Poems by Marla J. Frazier

Close your eyes and picture beauty.
What is it that you see?
A baby, a mountain, a river?
Or maybe an old oak tree?

There is beauty all around us,
But some of it's hard to find,
Perhaps in the eyes of a weary soul
To which life has not been kind.

Maybe a life so shattered
And their world torn apart.
Hurting and so very alone,
They live with a broken heart.

Look beyond what you see.
Love them for who they are.
Do this, and you will find
Beauty beneath the scars.

I felt like I was falling
Off of a very steep cliff
And I just kept on tumbling
Into an unknown abyss

I fell deeper and deeper
And into places never known,
But my fall would teach me something
That I had yet to be shown

I know the words of the Lord,
So forgive I always do
And it was never hard for me
Until it came to you

We should always be forgiving
And we know why this must be
Forgive so that we can be forgiven,
These are familiar words to me

Where mercy is given,
Mercy will be shown
But put through such a fall
Is something I'd never known

I loved you and feared you
And it was hard to live that way
But I patiently waited on God
And He finally made a way

The hate that consumes you,
It runs incredibly deep
And I was terribly hurt
Falling from this cliff so very steep

But now I have forgiven you
Free from the fear in which I was kept
Taught to forgive in a deeper way,
By God's love that has greater depth

So much thrown at me,
And up against a wall
I feel like I've spent my life,
Playing a game of dodgeball.

Something thrown from the left,
So I dodge to the right.
Trying to keep from getting hit
Has been a constant fight.

Occasionally, I am blindsided
And hit square in the face,
But I know I can't quit playing,
So I pick up the pace!

Sometimes it really hurts
And leaves quite a bruise,
But I keep right on dodging
Because I don't want to lose.

But now that I've gotten older,
I understand the game a little more.
Keeping your eye on the ball is wiser
Rather than trying to watch the score.

Now that I'm an accomplished player,
I can give good advice to you all.
Keep dodging to the right or left,
But never lose sight of the ball!