A Poet's Path

By Norah Ranck

With a wide range of subjects and drawing from events in her life and the Bible, Norah Ranck has written a heartwarming collection of inspirational poems and prayers that will enchant the reader. You will find love, sympathy, courage, and more in this collection. Each poem is an honest account of the everyday adventure of a life lived in faith. It is a book you will want to return to again and again.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Dec 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9781664215153

Norah Ranck

Norah Ranck is a retired Respiratory Therapist, a wife, mother and grandmother. She is the author of the Facebook blog ‘Poetry by Norah.’ Born with a pen in her hand, she has been writing all her life. This charming collection of poetry is the result. She will tell you that while she is left-handed she is in her right mind. Her inspirational words of faith and belief will show you why.

Book preview

A

POET’S

PATH

Norah Ranck

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Copyright © 2021 Norah Ranck.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New

International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica,

Inc.® Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.

zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks

registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.®

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993,

2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved.

Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1514-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1513-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-1515-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020924057

WestBow Press rev. date: 12/18/2020

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This book is

dedicated to family and friends old and new,

The readers for whom these words were written.

With grateful thanks to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

The one who makes all things possible.

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CONTENTS

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1. Clean Slate

2. Walk of Faith

3. A Messy Life

4. The Windward Side

5. Faith Glasses

6. Perspective

7. Exposure

8. The Garden

9. Evidence

10. Sometimes I am not Glad to Live

11. Spiritual Amnesia

12. The Spirit (Philippians 1:6)

13. Road Trip

14. Lost

15. The Land of Lament

16. Small Scale

17. Given All

18. Bobby Blunderbuss

19. Not

20. Free

21. Hedges

22. In Her Defense

23. Melancholy

24. Abner P.

25. Pretend Writing

26. The Donkey

27. Without Notice

28. Wilder

29. George Floyd

30. The Enemy has a Face

31. Hot Lava

32. Sunday Morning

33. Secrets

34. I Remember

35. Far from Well

36. Kendra’s Umbrella

37. I Can’t Forget

38. Years of Tears

39. Third Base

40. A Song for Sam

41. There

42. Used to Be (in memoriam)

43. Bottom Up

44. At Walmart

45. Elijah Edmonds

46. Living Large

47. The Worse for Wear

48. Expiration Date

49. Two Inches of Pinch

50. Tired

51. Fate

52. Ian

53. To My Friend (after learning of Ian’s death)

54. Sun (for John Cowie)

55. Thorn

56. Solemn

57. Journey

58. Death Defeated

59. Knowing You (Jeremiah 9:24)

60. Laughter

61. There is Corn in Egypt (Genesis 42:2)

62. Like Abraham

63. Ruth

64. Nehemiah

65. The River Jordan

66. Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 4:31-33)

