Incremental Poetry ~ 29 Lines

The Charge

Things are not as simple as they seem—
dreams are real, and life is but a mist.
Twist the strands to make them stronger still.
Fill the hours with minutes that can last
past the edge of time, where life grows dim.
Nimbly walk beside your dearest friend.
Send a rose to one who knows no love;
glove the hand, protect it from the thorn.
scorn the ridicule of simple fools;
tools they are within the Master’s hand.
Stand upon the solid rock of truth;
ruthless winds will beat to no avail.
Sail the sea with courage and with strength.
Lengthen mercy; cut your anger short.
Mortify the pride that hides within;
in humility put down desire.
Fire can only separate the dross;
loss is nothing when you’ve much to gain;
pain is brief and culminates in joy.
Buoyant will you be when freed from guilt,
built up in the knowledge of the Son,
one with God and man—true unity,
free to walk unhindered in the light.
Night, though dark, no more induces fear;
cheer the hearts of others with your song.
Long for heaven when your race is done.
One by one, keep reaching out to touch
such as need your love to soothe their stings—
things are not as simple as they seem.

Copyright © 2019 Abigail Gronway – All Rights Reserved

Welcome to my series, Incremental Poetry, where each week the featured poem will be one line longer than the one I share the week before. I have no idea how long I’ll keep this up, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Thank you for stopping by.

Scansion:
Blind Rhyme/Hidden Rhyme
This is an exercise verse, sometimes used in poetry workshops and classrooms, in which the end word of each line rhymes internally early within the next line.
This form is suited to light verse, although I did not use it in such a way in this instance.
It is structured at the discretion of the poet.
The end word of the last line should rhyme with either the first or last word of L1.
I opted to repeat the entire first line as the last line.