Did you know?

Did you know that giraffes can’t cough
and bluebirds can’t see blue
Did you know that a cow’s only sweat glands’ in its nose,
maybe, that’s why they moo!
Did you know that butterflies taste with their feet,
and insects shiver when they’re cold
Did you know that lobsters have blue blood,
and rats can’t vomit, so I’m told!


Did you know an average iceberg weighs 20 million tons
and only male fireflies can fly,
Did you know astronauts can’t burp in space,
neither can they cry.
The earth’s seas are about 2 miles deep,
and the Atlantic is saltier than the Pacific
Only 1 out of 10 parrots learn to talk,
now that’s a nifty trick.


Who created the house fly that hums in middle F,
or slugs that have 4 noses?
Who created the seas and then parted them,
for the people of Israel led by Moses?
Who created the catfish that are the only animal-
to have an odd number of whiskers?
Who created you and me, with our noses-
that can identify 10 thousand different odours?

Back in November, my Mum asked me to plan "Scout's Own" for a Cub Badge Camp at very short notice. Scout's Own is the Sunday worship/ reflective thing on a Cub or Scout camp- It can a bit like an assembly!

The conversation went something like this:

Me: [answers phone] Hi Mum! you alright?!
Mum: ...[hellos, how are yous, I'm fine, yaa-da-yahdee-yah...]
         I've been asked to lead Scout's Own this weekend.
        Can you* do it?
*[could I plan something simple for her lead?!]
Me: Oh! I'm fairly busy this week, but er.. yeah?!
        When do you need it for?
Mum: Thursday morning- we're going early!
[It was already Tuesday...
and Wednesday is the day I work til really late!!]
Me: Crumbs! Have you got any ideas?
Mum: No, Whatever you like!!
        I just need to be able to follow and lead it.
Me: [yelp!] Erm, okay?!!!

Maybe I should have said no,

Perhaps I should have insisted on a few ideas or direction,

But as a result of this, I came up with a few ideas and finally decided to focus on a verse in Acts (14: 13) which says, "God made the heaven, the earth, the sea and everything in it".

While gathering up some very cool facts from an app on my phone, I tried to work out how to bring it all together in a fun and engaging way, I never intended to write a poem, but on the Thursday morning, as I was trying to piece the different facts and ideas together, rhythm and rhyme started to flow and connect, so at the very last minute, I somehow had a poem, a quiz, some more facts and bible verses, a song (with actions) and a prayer!

This is the story of how this poem came about.

As a final thought,

Did you know, that a completely blind chameleon will still  take on the colours of it's environment!

Totally amazing! Surely proof of a Maker!

Tree from the Rocks

 


'Tree from the Rocks', Acrylic on Canvas



It's about rocks like a tomb, trapping a tree, 

Blocking the light, but the tree bursts free.

Pushing the slab of rock aside,

I don't think I could if I tried!

The dark is too dark

How can you survive

Hope is so small

but it is alive.

Life has strength and power

and Hope does not die.

A tree stands firm like a tower,

from a seed of faith buried on a hillside.

When the power of heaven join and face

The struggles and darkness of this place

Hope goes hand in hand with reality!

Rocks like a tomb, but the tree bursts free!



Inspired by a tree discovered off the beaten track in the Lake District, while I was on a walking trip with my Dad and stepmum the weekend before Easter 2011. I took a photo of this prophetic tree and decided to paint it for the June Project Art Space and up sprung this poem while starting to write the blurb to accompany it!   



Original sketch: water colour pencils





When I wrote this in June, poetry was not something that I considered to be 'my thing'; particularly as I'm dyslexic, it was quite the opposite. I always struggled getting thoughts and ideas on paper in anyway other than a mindmap or picture! (Although, I did used to write very long letters- that only occasionally made it to the postbox!) 

So I was quite surprised and totally amazed at how natural it seemed to write, and how easily this poem had appeared like a new spring!

Hope you like it! :-)



Welcome to Pondering Poetry

Welcome to Pondering Poetry. This page is part of my Pondering Pancakes blog, but is set aside for sharing my poetry and maybe some related art with you all.


I hope it is an encouragement and inspiration to you. It is inspired mainly by faith and what God is teaching, reminding and revealing to me through creation, others and of course, himself. I'm a Christian, have been for a long time but recently discovered in a new way a fullness of freedom, life and joy in him as he took the shackles off my feet and the weight off the world off my shoulders. As a friend put it,

"You can get Israel out of Egypt, but you gotta get Egypt out of Israel"

- the Israelites had crossed the Red Sea and heading for the promised land but for many the familiarity of slavery and the melons and cucumbers of Egypt seemed safe and meant many lived as if they were slaves not free people...


Through discovering what it is to live as a new creation, living a new story, where his yoke is easy and his burden is light, a new creativity seems to be flowing... I was quite arty before but I have discovered writing poetry, there may be a couple of earlier poems too- it seems to have been brewing over the last year or so...


I hope you enjoy them and it gives you something to ponder!

Check out my blog http://ponderingpancakes.blogspot.com/