67. Like Jonah

68. Wayfaring Men (Isaiah 35)

69. You Will Know

70. Abigail

71. Philemon (A Letter to Us All)

72. Bible Verse

73. At the Cross

74. Three Days Later

75. I Wonder If

76. The Innkeeper’s Wife

77. Dr. Luke

78. One of These Days (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

79. Living in the Bible

80. Resurrection Sunday

81. A Lenten Spring

82. In this Season

83. Spring Thaw

84. In the Forest

85. Mourning Dove

86. Beyond Time

87. Between the Rains

88. Surrender

89. Courtship

90. The Robins

91. Logging

92. Mr. March and May

93. In the Quiet

94. The Clearing

95. Encounter

96. Still

97. Bathed in Gold

98. Shawl

99. Bedraggled

100. End of Summer Muse

101. Doilies

102. Clouds

103. Blue Jay

104. The Maiden

105. Autumn

106. The Sea

107. Rain Rivers

108. The Field

109. Winter White

110. It May Be January

111. Tea Leaves

112. Ghost Town

113. If the Shoe Fits

114. Two Little Girls

115. I Remember This

116. Five Cents

117. When I Lived Closer to the Ground

118. Softball Picnics

119. Ruby Nell

120. Children’s Choir

121. I Surrender

122. Hiding Place

123. The Town

124. Sunlight

125. Generations

126. The Burgess Girl

127. Great-Great Grandpa

128. My Mother’s Garden

129. My Dear Girl

130. The Legend of the Old-Timers (or How the Church was Saved)

131. A Month

132. Turnstile

133. Your Story

134. Old Friends (For Lynne)

135. The Years

136. Angel Hair

137. They are All Gone

138. Between No Longer and Not Yet (for Kendra)

139. Mind Shifts

140. Come with Me

141. Premonitions

142. Witness (for Karl)

143. A Glad Reunion (Cubbie)

144. Buddy

145. Teddy

146. Soup for Supper

147. The Mockingbirds

148. Once Upon a Garage

149. Campfire

150. Twin Blessings

151. Your Name (For Meredith)

152. My Children

153. Tiptoe Man

154. Baby Bird

155. Falling Stars

156. Daughter

157. My Son

158. A Funny One

159. You Once Knew Me

160. Legacy

161. Anniversary

162. Last Saturday

163. Hold Your Peace

164. The Balloon

165. Points of Light

166. Tea and Toast

167. Whispers in Bed

168. Life is Short

169. Park Bench

170. Matryoshka*

171. Weight

172. Troubles

173. The Good Will Bank

174. First Place

175. Praises

176. So No

177. The Upper Room

178. Ageless

179. Prayer Shawl

180. On My Way

181. Today

182. Perfect Rest (with thanks to C H Spurgeon)

183. The Days are Short (with thanks to C.T. Studd)

184. You Know it All Ahead of Time

185. In His Will

186. Your Will

187. Crown

188. Without You

189. Your Face

190. Tell Me about My Savior

191. His Righteousness

192. Your House

193. What Can I Give You

194. A Blessing

195. Prayer

196. Answers

197. Even so, Father

198. With Jesus

CLEAN SLATE

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It’s the first day of the New Year

The slate is clean as the bells ring

In the dawning of the morning

Excitement energizes everything.

The old year smudged and messy

Has turned the chalkboard hoary gray

Wearied by miscalculations

It’s a monument to muddled ways.

With a last clap of erasers

Limestone confetti fills the air

Like children at the end of school

We move ahead freed from our cares.

In anticipation’s playground

Accommodations have been made

To welcome in the New Year

Depicted by a diapered babe.

Like baby Jesus come to save us

He symbolizes a rebirth

Carries in his hands a clean slate

To give the citizens of planet Earth.

As the old man passes from us

We see the manger soft with hay

Find new hearts that hope has bundled

In the swaddled promise of the day.

This pattern of renewal

A present moment wrapped in time

Is the eternal message prerecorded:

Within his story—yours and mine.

Father Time gives us the framework

To comprehend the chalky lines

Establishes endings and beginnings

Encouragement as we rewind.

While all Creation groans in labor

In chalk markings written here below

The infant hope of every New Year

Provides a glimpse of providence to follow.

WALK OF FAITH

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All degrees in applied science

Parallel the walk of faith

Theory mixed with hands-on training

Conjoin to put the legs on grace.

The Bible, like our textbook,

Gives case studies that inform

Yet it’s in the application

That, given license, we’re reborn.

Armed with our trusty manuals

Clinical assessments mark our way

We grow each day in competence

Learning to listen and obey.

Graduating from the classroom

To the realities of life

We’re helped by mentors and good memory

And predetermined sacrifice.

It’s not enough to know the facts

But how and where to walk, and why

Proficiency with daily practice

A prerequisite of divine supply.

We take the principles we’re given

And learn to walk with faith and trust

Faith in ourselves and faith in him

As we maneuver and adjust.

He sends us then, out in the world

His Word inscribed on hearts and minds

Prepared and purposed to the tasks

He has authored and designed.

We become his hands and feet

Entering our chosen fields

Applying truths he’s taught us

In works that turn the abstract real.

A MESSY LIFE

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Thinking back on my intentions

If they were intentions, truth to tell,

(Because the best of future planning

Can often pave the road to hell);

I don’t remember in the daydreams

Or desires in the depths of my soul

Any joyful anticipation

Of messiness as a life goal.

And yet I’ve made my peace with this

A messy life that you’ve grace-kissed;

Pockmarked with scars and potholes

Mixed in with moments of pure bliss.

Disappointments and distractions

Days when my eyes aren’t on the prize

The times I’ve floundered in uncertainties

Or been filled with frantic alibis.

You know all my days, dear Lord,

I cannot hide from you

Although I must admit to times

I’ve almost hoped that wasn’t true.

There is in this, a contradiction,

It’s just then I call on you to save

Relying on your caring presence

To fix the messes I have made.

