Thailand / Loneliness and Hope by Eris Cardin

Thailand

This is my country, low rolling hills

And mountains veiled by sunset,

Beaches yellow with grainy sand.

This is my country, coconuts sprouting,

Orange papayas dangling low,

A thousand bananas hanging.

This is my country, words spoken soft,

Spoken soft as waves lapping the shore

Where stars rise above the water,

And the moon skims the surface,

A wavering path I want to tread.

This is my country, the glittering temples

Rising to scrape the sky,

The mosques reaching up to the clouds,

Creating an ache within me,

Reminding me of my hopes and dreams,

Why God has called this to be my home.

Loneliness and Hope

The echo of a mourning heart,

Of friendships of the past.

A dreaming of a fresher start.

A friend, perhaps, at last.

A dozen friendships gone,

A hundred dreams are shattered.

Yet still, there is a dawn:

Still, there’s that which mattered.

The tears of long-borne pain,

The prays that joy awakes. You may yet find gain,

And pleasure for His sake.

You may never lose this grief,

You may never cease to weep,

You may never find relief,

You may cry yourself to sleep—

And yet remember your God—

Your life, your hope, your love—

Recall the way He trod—

And fix your gaze above.

Eris Cardin

Eris Cardin is a young poet and writer living as a missionary kid in Southern Thailand. She delights in nature and poetry. She is inspired by classical poetry. Her favorite poets are Byron, Tennyson, and Herbert.