Thursday, April 20, 2006

Evidence of Things Unseen



(everybody knows you can click on the picture to make it bigger, right?)


04/22/06 ADDENDUM:

Maybe a picture is not worth a thousand words. I really wanted the picture and the few words to speak for themselves. Maybe I need to explain my convoluted thought process...

This house was dropped on the side of the highway by the winds of Rita. I am not sure where it was originally located, not sure how far it was carried. If you look, you can see where the house is splitting, from having been unceremoniously dumped on unlevel ground, I suppose.

The words are part of poem I wrote, which never really got finished to my satisfaction. Several years ago, a preacher said something in a sermon about how the wind, though unseen, has never had to prove its existence.

Back when I was still in middle school, we were visiting an aunt and uncle who had a beach house on Dauphin Island. While we out there walking the beach a storm came up and the rain was one of those hard pelting rains. I don't think I will ever forget how the weather turned so dark so quickly and how menacing the waves of the Gulf looked as we all ran for cover. It almost felt traumatic to me at that time, hence the vivid imagery in the poem of panthers and gun shots and being held captive.

Disparate thoughts, but still, how come the existence of the unseen wind is widely known and accepted and yet the existence of the creator of the wind is so widely doubted?


Caught In The Storm, I Stand

Waves crouch behind me and spring,
a panther closing in and threatening.

Raindrops hit and burn, bullets falling
from a gun shot into a New Year’s sky.

The sand holds my feet, captive
of rain and wind and fire. I breathe fear.

I am a sister of Elijah, seeking the face
of Jehovah-Shammah, the Lord who is with me.

In the unseen breeze, I hear Him whisper
my name. He calls me His beloved.

The wind moves as it wishes,
has never had to prove its existence.

10 comments:

  1. Well, golly, I am speechless (now there's a new twist) Photo is incredible, and beautiful. And the poem is just beyond words. How eloquently you capture the power of God and His creation.

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  2. I second what Ayekah said, Annie... can you believe the season is already almost upon us again? I hope and pray that we never have to look at any more pictures like that again...

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  3. I love this. Thanks. Great pic, great words, and the spirit of God moves like the wind. Sometimes I think we are just like that house - uprooted - and it IS scary

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  4. I third what ayekah said. Eloquent is exactly the right word for this.

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  5. There was nothing in my experience to help me understand that picture, so I'm glad you explained it. I can't imagine how wind could move a house.

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  6. Thanks, Annie. If you have more poems to share, we are waiting to savor them.

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  7. I didn't get the correlation at first between the house and the poem but now - wow...

    The fit together like a hand in a glove.

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  8. Ayekah, Speechless? Wow, that IS a new twist! I'm glad you liked thought well of it.

    RCJ, Thanks. I am afraid we will have to see pictures like this again, unfortunately.

    Lorna, Glad you like it. I was also thinking sometimes we are like this house, uprooted and plopped down in a whole new reality!

    Rach, Thank you. My trouble is, I can't maintain eloquence for very long at a time!

    Patti, Seeing scenes like this one "up close and personal" has been a new reality for me too. I've lived around here all my life and have never experienced this kind of devastation.

    David, Glad you liked it, but I don't know about sharing more poems...I might LOSE readers that way.

    Jules, Thanks, I am glad I came back and expounded on the thoughts behind the picture.

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  9. Oh, I'm glad you explained this! I had no idea the wind dropped the house there -- wow! That's some power!

    So glad to hear that you got the new book and are going to start drawing again -- I know you'll enjoy the memories you'll create with a sketchbook! And thank you so much for the heads up about Moleskinerie -- I had no idea, and you absolutely made my day!
    :-)

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  10. Linda, Cool, I am glad I got to be the first to deliver the news!

    It is amazing that the house was still as intact as it was. I really have no idea how far it was carried, or possible, slid along on the marsh till the road stopped it. Some houses are out in the marsh and can be reached by boat, but there is no way they can be transported back to where they actually belong.

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