A Broken and Contrite Heart: Beauty in Broken Pieces, #1

By Angie Grigaliunas

Tell me who, exactly, is Creator here —
and who cannot provide themselves with
their next breath?
It is not you who are indebted to us.
Everything is graced.
Everything is graced.

Wrought of faith and doubt, fear and triumph, questions and convictions, these songs give a raw glimpse into the heart of a Christ-follower on a journey of healing, hope, and ultimate victory in Jesus.

This is Volume 1 of Beauty in Broken Pieces and contains thirty poetic prayers of varying themes. This collection sometimes utilizes gritty verbiage but contains no foul language. The volumes and poems can be read in any order.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angie Grigaliunas
• Release date: Jul 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223727156

Book preview

Full Circle

I stand wanting to scream it out;

is it that I selfishly just want attention on me?

I just want to break the cycle, give them

something to truly be in awed delight about.

Mine isn’t typical — it’s beautiful.

And it is beautiful even if it is

not announced.

They know not what they speak on,

just opinions

based solely on haughty indoctrination.

If you judge him, you judge yourself.

Yet why, when the questions come,

am I timid, tolerant?

I expect the worst, and prepare for it,

and so I come across as naïve

and irresolute.

––––––––

But in my heart, I’m the opposite

of that.

God, I don’t want to be this

way anymore!

––––––––

I want to pour out my passion,

to let it bleed from me and think not

on who sees.

I want my eyes to be windows to my heart,

my voice to penetrate perceptions.

I want them to look at me and know

that I stand

unshakably on solid ground.

––––––––

But it comes down to so much more,

for I have become timid and tolerant

everywhere.

When did I accept apathy as the norm,

as something that I will never

be free from?

I have become easily satisfied —

I do not thirst, or ache...

and nor am I consumed by flames.

––––––––

But in my heart, I’m the opposite of that.

What will it take to bring me

fully to life?

––––––––

I want to pour out my passion, to let it

bleed from me

and think not on who sees.

I want my eyes to be windows to my heart,

my voice to penetrate perceptions.

I want them to look at me and know that I

stand

unshakably

on solid ground.

––––––––

And the irony is that I’ve spent years

believing the lie that to love anything else is to sin —

wickedly.

You created us in love and passion —

and passionately we were meant to live.

I am coming full circle.

––––––––

I want to pour out my passion,

to let it bleed from me and

think not on who sees.

I want my eyes to be windows to my heart,

my voice to penetrate perceptions.

I want them to look at me and know that I stand

unshakably on solid ground.

––––––––

You are bringing me full circle.

And I am beginning to accept

truth.

From the Clutches Of

Once upon a time you were innocent —

as innocent as born criminals can be.

But children do not last long in

bloody combat.

And so arrows pierce, and throes initiate,

and innocence is lost in favor

of survival.

The Darkness sweeps in to remove evidence.

And so many eyes have not seen the strikes —

and the minds do not perceive or recognize.

Initial wounds go unnoticed, undetected,

for it’s just life; and life has more

pressing needs.

But innocence is pilfered, whatever the root cause,

and Darkness whisks off yet

another hostage.

––––––––

And like the frog in boiling water,

we are all too often blind until

we are blindsided.

––––––––

Can the ship be turned around

after it has set sail?

Can the fire be drowned out with no water

in the air?

Can the prison bars be shaken

and the doors swung open wide?

Can the captives be released or will Darkness

claim the tide?

––––––––

Secreted emptiness urges you on, and pride

results from the cynical defense you have built

around your heart to keep it intact.

But blades stab through, pierce,

and you are left adrift, and the

flight resumes for the fabled one

who will love.

The Darkness delights as you disregard truth.

And so many times you give all you have,

and the hearts do not receive or validate.

Infected wounds displace reason and pervade,

to