Who We Are

One day in the mountains I saw a bird,
Majestic it flew so graceful and spry,
While it soared through the sky to me it occurred,
That its wings could only ascend it so high.

On this path through the hills that humbly wound,
I leaned on a tree so worn and wised,
Its roots grew deep without making a sound,
But it’d be forever a tree this thing I surmised.

I kept moving on at a steady pace,
And I came to a rock so sturdy and strong,
Though immovable in its solid place,
It’d never walk the path that I carried along.

Stopping to admire a lone standing flower,
So elegant, so beautiful, so humble and nice,
The scent to one’s mind can thus empower,
But to me to be a flower would never suffice.

When I reached the summit of my very own hike,
On top of the mountain I knelt and did pray,
I felt in my heart how much I was alike,
To all of those things in an incredible way.

I thought, I can fly like the graceful hawk
But my ascent beyond does extend,
And be immovable as the sturdy rock,
But free to travel the path to its undeniable end,

And be wise as the old, still standing willow,
But endless can be my solemn ambition
And be as beautiful as the most intricate flower
For the rose testifies the soul to fruition.

Then I gazed out at the remarkable valley,
So immense, so pretty, so grand,
That day in the mountain I did finally see,
That day in the hills I did understand,

I realized that I was a work of genius,
And to me I thought kind of odd,
Beyond imagination our potential so is
For we’re all the children of an eternal true God.

With tears in my eyes I looked into the sky,
With a grateful heart I gazed up so far,
Everything testifies of the gospel divine,
And of our potential to be whom we truly are.

-Jacob Winterfeldt

A Mountain to Climb

I owe so many things to my precious God,
There are many things that I can prove,
There are so many things that I cannot,
But climb a mountain I can do.

A mountain to climb is my solemn ambition,
To prove to the Lord that I want to be with Him,
I climb and seek honest forgiveness,
Only I and the angels do solemnly witness.

I climb e’en though I am weighted down,
Every footstep pressed forward with words in mind,
I pray as I go without a sound,
With each step past burdens left behind.

So each day I have a mountain to climb,
Climb every hour, rain or shine,
And as I climb I humbly pray,
That maybe one day I’ll hear God say,

“The mountain you‘ve climbed has brought you home,
I’ve blessed every step you’ve taken my son,
Your burden is gone, be at peace you‘ve won,
You can rest now, your journey is done.”

-Jacob Winterfeldt

Mountain Top

After I got done throwing chalk at people today I felt like I needed some good inspiration. Also I have been feeling down in the dumps lately so I did something that I haven't done by myself for some time. I went and hiked the Y. After receiving many funny looks from nearly everyone on the mountain because of my colorful attire I finally reached the top. While I was laying on my back gazing into the clouds that drifted so close to me I started composing a poem to myself. After it got to a certain length I realized that I needed to remember it but I had no paper or pencil to write with! So being the ingenuitive(it's a word...now,) person i am, I pulled out my cell phone and texted it to myself. This is what I wrote on top of the Y.

Mountain Top

So many trivial matters in the city abound,
How do you heal a heart that has a hole?
When you walk the streets take a look around,
The claustrophobic sight suffocates the soul.

But up in the mountains and high in the hills,
Everything is so calm, intricate and serene,
The peaceful breeze, the hole in my heart fills,
As I gaze out upon the beautiful scene.

Sleepy now, my eyes do fade,
A dream fills my mind as I start to nod,
As water on rocks my thoughts cascade
As I see myself on a mountain in the arms of My God.

-Jacob Winterfeldt

Symbols

I sigh as I stare out upon the place,
From my exalted height I gaze into the night sky,
A somber look comes across my face,
As I relate the city lights to the stars so high.

Almost like a mirror we mimic the heavens,
A symbiotic link with our body and soul,
Inherent, we yearn for our divine heritage,
The symbolism I think can be unfathomable.

Yet simple as well to attract the gaze
Of those who wander on paths in the haze,
For the soul’s desire is simple you see,
To love and be loved, to be heavenly.

Everything in this life so testifies of
Truth that is light and of an eternal true course,
That’s why the greatest of men speak truths to us
In parables that reflect the shine from its source.

“I was blind but now I see,” Has now suddenly
Shined a light on this source from which I echo,
Even a physical ache does symbolically
Represents a true pain, of this thing I do know.

In the end we all want to be like our Father,
E’en though we all stray away from Him,
But just like a shallow, free flowing river of water,
We end in an ocean where we realize the depths of the sin we’re in.

Everything in our essence pulls us toward light,
And O, the pain in this life that is caused
By heeding the tenacious fires so bright,
But in the fog a light only makes us more lost.

