther away from it, do take me now
The peace great and dearly craved for is ahead
Do guide me hither, to you.