Missionary Poems

Tangerine Girl

She speaks as a tangerine
Sweet, juicy, crisp
She speaks as a tangerine
Small seeds bear fruit

Outer skin worth peeling
Bright in a dull room

Little, hard to grasp
Color of the sun
On a warm summer night

Tangy when tongued
Delightful when drunk
Succulent when sucked

She longs for a pineapple
Wants to be a pear
What she should be:
Herself

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Hold On

Over and yonder and
round the next bend
Is the promise of mercy
on this I depend

For life rarely shows me
that which I seek
And so I must wait
as I have every week

Great longing for action
from God in this world
See death greed corruption
into the void hurled

Sometimes it is painful
i so often miss
All that I hope for
sweet promise of bliss

Sweet sliver of mercy
if you I should find
I'll be deeply thankful
my pain might unwind

I try to be patient
and slow to get mad
At a world that has evil
And makes me so sad

We're slaves to injustice
we know it's unfair
God says on each head
that he loves every hair

We're part of one body
we're part of one soul
Yet Broken Heart Pieces
are hard to make whole

Wholeness and Goodness
and Kindness are here
If each one would
deeply into himself peer

But changing is hard
we are all weak
And so I must wait
as I have every week

For a world that is gracious
a world that is kind
Hold on to the dream
that mercy I'll find

There's hope for tomorrow
There's hope in my heart
I'll work with great care
Til this world I depart