As a chiasmus I try to bring this around,
Symbolizing a loop as eternity goes,
As a mirror I relate the lights that surround,
The city our bodies and the stars our souls.

-Jacob Winterfeldt

Light in the Dark

I would like to say some words concerning this poem. I don’t consider it my best work or even my favorite, but this one is very special to me. I started writing it when I was in Rexburg a few days ago in the middle of the night. I was trying to sleep but words kept going through my mind and I couldn’t rest until I knew I had written them down. So after my many failed attempts of trying to push the words out of my head and just go to sleep I finally got up at about 4am and turned on my lap top and started writing. This is the finished version only changed slightly from its original form from what I wrote that night.

Within the scent of memory,
I compose a melody of my soul,
Within my chest there abides a power
To hold onto what I consider divine.

Why would my heart I ever abandon?
Why would light I ever conceal?
If a fool to the world I am so branded,
Then I am a fool whose soul has been healed.

Within my thoughts a vagabond I’ve been,
I’ve walked crooked paths and I’ve struggled with pride,
I’ve wandered the halls within the jackets of sin,
And cried in the night praying, “God, let me die!”

But it becomes clear when I reflect on my Friend,
Who’s always been there and helped me to see,
He was always so near especially at the end
Of my own life, but I found a new me.

How can I deny a thing that I’ve seen
And continue to pray in good conscience today?
And is my chest really warmed by foolish things?
It’s not, for these gifts I could never defame.

A light I have seen and it saved my life,
And it promised blessings and gave me works,
As a vision to my mind more pristine than ice,
It gave me new life and blessed me with words.

A sensation divine as it healed my heart,
It penetrated my teary, swollen eyes devade,
It succored my body that was filled with dark,
And kept my blood pumping while my essence did fade,

It bade me come close and said without remiss,
“The shade of a rose is tranquil but know this,
The color will fade but the memory of a kiss,
Brings with it its scent and a heavenly bliss.

The light that gives life and its sweetness is true,
The shade of the rose can be pink, purple, or blue,
E’en the withered red rose you still can reflect
On a lifetime of beauty, memories and respect.

I’ve been brought to the ends of the stars through my tears while I’ve cried,
I saw there a light and it in the night I will never deny,
I’ve in unfathomable ways crossed the widest divide
To find a light in the dark that I consider divine.

-Jacob Winterfeldt

Morning

In the morning I will find a way
To offer thanks for the new day,
As I wake I kneel in prayer,
Often something like this I’ll share;

“O, Father, my God thou art so true,
Thou hast blest me with things I never knew,
Not worthy am I for e’en this morning,
So grateful am I that thou art my King.

Thou hast offered me life which is e’en too much,
I did not deserve it but my heart thou didst touch,
Is my heart worth the price to heal and mend?
Through my own stubborn pride thy Son thou didst send.”

With an angel by my side while I walk through the dark,
I walk toward the pinprick of light I can see in my mind,
It resides in my chest and on this path I’ll embark,
I thought I could see once, but now I know I was blind.

Wishing me to fly the angels help me ascend,
But I become difficult to lift when them I offend,
They lift with their hands but as I stray off the path,
I become as the sand, far too tricky to grasp.

How can I fly when I sift like the sand?
Particles in the sky must come together again,
And be whole forever, the soul and the body,
In the best of desires, and the highest degree.

I would pray this morning for those I hold dear,
For those in my heart who’ve shed many a tear,
To not worry for me for I’m alright you see,
I pray that you are even more happy then me.

To be so happy you can’t contain yourself,
Tears of joy are more sacred than riches and wealth,
To love the life that you’ve chosen and the life that you’ve made,
Don’t worry about me for I know love doesn’t fade.

In the morning I will find a way,
To offer thanks for this beautiful new day,
E’en not yet as beautiful as memories I retain
But each sunrise brings with it new rays through the rain.

Golden as wheat and precious as rose,
Friendship is sweet for all those who know
That the truest of friends are those within the heart and the mind,
And those never let go and not ever left behind.

Brighter than stars and more divine then a dove,
The most perfect spirals entwined from above,
The moon is beautiful but the Sun never does end,
That’s why I give thanks for this morning and for the most beautiful friend.

-Jacob Winterfeldt

Quote

"Everyone is awkward and uncomfortable in an given situation, and everyone has issues that they struggle with, so even though communication is essential and important in our daily lives it really doesn’t matter what one says or does as long as you can understand and feel the essence of what that person’s intent and true passion is." -Seagul Francis Bryson Jr.