Bio: Nicholas
Froumis practices optometry in the Bay Area. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in
The Society of Classical Poets Journal
and
Touch: The Journal of Healing. He lives in
San Jose, CA with his wife and daughter.
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
-Matthew 11:28
Heavy Laden
The invitation has been extended
with a promise of a lightened burden.
Words spoken before the Lord ascended
to ears of all who remain uncertain
how to unload the oppressive millstone
so tightly tied around every neck.
When faced with trials we’d rather bemoan
the injustice of life’s latest train wreck
and sink further under the weight of night.
Yet the heaviness stays in the morning
despite the promise of the sun’s new light
as self-reliance ignores the warning-
a far lighter yolk is up for the trade,
since heavy loads were not why man was made.
Jonah Revisited
I think of Jonah fast asleep below
while panicked crew battle the storm outside.
What caused him to flee instead of follow
the plain instructions of God, was it pride?
He must have had plenty of time to think
in the lonely innards of that great fish.
Drowning by faith but not allowed to sink,
until steadfast prayers brought forth his wish.
Lord, please also spit me onto dry land.
The cares of this life have swallowed me whole.
To obey what you have divinely planned,
gives hope to this ever-wandering soul.
Lent
When time has come to consider the fast,
foods become the obvious restriction.
Simply repeat what was done in the past,
and ignore pleas from the benediction.
Easier to watch what enters the mouth,
than what falls so callously from the tongue.
Instead of upward, the eyes still point south,
like sheepish embarrassment of the young.
But if one tries to look past ingestion
and alter isolating behavior,
perhaps there will be no need to question
how can I come closer to the Savior?
