Tag: poem

Springtime

James HoganLeave a comment

As I soak in the sunlight
and gaze at the
cloud-speckled blue above,
As I look out over the city
and ponder the
great sea stretched
to sky beyond,
As my green pen traverses
the paper and uncorks
my thoughts to
the wind,
As my hair tosses slowly
and revels in spring’s
gentle kiss,
As my heart is still
in the quiet of
this moment,
I feel bliss,
I feel joy,
I am loved.

Very rough yet very real. Enjoy for what it is.

Oh what a gorgeous day this is!

Now time to walk again in the light of this fading day.

Swallowed in the sea

James HoganLeave a comment

Well, I *was* going to go to bed freakishly early tonight(say, around 9pm!!), but as happens many a night, I got distracted by a good book. Oops. I really should keep the books further from my bed.

Anyways, reading in “The Glory of Christ” by John Owen…and I got to say, as much of a struggle it sometimes is to wade through his gorgeously intricate paragraphs, it’s so worth it. Any of you that own this(hey, I can’t be the only one!) needs to read the last few pages of Chapter 10…amazingly beautiful. I don’t quote from books often here, but…

The due remembrance of what the blessed Lord Jesus hath done for us, of the ineffable love which was the spring, cause and fountain of what he so did – thoughts of the mercy, grace, peace and glory which he hath procured thereby – are the great and unconquerable motives to fix our faith, hope, trust and confidence in him.

His divine nature is the ground and warranty for our so doing. This is that from whence he is the due and proper object of all divine faith and worship. From the power and virtue thereof do we expect and receive all those things which in our believing on him we seek after; for none but God can bestow them on us, or work them in us. There is in all the actings of our faith on him, the voice of the confession of Thomas, “My Lord and my God.”

Oh lovely.

And I could go on quoting..but I shall refrain. For now!

Oh but… just thinking about another one of my favs…

In this is love, not that we loved God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.

And from this amazing truth does our love spring!

Adrift in raging seas
and lost in the maelstrom of silence
and seized in the chains of the poets
and drowning in rainbows.

Drowning yet grasping and
gasping and hoping and
praying and trying and
living yet dying.

Until there came a light,
the light that was a man
the man that was a lord
Our Lord and our God!

So no longer do we writhe,
and no longer do we write,
but still, but still, we sigh
in love, for love, divine.

Have a most glorious night, y’all!!

Speaking foreign language..

James HoganLeave a comment

Starbucks time, yo!

Yep, it’s a Saturday morning here and I’m rocking out in Starbucks…catching up on some reading(just finished reading Joshua…awesome book. “…but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”), enjoying my peppermint mocha and doughnut(that I bought as I was walking down George St. – SO GOOD), catching up on some emails and now relaxing here in the soft light of the Starbucks basement(and yes, this is ok because it’s rainy outside, so not really that nice to be out today)…

I always find it interesting looking around at all the other people here in Starbucks(hmmm, hopefully this doesn’t make me too much of a creeper?)…out of the ten other people in the room here, three are on laptops like me and the rest are enjoying their friends. One guy over in the corner also has his white earbuds in as he’s pondering whatever’s on his computer…a blonde girl is sipping what looks like a latte as the light from her Mac shines on her face and she flexes her fingers..another girl in a rad black and gold headband is chewing away on something as she taps on her Toshiba…and then there’s me, a random bearded fellow in his brown San-Fran shirt, tapping furiously on his Vaio as he attempts to chronicle his morning… The rest of the people in the room are happily(or so I imagine) talking to each other, but I can’t really hear them as I’m currently also listening to music(Nightwish – “End of All Hope”) for writing muse purposes.

Alright, enough randomness for you yet?? I’m honestly not sure why I started this entry…not a lot has gone on since I last wrote here(what – yesterday?), but I figure I’m in Starbucks and in a writing mood….so now is as good a time as any.

And I’m now writing this almost an hour later from the previous paragraph…just got done writing some emails and messages to people whom I haven’t seen in far too long…it’s almost depressing how long it’s been since I’ve seen some friends. To think that almost two years has gone by since I’ve seen some dear friends…yeah. Trying not to think about that! Moving off that topic…apparently I’ve scared most of the people here at Starbucks away, as there’s only four people left besides me! A few people talking at a table…but two of the laptop people are still here, too! White Earbud Guy moved tables(I don’t really know why?) to where Blonde Mac Girl was sitting(she’s long gone)…and Rad Headband Girl is still in her corner across from me, intently staring into her screen.

