I know somewhere the light will shine on you
Not for a moment but shining for days and days
I know somewhere the light will be steady
And you belong there
You belong there

I know somewhere the trees will be righteous
Not for their grandeur but for the shade they bring
I know somewhere the trees will invite you
And you belong there
You belong there

You’ve heard the voices
But you know how good stories end

I know a garden that needs someone like you
Not to waste you but to give you room to breathe
I know a garden where work can be a blessing
And you belong there
You belong there

You belong there
You belong there

© 2025 Julie Marie Boettcher

I spend my time next to lighthouses
In the shadows of their frames
Planting grasses and pathways there
Though they’ll never know I came

The funny thing about lighthouses is they never look down to the ground
They think their light’s all that matters and mind no one else
There might be beautiful gardens below
There might be hundreds of flowers in rows
But the funny thing about lighthouses is they’d never care to know

I’ve called up to the lantern room
For a little help sometimes
But all I’ve heard are the windy trees
And the echoes of the night

The funny thing about lighthouses is they never look down to the ground
They think their light’s all that matters and mind no one else
There might be beautiful gardens below
There might be hundreds of flowers in rows
But the funny thing about lighthouses is they’d never care to know

Who planted the gardens; who removed the weeds?
Who made something sacred here beside the sea?
In the glow of lighthouses it looks like all is well,
But in the daylight, who’s left to tell the story?

The saddest thing about lighthouses is they never look down to the ground
They think their light’s all that matters and mind no one else
There might gardeners frozen in snow
There might be bodies on rocks down below
But the saddest thing about lighthouses is they’d never care to know

Starry-eyed, tired sailor friends
Land their feet upon the shore
They kiss the garden but praise the light
That they followed to get home

© 2025 Julie Marie Boettcher

Inside your house
There is a cavern
Hidden inside a place that you call holy

Inside your cavern
There lives a dragon
You like to shut away and starve to the bone

And no one sees what you do
In your fortress of stone
‘Cause you hang lights from the windows
And talk at the poor
But I’ve seen kingdoms crumble
And empires fall before
So don’t be surprised if a dragon
Breaks down your door

Outside your walls
There live a people
Aching for something real and righteous and true
They look to you
Desperate for comfort
Tired and ready to believe you won’t fail

But no one sees what you do
In your fortress of stone
‘Cause you hang lights from the windows
And talk at the poor
But I’ve seen kingdoms crumble
And empires fall before
So don’t be surprised if a dragon
Breaks down your door

Truth breathes fire
Truth takes down liars
Truth always wins

Truth breathes fire
Truth takes down liars
Truth always wins

I’ve seen kingdoms crumble
And empires fall before...

I walked down to the water tonight
Thought I might see the moon
But I saw my face in the rippling pool
And I didn’t recognize her

I walked up on the mountain tonight
Thought I might see the stars
But I saw my shadow fade into the dark
And I wondered when I lost her

Oh time is strange
And oh how dreams can change

I ran into a storm yesterday
Thought I’d perish in clouds
But I felt my legs carry me fast and proud
And I wondered when they grew strong

I ran into a crowd yesterday
Thought I’d need to be led
But I felt my voice sing an anthem instead
And I marveled at my own song

Oh time is strange
And oh how dreams can change

I saw old photographs on my phone
Thought I might feel regret

But I said a prayer for those people I met
And I left them where they belong

Oh time is strange
And oh how dreams can change

And oh how we can change

© 2025 Julie Marie Boettcher

I don’t wanna be someone who makes you feel small
You already feel the ways you think you are
I don’t wanna be someone who fills up a room
You already feel that you might not belong

But I don’t wanna hide

I wanna be kind
Kind
Steady like a sunrise
Every time, after time
When you look in my eyes
I hope you see behind them: Kind
I wanna be kind

I don’t wanna be a wizard behind glass
Shouting out to make you bid my every whim
I don’t wanna be a friendly face in the crowd
Passing by but never being someone who cares

But I don’t wanna hide

I wanna be kind
Kind
Steady like a sunrise
Every time, after time
When you look in my eyes
I hope you see behind them: Kind
I wanna be kind

I won’t always be happy
No one’s always happy

But I can be kind
Kind
Steady like a sunrise
Every time, after time
When you look in my eyes
I hope you see behind them: Kind
I wanna be kind

© 2025 Julie Marie Boettcher

What if my hands get tired at dusk?
What if I never measure up?
What if my flowers don’t bloom?
What if my garden stays small?
But I faithfully rise and tend to my ground
The best I know how
Oh would that be enough?

What if my shoots don’t grow very tall?
And what if I can see other trees rising over the wall?
What if no one wants to see what I’ve done?
What if they praise every field except mine?
But I faithfully rise and tend to my ground
The best I know how
Oh would that be enough?

What if it looks like I did it all wrong?
And what if my plants don’t make fruit until after I’m gone?
What if it looks like I failed?
And wasted away all my time?
But I faithfully rose and tended my ground
The best I knew how
Oh that would be enough.

At the end of the day, somehow it seems
That faithful hands (even without one tree)
Will always be enough.

© 2025 Julie Marie Boettcher

All the days I grieved over beauty lost
And the dreams that had to die
All the prayers I prayed, wanting to forgive
When it felt like hell to even try

I wanna cling to all this hurt sometimes
I know it like I know my own skin
But time doesn’t slow
Time doesn’t let you live competing lives
Time will make you bitter, or time will make you whole
Time will heal or distort you
You’ll reap what you hold

All the twisting lies covered up like smoke
All the proof I left for dead
All the words I burned, all the mercy learned
When I bit my tongue until it bled

I wanna cling to all this hurt sometimes
I know it like I know my own skin
But time doesn’t slow
Time doesn’t let you live competing lives
Time will make you bitter, or time will make you whole
Time will heal or distort you
You’ll reap what you hold

All the birds I see flying to the south
They don’t lie about the cold
And the ones who stay button up their coats
As they sing old songs they know

One day I woke up and saw the light inside
my eyes again
And suddenly a year had come and gone
So I’ll put this in a letter and then let go of what’s left
I am whole, it’s time to rest

© Julie Marie Boettcher

I see you
With your family
Candles lit and eating dinner

I see you
In your sneakers
Headphones in, around your neighborhood

And it’s funny
You’re just somebody I used to know
Not a monster, not a wizard
Just some guy who works and then goes home, oh
I don’t need to pretend anymore

I see you
And you’re laughing
At a table you are paying for

I see you
And you’re skimming
Someone’s book that you did not endorse

And I’m finding
It’s not mine to try to piece it through
How to change you, how to make you
Care about what I want you to, oh
I don’t need to play God anymore

I see you
And you’re hurting
Like we do when life is way too much

I see you
And you’re crying
Like we do when we have lost someone

And it’s hard but
It’s true that humans are alike in the same ways
I see you, and I want to
Tell you that I’ve forgiven you, oh
I don’t need anything anymore

May God be near to your soul
May you choose light on the path where you go
May you be faithful and kind
May you love people well
Til the end of your life
May God be gracious to you
I mean this, I do.

© 2025 Julie Marie Boettcher