Join the Spiritual Thursday round up at Reading, Teaching, Learning.
Image created in Canva. Photo taken by Maggie Simon in New Orleans. A sky writer send messages of hope.
Perfect is an imperfect word
with its soft purr beginning
to its hard -fect ending.
It crashes down on you
at the worst possible moments
when everything is clear as mud
and life has offered lemons.
Perfection is illusive
as the light shining through
the stained glass window,
pointing the way one minute
and spreading shards of colors the next.
I choose not to follow you, perfection.
I will find a path littered with debris,
broken into pieces by storms and crashing waves.
I will seek grace,
that smooth silky word that whispers softly
and leads me to knowing the one
whose spirit is in us all
seeking only love and to be loved.–Margaret Simon, all rights reserved
When Holly tweeted out the theme for the week, “Let’s get real, no need to be perfect,” I rolled the word perfect around on my tongue. I didn’t like the taste. On Michelle Hendrick Barnes site, Today’s Little Ditty, she interviewed Nikki Grimes and put out a poetry challenge to write a wordplay poem. Perfect was not one of the words suggested, but I liked the idea of thinking about the word itself. For me, the process led to a deeper realization (which is often the way when writing poetry) that perfection is not what God wants from us. Grace is a gift given by God always, whether or not we are perfect. Grace is never taken away. It is our choice to respond to this gift with our works, our prayers, and our love. Stop seeking perfection. Look instead for the light of grace in your life, and say thanks.
Reflections on the Teche 
I’m not sure we’ve written about the theme topic, GRACE, yet, but I see it in our future. 😉 Isn’t it interesting that the word, PERFECT, is not a pretty word and feels distasteful on the tongue. Favorite lines:
” Perfection is illusive
as the light shining through
the stained glass window,
pointing the way one minute
and spreading shards of colors the next.”
Margaret, I love your perspective on the topic. You so aptly created a path for us to follow that is not perfect-driven in a world that idolizes perfection: I will find a path littered with debris, broken into pieces by storms and crashing waves. What you described is the real world path that allows us to grow as individuals in the light of God.
Margaret, This is beautiful. I needed this today. I feel so blessed our journeys share common paths these days.
Seeking grace instead of perfection is not easy. We all want to put our best on display, our perfect selves. Grace is soft and loving and whispers to us just like you said in your wonderful poem. Thanks for inspiring me.
Margaret, I am astounded with the idea of GRACE every single day, isn’t it amazing?!?! I love the image and your words!! Here are my favorite lines,
“It crashes down on you
at the worst possible moments
when everything is clear as mud
and life has offered lemons.”
I’ve felt that! Thank you for describing it so beautifully and painfully. What a wonderful perspective!
Your poem is swirling around in my head, Margaret. Purrs and crashes mixing with shards and debris, making a unique collage with a beautiful message. Thank you. Thank you also for mentioning Nikki Grimes’ challenge. I wonder if you would allow me to include this poem in the wrap-up celebration at the end of the month? I’ve received a couple other poems based on her wordplay exercise that also do not use her list of words.