Author: jennygracespoetryandcreativewritingtechniques

I am a published poet and short story writer. I have been published in SNHU's the penmen review. https://penmenreview.com/author/jenny-andrews is the link where you can find my poetry and a short story. Currently, I am writing a collection of short stories, and a collection of poetry. I am trying my hand at writing a novel. Well, not a novel, actually. Make that two novels. My passion is writing. My inspiration is Franz Krafka because he managed to see the absurdity of life. Life is all about perspective and who is telling the story. We all see this life through the lens of our experiences. Literature should inspire us to think, to analyze, and to get lost in unfamiliar worlds in which we learn something new about this human existence. It is my hope that my writing challenges the reader to think, and to see a different perspective, as well as be entertained. My faith in Jesus strengthens me and gives me the courage to survive the twists and turns of this life. My faith influences a lot of my writing in that goodness always triumphs over evil, in that love conquers all. I hope you enjoy reading my blog.

Winter Reflection: A Poem

Brown-billed bird with ruby throat ignores winter’s threat.

Alights upon icy oak branch and injures itself.

Rush of furious winds topple the weak branches to the frozen earth.

Brown-billed bird with ruby throat darts under splintered limbs.

Sky cries with ice chips splattering and splashing withered brown leaves.

Brown-billed bird with ruby throat camouflages itself within the warmth of withered brown leaves.

Update after a Break

It’s been several months since I wrote on my blog.

Honestly, I haven’t felt much like doing anything since my husband passed from this valley of sorrows last September. I truly believe his soul is at peace on the other side of the veil with God, the angels, and all his loved-ones who have gone before him. I truly believe that he was greeted into the warmth of God’s eternal love. These are truths that have sustained me on a daily basis. These are the truths that get me from moment to moment.

It has been eight months since that rainy September morning.

Eight months later on this sunny spring morning I listen to birds singing high in the oak trees and I consider the future, the years that lie ahead of me. This life is a journey filled with twists and turns, with heartbreak and joy. It is a rollercoaster of emotions. I have run the gamut of emotions these past eight months.

God has sustained me through the darkness. He is my fortress, he is my strength. I turn my soul completely to God and trust that I will move forward on my journey and that I will live my days with purpose, that I will serve him with my life.

I have been working on my writing projects: Two novel ideas, and a poetry book. I plan to put them on Barnes and Noble Press. Oh, also, an art book. Yes, I consider myself an artist of sorts. I love colorful drawings so I have been trying my hand at my own art book.

I am being intentionally happy. Yesterday, I took a river cruise. It was spectacular to see such wilderness on either side of the river’s bank. There were cypresses, oak, and pine, and several crocodiles.

Feeling the cool wind, the warm sun, and just basking in the loveliness of this earth’s beauty revived my soul.

I have to move forward from this grief of the past eight months.

With God’s help I shall. Only God can heal us in this life. Only God. Not religion. Not money. Not acquiring things. But only God.

So, with intentional happiness, each day I will find joy in the beauty around me.

I will set aside time for my writing projects.

Please pray for me; please pray for this world and the hurting souls that dwell in it.

May we all turn our eyes to God who loves us and gives us peace in the storms of this life.

There is light at the end of the darkest night.

God is that light.

Thank you for reading.

Jenny

Misinterpretation: A short story sketch

Miss Naiomi had not been been pleased in five and a half decades.

That money, oh, that money! Oh, she would have been able to have broken away earlier had she not been such a coward. Cowardice was a genetic trait, of that she had convinced herself.

“Dang fool,” she announced to the skinny nurse’s aide who had just walked into her room. “Stop pursing your lips and staring at me with pity. I’ve got the money. Why don’t you go and eat a sandwich.”

Linda M., the nursing supervisor on the night shift, bent to hug Miss Naiomi. “You’re such a sweet lady, aren’t you? You don’t mean a cross word you say.” She turned to the skinny nurse’s aid and whispered, “it’s such a shame the dementia is progressing this quickly.”

Miss Naiomi rolled her pale blue eyes. “Dang idiots, the whole of you.”

“I know you don’t mean that Miss Naiomi,” Corrinne H., nursing home social worker, touched Miss Naiomi’s thick cottony hair gently. You’ve got such lovely hair.”

“Turds, you’ve all got turds in your teeth.”

Linda M., Corrinne H,. and the skinny nurse’s aide, simultaneously tilted their heads, pursed their lips, and smiled with compassion. “Such a sweet lady,” Linda M., restated. “She doesn’t mean the insults. She’ll be ninety-seven tomorrow. That’s hard to believe. She barely looks seventy.”

Miss Naiomi glared at the three women as they turned to leave. “I have the money. I had the money. Now, they’ve got the money.” She stabbed her fingers into the metal bed railings. “If only,” she muttered as she nodded off to sleep.

Note to my readers:

I am trying to return to my passion, writing, after a long stretch of being the caregiver for my husband who passed away on September first from a long battle with cancer. Daily I am doing activities to try to return to some sense of normalcy. Actually, I doubt if I’ll ever truly feel the same again. But, that’s okay. God has walked with me through this dark, painful season in my life. Now, I want to start a new chapter and move forward with a spirit of hope for my future. God is in control and I turn to him for my strength. Our lives are short, so we need to focus on making each moment count. If we live long enough we will inevitably lose someone whom we love. That emptiness is real, but only God can fill up that void. So, I am turning my eyes to God who is my strength and my fortress in this storm. I am beginning to see the sunlight. I will always miss my husband, but this life is not all there is. One day, he and I will meet again in eternity. But, for now, I am going to focus on living the best life I can. I am going to focus on my writing and getting published. I am going to focus on enjoying this beautiful world that God has bless me with the opportunity to see. With gratefulness I turn to God of miracles and I rest in his abiding love.