And I think this update must be the longest one I’ve ever written with so little actual content. My apologies!! (Well sort of. Writing about random people at Starbucks is surprisingly fun.)

On a cloud-laced sun blessed morning,
taking the path less trod than most,
relishing once more wind’s caress,
slaying once more grim nighttime’s ghost.

Breathing in the rose’s music,
Humming soft with the lyre of sighs,
Taking again the hand of light,
dreaming again of mist blessed skies.

Laughing with whirlwinds,
Dancing with seas,
Embracing
in arms
of twining
destinies
and falling ever faster
through the mirrors
of our wondrous songs
and feeling ever fuller
of hope more divine
and flying ever farther
into life and love.

And…

Love of stars and love of hosts,
Peace to men and truth be told!
Kindness felt and fire beheld,
Riches fall and powers ghost,
Swirling praises, gleaming throne,
All behold the glorious Lord!
For now and forever
and with the stars of eternity
and to the God of infinity
and to His eternal majesty
be all glory and praise
and honor and might
and power and anthem
and beauty and riches
and love all sublime
forever and now
for love all perfected
for love all divine
to our Lord
to our God
Amen and Amen.
Hallelujah.
Forever.
All glory to our God.

Swamplands

James HoganLeave a comment

So don’t have a lot of time for a yummy long update now…so you will just have to settle for me showing my face! And yes, I am now back in Scotland after a brief(but supremely wonderful!) couple weeks in Tampa. Got to see so many people that I’ve missed so much my joy cannot be fully expressed. And now as I roll away from Starbucks and walk home on this sleepy rainy day in Aberdeen…

Nameless fear and graceless fall,
hear and bow down, sinners all:

In the Presence, at your altar,
all my weakness praises You.

My spirit sings at Your name
and my eyes shine in Your glory
and my heart is full of wonder
at the sight of Your face.
My spirit weeps in love.
My purpose found.
I am with Thee.
Forever and always.

Örökké és mindig

James HoganLeave a comment

Late getting home from work and dinner calls my name(leftover Pizza Hut, yes!)…but briefly, have to express my sadness that Steven and Anna are both now gone from Aberdeen. Steven left last Friday(but I’ll see him in August in Germany!!) and Anna this evening…and I don’t know when I’ll see her again. Next year Hungary holiday? Um, yes!

But regardless of my silly feelings of loss and sadness…I must just rejoice in our great God in giving me such friends as these. Oh how blessed am I! Hung out with Anna and her sisters last night at my place, and though I(yet again!) got no sleep, it was oh so worth it! From playing random Magyar songs to playing card games(where the power of sisters forced me to admit defeat in every game I played. Hmph) to taking far too many pictures to laughing even more than talking…to driving one last time downtown with Anna…to simply glorying in one last time of awesomeness.

And now that I let my veil of denial down and admit that Steven and Anna are actually gone, I can embrace my sadness with tears of love. My love is with you, Anna, Steven. Always.

And…random poetry snippet just because I feel like it.

To see the stars,
I reach a little higher,
I drown in song.

Tears from love,
tears from joy,
all for unrequited glory
all for long forgotten story
all for the love of a Potter
all for the love of a King.

To see the stars,
I kneel a little lower,
I drown in love.

Shattered Gates of Bronze

James HoganLeave a comment

Burning star and singing pain,
Caught in tempests, lost in rain.
Lifting up a weary hand,
Finding not the long sought land.

Swords of furies, eyes of rage,
Bloody steel and war torn age.
Lifting up a dying friend,
Finding now the final end.

Tear soaked face and keening cry
Bound in iron, lost the sky.
Lifting up a hopeless gaze,
Finding not the sun’s warm rays.

Pits of corpses, graves of doom,
Rotting souls and song-less tomb
Lifting up a wordless plea,
Finding now he cannot see.

And seeing not,
he feels a hand,
warmth of sunshine
embrace of wind,
kiss of starlight,
songs of glory,
weight of crowns.
‘Open your eyes,’
And he is home.

Green olive tree

James HoganLeave a comment

The wanderer turns his head
and sighs
at the beauty of the skies.