There have been seasons of disorder

In the lives of those I hold most dear

That have forced me, humbly, to my knees

Where I’ve poured out bitter tears.

It’s a messy life for certain

At least it seems that way to me

But you know the way that we will go

And hold the light so we can see.

And if I make my bed in hell,

The psalmist says it well

"Even there, in my iniquity

Your presence with me dwells."

I’d much rather lay an offering

Of perfection at your feet

But this messy life entangles

With all its problems and deceits.

You’re the never-ending story

Even when I’m in despair

You’re the shelter from the storm

With love and mercy hidden there.

You’re with me when I make mistakes

When I am willful and all wrong

You are with me when I’m innocent

When I’m weak you make me strong.

In the jungle of this messy life

You guide me day by day

When danger lurks in undergrowth

You help me find a way.

When I’m defeated it’s your whisper

That restores my weary soul

You say my messy life still matters;

Remind me that it’s not my time to go.

There are reasons and some seasons

When the troubles fall like rain

And expectations crush us

With an overwhelming pain.

But, it’s by this device of Satan

That we are blinded to your face

We forget our lives are dignified

By your forgiveness and your grace.

This is the life you’ve given me;

Help me to persist and finish strong

It sure looks messy on the underside

But I know you’ve been with me all along.

I pray that with your constant mending

We’ll weave a lovely tapestry

With your refinement on the topside

For now and all eternity.

Psalm 139:8 KJV

THE WINDWARD SIDE

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I’ve walked a mile in empty spaces as a bitter March wind blows

Stepped over glass-strewn streets in places where dilapidation grows.

I’ve walked where wind strips leaves from branches on a country road

Past whirlwinds of litter startled up in back alleys in the falling snow.

I’ve trudged across a rocky shoreline with the salty wind whipping my hair

And felt the sting of sand slap up against my skin in moisture-laden air.

Here on the windward side the words I pray are swiftly borne away

They’re carried off before I even know just what it is I need to say.

The gusty wind, God’s steadfast servant, doesn’t waver but obeys

He conveys the fragments of my prayers in a faithful paraphrase.

FAITH GLASSES

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Help me Lord, to find those glasses

Because I can’t see through this storm

Could you reveal the place I left them

And help me put them on?

My eyesight’s blurry, out of focus

As tears well up and overflow

Rivers are running down my cheeks

Unending heartache grips my soul.

Somehow in this mess, I mislaid them

Those faith glasses that I wear

Without your prescriptive lenses

I am weak-sighted with despair.

Lend me your strength to locate them

Lord, bind them to my head

Adjust the fit that I might keep

My eyes fixed on you instead.

Remove the scales that blind my sight

Lord, help me to be brave

Let the prism of faith glasses

Restore my vision, healed and saved.

I know I can’t fix this alone, Lord,

My perception’s not spectacle-strong

But when I look through those glasses

I can see you’ve been here all along.

PERSPECTIVE

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Perhaps we could try seeing things as they really are

That hills are hills and not tall mountains we’re viewing from afar.

If instead of seeing shadows note that objects block the sun

Maybe the world we view in disproportion would no longer stun.

That we are tiny in a gigantic world is quite clear at a glance

If we rely on our own understanding we won’t stand a chance.

We are overwhelmed and underawed; cocky and afraid

The world is ours, or so we tell ourselves, as we live a charade.

It is a matter of proportion although we don’t believe our eyes

The ratio is undeniable and yet we respond as if surprised.

If we look at ants and bees and gnats and can see their small size

How can we, little in this big wide world, think we’re otherwise?

In a universe as large as this our stature’s insignificant

Even the number of our days in contrast to eternity are scant.

How can it be that we know this, yet still choose to believe

That we, above all creatures, are in control of what we see?

We stand between actuality and delusion on our shaky ground

In an existential angst that only faith in God can turn around.

The Creator and Redeemer of this world awaits the day

When instead of puffed-up pride we see the error of our ways.

Let’s not be deceived by fears regarding our earthly estate

But put our trust in the One who formed us with an immortal fate.

When we call upon his name he’ll put our skewed perspective to rights

As we bow humbly before him we’ll find rest in his mercy and his might.

EXPOSURE

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The universe is crowding in around me in this room

Ions prickle on my legs. I feel the cool air zip and zoom.

It seems I’ve been called to stand up to be tried in a courtroom

A deepening discernment wraps me in a sense of doom.

It’s a sudden separation as somehow