Vineyard Vision and Other Poems

by Hayley Rawnsley

VINEYARD VISION

This is a prayer for revival

in a city of lost angels,

where palm trees bow

and cracked cement cries out

to waves of glory flowing

into endless tides of devotion.

Each silent signpost

pointing to its Creator,

who lovingly plants and waits

for dreams to awaken

the hearts of prodigals

searching for their stories,

driven out by ambition

now wandering home.

What I deemed a desert

you declared a vineyard long ago.

SACRED SPRING

The heat blazed on

through mid-October

leaves baked

beneath the smoky sun,

reminding me

of revival’s embers

that burned holes

in my soul.

Winter froze the wounds

like dormant seeds

in hardened soil,

trapped in bitterness

but waiting

for hope

to break through.

Then Spring came—

so sacredly mundane.

And as I listened

to birds and inhaled

words of grace,

like sweet orange blossoms,

you nursed me

back to faith.

FRESH COAT

Hidden in the hallways of my heart

sits a discarded painting,

its colors faded and details buried

beneath cheap varnish,

brushed over the years

to blend in and become

the greatest chameleon you’d ever seen.

Before the final coat could ever dry

critics were all too quick

to nitpick the odd strokes

and clashing hues

that at first I saw as strangely beautiful,

before I learned to hate.

For years I wandered away from the original,

wondering, “Who was the painter who made a work like me?”

Then one day I met the master artist,

when my soul was ripped from its frame.

My heart—a broken canvas.

Restoration cost us

his blood and my tears

to mend an abandoned masterpiece,

stripping off layers of shame,

mixing fresh pigments of hope,

until every dull surface and chipped crevice

was unrecognizable,

shining vibrantly.

Rebirth.

HAYLEY RAWNSLEY

Hayley Rawnsley is an artist and writer in Los Angeles, who’s passionate about helping people connect with God through creativity. Her work can be found on desertsblooming.com and Instagram @desertsblooming, where she shares art and stories inspired by the hidden beauty of the spiritual wilderness.