“Abide” by Adri
A POEM & ILLUSTRATION
A POEM AND ILLUSTRATION
Life spills into tangles
When one chapter ends
And you find yourself
Alone in a new place.
Uncertainty grips your heart
As you begin to make a way
Carve a path
Trembling as you release
What used to tether you
To your homeland and
Dare to begin anew.
There is something
Terrifying about
Staring into new eyes
Bold in their questions that
Are reflected right back.
What is home?
What makes a space
Something more than just
A place but begins to
Transform it into land to
Abide?
And if it is those you travel with
What about those who wander
On their own?
Timid new growth
Tiptoes through the tangles.
Though the time it takes
For settling in and starting again
Is long
Can you see that it will come?
Can you see that you won’t be
Forever alone?
Can you see that lovely truths are
Waiting to be known?
Maybe home is more than
The people you left behind.
Maybe it’s more than a place to
Lay your head and pace
Yourself through the hurry of life.
Maybe it’s a breathing space where
Timid growth is possible and
Tangles are met with
Acceptance.
Maybe it’s a place where brokenness
Is invited to the table and
Shattered souls don’t have to
Be soft to be welcomed but
Can come as they are, savage
And severe and loved anyways?
The tangles of weeds are thick
But the wildflowers fight to be scrappy
As they ground themselves
Letting their roots grow deep and
Determined.
And they don’t pretend the weeds
Aren’t there.
But they fight to take up space
To belong where they were planted.
We abide when we determine to
Acknowledge the tangles and
Stay put anyways.
We abide when we release our
Expectations of what growth should
Look like and relax into rest.
We find home when we welcome the
Tangled souls, who are uncertain
Of what truth is
And yet are still wandering
Looking for something more than
The easy solutions the world offers.
We find home when we
Open our arms to the least
To those who tremble and
Offer them our soft smiles.
That timid growth is still
Slowly pressing on
Determined and daring to
Dream of taking up the
Proper space at the proper time.
“Jesus Loves You, Amsterdam” – Illustration by Adri
@felicity_by_adrianne