Author: Anna Eastland

I'm a homeschooling mom of 8 and write at "Just East of Crazy Land: Adventures in Parenting." My younger daughters share their art and writing at "The Passionate Pencil" and the older ones at "The Writing Sisters." Enjoy! :)

Broken Light

On By Anna EastlandIn PoetryLeave a comment

This is a poem I wrote months ago, and finally decided to publish, being in a sufficiently melodramatic mood after a long day.  Funny how poetry brings out our inner opera star sometimes…Anyway, I wasn’t able to sleep and got up to clean the kitchen a bit to get sleepy.  My efforts in late night cleaning resulted in accidentally knocking a glass pitcher out of the cupboards at midnight…SMASH! on the tile floor…overheard by my landlord upstairs…Should have stuck to my initial plan to read a good book and eat ice cream instead!

Broken Light

Some days I can do nothing;
everything I try to fix breaks.

Hands reaching out to heal
make things crumble instead;
fingers try to caress but leave a bruise.

Words meant to help leave scars of pain,
wounds unhealing and unforgotten.

How can I go so wrong?
Intending to care
but causing anger, offense, insult…

It is clear I can do nothing.

Lord, from this hollow emptiness
bring fullness of life,
from my stumbling failures bring fruit.
Make all things new,
from death bring life.

Help me to embrace
the silence of my nothingness.

Help me become an instrument
forged in fires of humiliation,
not broken but smoothed,
docile to your inspirations,
attentive to the needs of others
and passionate for my own duties
brightening my tiny corner of the world.

The Moon is Laughing

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry1 Comment

Tonight I went out and looked up at the crescent moon.
The evening air was calm and cool.

I tried to think deep thoughts about eternity,
about how this suffering now is only a blip,
and all worth it for the great forever to come…
but the moon kept flipping over and smiling at me.

I think it’s trying to tell me to laugh more!

Grinning, I go back inside
to my newly mopped floor
–a rare treat with 5 kids!–
and write this little poem.

Summer Morning Memory

On By Anna EastlandIn Poetry2 Comments

I remember hazy summer mornings with my brothers,
exploring the long yellow grass by the country road,
picking up garter snakes by the tips of their tails
and watching them wriggle.
I remember the rustling sound
of crickets in the dry grass….
that smell of wild flowers and freedom.

When we got hot we used to go hide out
in the shade of the forest around our cabins
and look for tiny frogs.
We’d catch them and make them swim
across our little kiddy pool
again and again until laughing
we let our magic moving toys squirm out of our hands
into the cool green grass.

Man! What I would give for a time machine,
a pair of cutoff jean shorts and a little grubby t-shirt,
being there again, a kid.
Except this time I’d bring my kids–
all 5 of them
to play with me.