A grasp of moonlight
beckons in
from blushing day
to richer night
ever purer
ever light.

A path of moonlight
beckons on
from softer black
to deeper blue
ever honeyed
ever true.

A laugh of moonlight
beckons up
from colder earth
to star strewn sight
ever blissful
ever right.

The wanderer turns his head
and cries
at the witness of the skies.

A glimmer, nay, a star

James HoganLeave a comment

And you were dead in your trespasses
and sins, in which you
formerly walked according to the
course of this world, according to the
prince of the power of the air, of the
spirit that is now working in the sons
of disobedience. Among them we too
all formerly lived in the lusts of our
flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh
and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, even as the rest.
But God, being rich in mercy, because
of His great love with which He
loved us, even when we were dead
in our transgressions, made us alive
together with Christ(by grace you have
been saved), and raised us up with
Him, and seated us with Him in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so
that in the ages to come He might show
the surpassing riches of His grace in
kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
-Ephesians 2:1-7

I was going to end that sooner, but two things prevented me. Firstly, it’s just so beautiful I couldn’t find a good stopping place…and secondly, because the sentence itself didn’t stop. Oh Pauline sentences, how I love thee.

Seriously, such a gorgeous passage, is it not? And two of the most amazing and heart-stopping and enlivening and lovely and starkly beautiful words of all time…”But God.” And hope bursts into glorious bloom, life eternal. This passage is one of my favorites, so I don’t know why I’m trying to unnecessarily validate these verses with my pitiful words, but I just can’t help marveling at the amazingness of God’s most gracious love and compassion towards such desperately wicked men and women…oh what a joy that springs from my heart, abounding towards the God whose love abounds still more! And I think this passage may (subconsciously) be the pattern towards which all my gasps of poetry tend to slip into –

darkness, expanding and vicious and cold blackness and
the depths of deepest despair and when all is lost and
man is
lost in a storm of whirling shadows and
torn in pieces by the knife that was his own and
rotting in the grave so eagerly dug and
drinking the depths of the debt that is owed and
wavering in glazed reality and
on his knees in hopeless emptiness and
on his face in stark weariness and
letting go of the last that could be done and then
light.
Light forever.
Glorious Almighty God.
Light and love and God Himself,
the pinnacle of infinity that the universe strains to grasp.
Oh glorious Lord!
And overwhelmed in joy and overcome by love
and soaking in the blood of the Lamb that was slain,
she is
dancing in the spotless grace,
singing in the newborn praise,
seeing with adoring gaze,
feeling the more perfect rays,
and now she quivers and says,
Oh I love how can I not?
When by His blood I am bought?
He loved me first,
oh those glorious words,
He loves me!

…and that’s what happens when I let my mind stray and wander and ponder the incomprehensible fact that…the Almighty God of the Universe loved me. How else can I respond but by saying…’Oh I love how can I not?’ I love my Father so. Oh I love Him!!!! If my tears could but grace His feet, I would weep for being so close to Him…my Lord and my God, I love Him so!!!!

Threads of gold, falling silver

James HoganLeave a comment

Alright y’all, wasn’t originally planning to write an entry today…but why not? It’s a lovely Sunday afternoon and I am dutifully(and by dutifully I mean JOYFULLY!) resting in Starbucks sipping my peppermint mocha. I want to write something…so yeah. We’ll see what I’m feeling…



For a trumpet’s song,
for a banner’s call
we’d give our fortunes,
we’d forfeit our all.

For a twice-sold birthright,
a third-born son,
we’d shake with laughter
until summer’s done.

For a sweet-tongued lass,
adorned in lace,
we’d divide our portion,
forget our face.

Merry we make, peace we buy
Dregs we drink, life we cry!

Falling upon the swords of our fathers
and born upon the waves of our daughters
we bless the cries of our heart
we curse the tears of our soul
and we fail to realize
we are already dead.

Cloaked in justice,
robed in love
bearing truth and
gifting peace
wielding a rod
of iron
and double edged
sword
in the crown
of a king
in the raiment
of a lord
with eyes of flame
and upon
the face
a tear.

And
we sneer.

Destiny is to be grasped,
and fate is to be sown
our hearts and our souls
our lives, our own!

The goblet full,
the land groans,
the pot a boil,
and we drink.

Don’t have time to tighten it up…enjoy?