Thank you, readers, for your prayers during this difficult season.

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think about my short story sketch (but be kind).

Thanks,

Jenny

Hand

Rising again from sorrow’s ashes.

Coming up from the drowning of dreams.

Grasping for the hand of God, who had never for a second,

forgotten me in my sorrow.

Clinging to God who loves me; resting in God who rescued me from the drowning of my dreams.

Until We Meet Again, My Husband, My Heart

Not sure how to bid you farewell.

Paths led in the damnable direction of an ending God refused to halt.

Ice cold hand in my palm; life leaving that dying man whom I loved three decades of my life.

Early Sunday morning on the first of September. Pitter patter of raindrops on the petals of the yellow marigolds planted in those blue window boxes. World outside the bedroom window, sun’s early light, birds serenade like a chorus.

Our lives together unraveling; that long road slamming to an ending neither of us wanted.

Doors closing; final curtain falling.

I place a final kiss on your forehead, remind you that I will love you whether you are here or not.

The magnitude of your life’s earthly ending swallowed me up that early September morning.

How will I face the looming darkness without you by my side?

Surprises . . .in the storm. . .

Early Sunday morning I sat at my dining room table with my heart heavy with sadness. Rain clouds had cleared and the morning looked fresh as the wind gently moved yellow lantana and pink and orange zinnias around in my garden.

I looked away from the window briefly and felt my heart fill with sadness and my eyes with tears.

Then like a miracle, like a balm sent to give me comfort, I saw the fluttering of magnificent yellow and blue butterfly wings alight on the pink zinnia petals in the middle of my garden.

I just sat at my window and in amazement drank in this reminder that although the world is filled with pain, injustice, and grief, there still are those little surprises that God sends us to remind us that in the darkness there is still beauty.

This is a female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. She simply sat on the zinnia as I carefully approached her to snap a picture. Surprisingly, she simply fluttered her wings as if she knew that I needed to be near her, that I needed her reminder that in the ugliness of this life there is incredible beauty, and goodness.

Did God send this beautiful butterfly to remind me that I am not alone, that I can still smile despite the tears that plague me, to remind me that there is always hope and that joy is still possible?

God is God of miracles and I believe he sends us what we need at the exact right moment.

Thanks be to God, Our Father who is always with us, who always shines a light in the darkness.

Perhaps even sending a reminder on the wings of a butterfly.. . .

Pearl Moon (poem from 2021)

Summer afternoon,

misty cool rain washes away sadness,

residual pain.

Approaching promised moon like a pearl balloon floats above cloudy lanes drenched in rain.

Earth beneath forever sky shimmers, shines with endless life.

Blueness blends in a thousand shades: sky, birds, flowers, rocks, rivers.

Earth aches under its own weight.

Power, beauty, prisms of light sparkle in rain puddles,

and drench the parched earth.

Standing in the Pause

To pause means to briefly stop an action.

Before resuming it again.

On the other side of this extended pause in my grief process is the looming finality of loss that I cannot even utter.

If I don’t utter it then maybe it will just wilt like a dying flower that doesn’t get water. Maybe it will just go away. Wither like scorched leaves.

So, I am standing in the pause knowing that in the next few weeks (maybe days) that I will have to face the other side of this extended pause.

I will have no other choice but to face the darkness that is on the other side of this pause.

I will have no other choice but to accept the inevitable.

I often stand in my garden and just stare at the little statue of Mother Mary and the pink rain lilies that grow near the statue. I often read the garden stone that reminds me to walk by faith.

By faith.

God is supposed to walk beside me.

I wish Jesus would reach down here in this dark tunnel of grief and lift me up into his protecting arms and hold me and wipe my tears away.

I hunger for the peace that only God can give.

My heart is so very broken and I am lost down here in this dark tunnel. . .

I lift up my eyes unto the hills. . .just like the psalmist wrote. . .

My help comes from my Lord, maker of Heaven and Earth.

I am standing in the pause.

And I am gripped by sadness.

I am powerless to change the trajectory of all of this.

I give it over to God to comfort me and lift me out of this dark tunnel.

And to walk with me as I prepare to step into the other side of this pause.

Please pray for me and my family.

Thank you.

On a Quiet Walk. . .

I have been taking quiet walks in the late afternoon despite the heat of the day. . .

Just yesterday, I went downtown and decided to walk along the cobblestone streets in the historic district.

This magnificent Marian shrine has spires that can be seen from several blocks over. The spires beckon like the lights shining from a lighthouse on a troubled sea. Just knowing this Marian shrine is only a few blocks away gives me comfort. It offers tranquility and rest from those burdens that trouble me.

I stopped and snapped a photograph to share with you all.

It was a late afternoon and the sun was shining on the red leaves of this small oak tree.

I felt blessed to simply feel the sun on my skin, to feel the light flutter of wind from the river just a few blocks away.

Life is still beautiful despite the burdens and the troubles that this life presents us with.

So, be mindful of God’s love and the perfect promises that he has made.

Be mindful of the tranquility offered within the sacred walls of Marian shrines and those other sacred places in which people of God kneel and pray.

Live your life everyday with thankfulness that you have another day to witness the beauty of God’s world.

Take a walk in late afternoon and remember to pray.

Is It Just My Imagination?

Just the other day I was walking down the sidewalk and happened to notice this flower. Is it just my imagination that I see a starfish in the middle?

I researched flowers and tried to identify what exactly type this is, but I wasn’t able to find a name for it.

It is so unusual and I have never seen this type of flower, so if anyone knows what it is called please let me know in the comments.

I love the beauty of nature.

Thanks and have a beautiful day!