I met @Jason Strickland through his community "The Art of Poetry". He is truely one of the best poets I have ever come across I will let him share his story with you all but I am so pleased that he has joined us. Please welcome him to the community. Jason feel free to share here and introduce yourself.

Hello every, and thank you Zane my friend and brother for creating this group. I'm not that good with introductions so this is who I am. I wrote this going through one of the toughest struggles in my life. I lost my wife and best friend of 30 years unexpectedly. So 30 years and I'm 51 years old so we got together our freshman year in highschool. Ever since she has passed I've been writing poetry daily. I believe God has blessed me with words as a way to express my feelings and emotions. I didn't write any poetry since college so 1998. I guess you could call it life was to.busy or writers block, ever since my wife passed 7 years ago I can't stop writing. Sorry to ramble on but I'm excited about this community. My Faith Won't Bend or Break I have stood in storms that knew my name, that leaned in close and whispered doubt, that rattled every window of my heart and tried to blow the light right out. I have carried nights like heavy stones, each one engraved with loss and fear, stacked so high upon my chest I wondered how I still stood here. But somewhere under shattered prayers, beneath the questions, raw and loud, a quiet ember held its breath a stubborn spark inside the cloud. It didn’t shout. It didn’t shine. It didn’t promise perfect days. It simply stayed when everything else went searching for an easier way. I bent my knees. I bowed my head. I argued with the dark awhile. Still, something in my ribcage said, Get up. You’re not done walking miles. My faith isn’t glass. It doesn’t glitter. It’s iron warmed by open flame scarred and tempered by the fall, stronger every time it’s named. It has fingerprints of grief, dirt under every hopeful nail, and yet it grips the morning tight when all the proof says I should fail. I’ve lost the map. I’ve cursed the road. I’ve limped through chapters torn and thin. Still heaven hums inside my bones Begin again. Begin again. Let thunder roll its brutal drums. Let oceans rise and cities shake. I’ve met despair. I’ve lived through worse.

True faith in God is not just words, Nor fleeting prayers that go unheard. It's not the ease of sunny days, But trust that holds through storms and waves. It walks the path when roads are steep, And finds its peace when others weep. It does not bend to fear or doubt, Nor seeks an easy, safer route. True faith is forged in trials deep, When promises seem hard to keep. Yet still, it stands with hands held high, Believing love won’t pass it by. It does not waver, shift, or break, Nor cling to God for its own sake. But rather, rests in what is true, That He is God in all we do. So when the night is long and cold, And hope feels distant, weak, and old, True faith still whispers, calm and bright, "My God is here, there is no night." By Jason Strickland