All I Held: two poems by Lyn Caldwell

image by Zdeněk Tobiáš, on Pixabay, slightly modified

All I Held

I carry all of this

In a broken vase

It shattered when I saw you coming toward me.

It was filled to the brim

Then smacked upon the past

And shards went flying all about the yard.

But like any fragile jar  

I guess it never was expected to have held…

And weakness might have been its very strength

The water’s all spilled out

Yet the ground around is dry

I stare into the clouds

Knowing all the while my cistern needs the sky.

The writing on the page

Tells me there’s a vessel that was broken

Then became miraculously whole

And in His dying

And His rising

Sympathizes

With all our cracks

All our breaks

And everything we were never meant to hold.

             *

Another Night

Outside the door

Beyond the fire’s glow

The stars are crisp and cool

Yet they settle

Far up in heaven

Twinkling,

Millions of miles away

We gather them

To string upon a tree

To bring near

That which

Often feels

Far off.

Lyn Caldwell is a Christ-follower, mother of three,

and ever-compelled poet, unable to escape the

pull on her soul to cry out to God through the written word. Lyn lives in Santa Clarita, California, spending her days loving her husband, caring for children,

and teaching God's word in local ministry. Her poetry has been published in One Page Poetry's 2025 Anthology, Local Gems Press' California Bards SoCal Anthology 2025, As Surely as the Sun Lit Issue 8, and received Honorable Mention from Writer's Digest. 

(August 2026 issue)