The Past Came Through

By: Anthony Harden
I wrote this poem this morning so it's still a bit rough yet I imagine. I found a website today that I had posted poetry on many years ago. I had totally forgotten about it till I accidentally found it now. As I was reading through what I had written so long ago I realized that it was time to update my thoughts on paper. My poetry from before was highly nihilistic in nature, and vitriolic in tone. When I wrote all of those poems I was a die hard atheist. Reading it now is like a shot in the arm from a time past. I hope that this effort conveys an attitude of joy, instead of one of hate and bitter disillusionment.


The past came through, disguised as joy eternal,
An amazing thing in his life he had learned,
Once a hellion so temporal,
Given a grace he could never have earned.

Condemned to die by the powers that be,
Beset with vengeance for all time,
No way out could he see,
It was inconceivable to repay the crime.

A life of wandering had he chosen,
Then One he knew not came knocking at his door,
He made a decision that left him frozen,
When his face hit the floor.

All the options he weighed,
Yet he was mired in sin,
But the Message conveyed,
Left him no choice but giving in.

Through darkness and confusion,
Light slowly filtered in,
With nothing left to support his delusion,
He quietly realized his sin.

Then came the feeling,
That taste of joy with a touch of trembling,
Only through pain is there healing,
For a new man assembling.

Where then it went he did not know,
This sensation he quickly came to cherish,
As soon as it came it seemed to go,
Without it, alone, he felt he would perish.

Then a new thought came to his mind,
What was this thing now inside,
For so long he had been blind,
Now these eyes were opened, and his worlds began to collide.

Latter clashed with present,
And the present prevailed,
His decision upheld by virtuous portent,
Yet the battle kept raging, as his perimeters were assailed.

The war he now fought was always his own,
But up until now, his enemy was not concerned with this man,
He had always believed without question what he was shown,
Yet now this man was a part of a greater plan.

The enemy broke loose and shuddered in fear,
As the Maker came down and entered this fellow,
You could see the edges of his brow sear,
As he proved his true color of yellow.

True joy came to the man that day,
He held his new place of position,
No matter what any would say,
Finally, he would see the benefit of a good decision.

A gift freely given can not easily be taken away,
A portion of grace taken lightly is no grace at all,
It is our honor to obey,
The grace given after our own fall.

This man who once lived a life of sin,
Was captured at the highest price,
And has now entered in,
Only by the grace of God, in Christ.