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P忙an of Joy

Last semester I submitted a few of my poems for a poetry contest here at the university, and recently I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of them had won third place. I posted it here shortly after it was written in 2007, but here I will repost it in case you didn’t read it then or if you would like to read it again.

What a wonderful day!
As I walked through the woods,
As I noticed where deer had late lain.
And I whistled a tune that nobody鈥檚 heard
And that no one will hear again.

On grass and on stone
Did my light footsteps tread,
As I marched through the rugged terrain.
And I whistled a tune that nobody鈥檚 heard
And that no one will hear again.

The mockingbird sang
(Oh that plagiarist bird!),
Sang the notes of my new-found refrain,
As I whistled a tune that nobody鈥檚 heard
And that no one will hear again.

With the gay sunshine bright
And the flower鈥檚 fair face,
My joy I could hardly contain,
As I whistled the tune that nobody鈥檚 heard
And that no one will hear again.

Then the southern wind blew,
And with fingers so light
Deftly caught up the notes of my strain,
While I whistled the tune that nobody鈥檚 heard
And that no one will hear again.

Though that tune is now gone,
And the notes in my head
Have since flown and no longer remain,
I was whistling for joy, and so therefore, I think
That my music was not made in vain.

The Work of the Maker

As from afar I gaze upon
The forest’s beauty, and then beyond,
With eyes of awe I soon can see
The leaves and boughs of every tree.

A close inspection now is meet,
So I, now stooping, near my feet
Behold the vein茅d grass’s leaves
And tiny ants as small as fleas.

I hear a rustling in the grass–
And see a shining beetle pass.
What wondrous things I see and hear:
A bird’s song falling to my ear.

Though some may scoff and others laugh
And deem our pious faith but chaff,
Here is the answer all have sought:
What wondrous things that God hath wrought!

Nature’s splendor thrills me so,
To see the nimble spider go,
To watch the vulture in the breeze;
There is design behind all these.
And that ’tis true, I surely know
For God in His Word tells me so.