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Jeff Reed

1141 Bont Lane
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
Phone Number
Wind in the Reeds Poetry

Jeff Reed

  • The Strange Sum of Things
  • Poems
  • Songs
  • Sea to Sea
  • Animagus Extinctio
  • Psalm 37 Menagerie
  • Butterfly Glory
  • Books
  • ABOUT

Portal of the Second Hand

September 15, 2024 Jeff Reed

Sam and Frodo on the slope of Mt. Doom after crossing the Gorgoroth Plain (courtesy of Jackson’s The Return of the King)

The driving rain hitting the cliffside

splinters into a thousand rivers.

Cold pain rolling like high tide

enters the heart in a long line of slivers.


Even the sun comes ray by ray,

and to Him a thousand years is as a single day.


Make it through this moment—

it won’t take long,

although another follows 

after this one’s gone.

Every mammoth darkness

before its evil lands

must squeeze itself through the portal

of the filtering second hand.


The hobbits cross the Gorgoroth ash plain

an inch at a time on knees that are bleeding.

The monsoon coughs up flood-flash rain

drenching a heart only barely beating.


Even the king comes seed by seed, 

while the leaven is rising imperceptibly.


Make it through this moment—

it won’t take long,

although another follows 

after this one’s gone.

Every mammoth darkness

before its evil lands

must squeeze itself through the portal

of the filtering second hand.


When the breaking is broken,

immense as it is,

a pathway opens 

by your fierce will to live.


The driving rain hitting the cliffside

splinters into a thousand rivers…


Make it through this moment—

it won’t take long,

although another follows 

after this one’s gone.

Every mammoth darkness

before its evil lands

must squeeze itself through the portal 

of the Father’s aching

filtering second hand.


1 Comment

Even Though

September 1, 2024 Jeff Reed

And You’re waiting for me down the road.

Even though I know the leaves will fall in time,

even though hello is promise of goodbye,

even so I dare to say it,

brave to say that You are good.

Even though I know the dawn is red with wounds,

Even though I know the heartache comes too soon (for the children),

even so I dare to say it,

brave to say that You are good.

Chorus

I’ll leave You to Your own defense

against the angry arguments,

all I can sing is what I know:

that You’ve forgiven me and then

You give me breath, and breath again,

and You’re waiting for me down the road

Even though the refugees know nothing’s sure,

even though I know they wondered where You were,

even so I dare to say it,

brave to say that You are good.

Even though I know I don’t know fear at all

like the little girl when secret footsteps fall in the hallway,

even so I dare to say it,

brave to say that You are good.

Chorus

I’ll leave You to Your own defense

against the angry arguments,

all I can sing is what I know:

that You’ve forgiven me and then

You give me breath, and breath again,

and You’re waiting for me down the road

This craziness has turned me upside down,

that’s because You’re not finished turning it around.

Even though I know the leaves will fall in time,

even though I know You made our eyes for crying,

even so I dare to say it,

brave to say that You are good;

even so I dare to say it,

brave to say that You are good;

even so I dare to say it,

brave to say that You are good.


Comment

Back to Back

August 15, 2024 Jeff Reed

Back to Back

Dedicated to our friends who run the safehouse in Myanmar

Once in awhile

I get a glimpse of what You mean

when You say You will be seen

by some of us side by side.

Once in awhile

I even dare believe it’s true,

and I open myself up to

this family You provide.

Lord, make us one

so the world will see

all this living mystery

and come face to face with You

as a matter of fact.

All we’ve got is an empty cup,

but You love showing up

in Your people who are standing

back to back.

Comment

I Can't Say Enough

July 31, 2024 Jeff Reed
sea-1836480_1280.jpg
stream-7957258_1280.jpg
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sea-1836480_1280.jpg stream-7957258_1280.jpg constellations-2609647_1280.jpg mountain-8168060_1920.jpg

Like the restless ocean surging

immensity in blue,

I can’t say enough about You.

Like the winding river singing

a melody or two,

I can’t say enough about You.

All things beautiful

that stir an ache within me:

fingerprints and footprints

that You make to send me

secret messages that You are everywhere.

Like the spread of heaven sparkling

the way that heavens do,

I can’t say enough about You.

Like the rugged mountains standing

rugged and unmoved,

I can’t say enough about You.

All things beautiful

that stir an ache within me:

fingerprints and footprints

that You make to send me

secret messages that You are everywhere.

Comment

You are a Well

July 15, 2024 Jeff Reed

You are a well, water runs deep.

Travelers can tell here they can sleep.

They can lay down their things, draw from your pool.

Your water brings needed renewal.


You are a stream, water runs swift.

Travelers can dream, let their thoughts drift.

They can lay down their cares, dangle their feet,

get lost in their stares and imaginings sweet.


You are a lake, water is calm.

Travelers can take time to belong.

They can stroll on your shores, skim stones at a chance,

watch sunset colors shimmer and dance.


You are a well, water runs deep.


Comment

The Glory of the Face of God

June 15, 2024 Jeff Reed

Image by Adina Voicu from Pixabay. Creative Commons License.

The glory of the face of God

is a consuming fire.

It fills me with a terror

while it fills all my desire.

It opens up for me to see

the mighty gap between

the perfect holiness of God

and myself, dark, unclean.

Now Your mercy covers me

and takes away my sin.

My life reborn, the curtain torn,

and I am welcomed in.

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