This month’s Poetry Prompt explores the idea of thorns.
Abraham Lincoln once said, “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.”
Hope is Like a Harebell
by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)
Hope is like a harebell, trembling from its birth;
Love is like a rose, the joy of all the earth.
Faith is like a lily, lifted high and white;
Love is like a lovely rose, the world’s delight.
Harebells and sweet lilies show a thornless growth,
But the rose with all its thorns excels them both.
Like the Apostle Paul, I have repeatedly asked God to remove the thorn of pain from my life.
“… so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap (thorn) to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me,
“My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.”
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.” 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, MSG
My own poem below is sharp with a thorn.
Don’t Call Me Courageous
don’t call me courageous
that title belongs to those
who make a choice
to move, or take action
brave? not me
there is nothing I have done
but breathe, or gasp
eyes briefly shut
till the worst of it
passes, dauntless? no
I have simply survived
another moment
another day
I press on, stretch slow
inquire of and lean into my Lord
my petition simple, aching
remove this thorn
or pour out more grace
as You will
that I might best serve You
Ideas to Spark your Poem:
- Is there a thorn you can write about? Perhaps you have been hiding it. What is the shape of it? What is the feel of it?
- What other things are as sharp as thorns? List them. Use them in your poem.
- Think of the roses in your life. Would you forsake the roses to escape the thorns?
- Let your words speak directly to the thorn. What would you ask it?
- What would God say to the thorn?
These questions are just to get you started. Sit with the word “thorn” for a bit. Then allow your words to find their own way. Follow them. And when they find their voice, we invite you share them in the comments or submit them to: share@chronic-joy.org for possible publication.
Submission Guidelines
You can view our Submission Guidelines here. When submitting a poem, please include a scan or photo of the completed Author Release along with a headshot, brief bio, and links to your website, social media, and any book titles you’ve authored as applicable.
Enjoy the prompt.
We look forward to reading the poems that spill forth!
More Poetry Prompts
Introducing Poetry Co-Coordinators
Poetry allows us to explore chronic illness – the symptoms, confusion, loss, grief, and uncertainty, the moments, days, and small victories from a different perspective, to journey with words, follow where they lead, and to give voice to difficult emotions and challenging days, to touch the wellspring of our faith and discover God’s still small voice in new and deeper ways.
May – Poetry Prompt
POETRY IS AGELESS There is no age before which you must begin. Poetry is ageless, timeless, and open to all. Langston Hughes published his first major work at age 19, Emily Bronte at 29, Virginia Woolf at 33, Maya Angelou at 41, and Emily Dickinson was first published after her death. Peggy...
Books to Inspire
From Ashes to Glory: A Psalm A Day
Karin Fendick
Though not from a liturgical background this poet felt led to celebrate the holy through the time span from Ash Wednesday to Resurrection Sunday. From Ashes to Glory is a collection of forty-seven brief psalms written as a daily offering of worship that will encourage and draw you closer to God in any season.
The Joy of Poetry: How to Keep, Save & Make Your Life with Poems
Megan Willome
Part memoir, part humorous and poignant defense of poetry, this is a book that shows you what it is to live a life with poems at your side (and maybe in your Topo Chico®).
Megan Willome’s story is one you won’t want to put down; meanwhile, her uncanny ability to reveal the why’s and how’s of poetry keeps calling—to even the biggest poetry doubter. If you already enjoy poetry, her story and her wisdom and her ways will invite you to go deeper, with novel ideas on how to engage with poems.
Devotions: The Selected Poems of Mary Oliver
Mary Oliver
Throughout her celebrated career, Mary Oliver has touched countless readers with her brilliantly crafted verse, expounding on her love for the physical world and the powerful bonds between all living things. Identified as “far and away, this country’s best selling poet” by Dwight Garner, she now returns with a stunning and definitive collection of her writing from the last fifty years.
Patient Poets: Illness from Inside Out
Marilyn Chandler Mcentyre
Readers are invited to consider what caregivers and medical professionals may learn from poetry by patients. It offers reflections on poetry as a particularly apt vehicle for articulating the often isolating experiences of pain, fatigue, changed life rhythms, altered self-understanding, embarrassment, resistance, and acceptance.
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Karin Fendick
Poet, Author, and Chronic Joy® Poetry Coordinator
Karin is a handmaiden of the Lord; saved by grace; a worshiper; a poet; a broken heart; a lover of words; hungry for truth; amazed by love; on the Potter's wheel His work in progress. After five years in Africa Karin and her beloved husband of twenty years Rick are back in rural Canada where chronic pain drives her to the feet of Jesus. She is powered by prayer, love and many cups of strong coffee. Author of From Ashes to Glory (A Psalm a Day)
Thank you Karin, for sharing your beautiful poem, and for offering this great prompt too. Such perfect timing from the Lord for this time we are living through now. I can feel Him stirring thoughts in my heart even now, questions and pondering about the thorns in my own life. Blessings to you today.
Beautiful, heartfelt poem, Karin. I am thankful that God gives strength in our weakness, that even though we have pain, His grace is sufficient and like you said we must lean into Him. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and for sharing a prompt. Bettie told me about it and I have written a post using the word, thorns, as a springboard. I wrote a poem that is interspersed throughout the post. Blessings to you!
Thank you for taking this prompt and not only running with it but challenging others!
What beautiful words and art bloom out of pain.
Thank you again, Karin, for this prompt. I wrote a poem in response and posted it on my blog today also. What a blessing to join hearts and words together at such a time! I’m praying blessing over you today too.
Karin, thank you for this thought-provoking prompt and your own beautiful response to it. I’m currently on a blogging break so I will share my words here instead, if that’s okay. This is a tanka pentaptych poem which arose when I contemplated the way I’ve experienced a thorn in my life.
Pierced
a life pierced with pain
circumscribed, silted with shame
hangs heavy as lead
while weakness and weariness
sit darkly within our frames
yet there are glimmers
hope pierces sharper still
it enters the thorns
a holy laserlight strobes
bringing comfort to our souls
small pinpricks exist
enough to offer glimpses
of mercy and grace
within these shadowlands
where we battle with sickness
what looks like a death
a sentence, a punishment
sparks into life
as opening to presence
in this very circumstance
we are not alone
sacred companionship
acts as a holy gift
we discover soul friendship
while we are afflicted
© joylenton
Love the image of light entering the thorn. Thank you for sharing your words Joy.
Joy, this is beautiful! Thank you for sharing.