Savior

I want to take your sorrow in my hand.
How I weep for you!
How I weep for you!
I want to take your fear,
Watch it melt away
In the warmth of the rising sun.

I want to save you,
I want to save you from your sadness.
I want to crush
What's crushing you,
To tear apart
What's tearing your heart.

Your soul wasn't meant to see this war -
You were made for the light,
For beautiful sights and
The smells of home.
You were meant to breathe with
Love all around you.

Winning Sentences

Muddled and murky
My words.
The fog can press down a defense,
But the breeze always blows on you.

Your dagger in my back
Came first.
Then my fist
Caught your cold shoulder.
Your tears brought the judge, and just as your
Wit wins allies, your
Crisply-crafted stories
Win the battles,
Win you innocence, even
Win you favor.
Yes, you win their listening ears.

But all my sentences win me...
Is a sentence.

Two Killers

My treacherous envy:
Breeding-ground of strife,
Enemy of life
Devoured my eyes.
Goodbye to what I could have had.

My perilous apathy:
Thief of breath,
Disease and death
Entered my bloodstream.
Goodbye to what I could have been.

Noon

Sounds descend
From cool, high pitches,
Settle into sizzling drones that
Slow the mind and the step.

Midday no mystery;
Life lies sluggish
Under the all-seeing sun.

Me and Not Me

That's not me.
That's not mine.
My promise is in the river,
Running its course,
Eddying 'round rocks;
Acts for all to see,
Written in the sky
Over my head -
I'm in over my head.

     Unacceptable, unspeakable, unknowable.
     We hushed each other's voices.
     We silenced each other's voices
     Before our mouths ever opened.
     Who knows me? Who knows me?

You happy dragons feasting
On one another's want and being.
I'll watch you have
That which I cannot have,
Though you pay
Much for your freedom -
While Someone else
Bought mine.

     Unaccepted, unspoken, unknown.
     We covered me with a safety net.
     We covered me in a safety net and
     Protected me in a cage.
     Where is my place? Where is my home?

Most days I grieve
What I've let go;
Most days I still look back.
It's hard to see
Six-hued birds flying free,
And black and white ones
Standing neatly,
While I huddle gray -
Invisible, unseen.

My Warrior in the Sky

My Warrior in the sky,
    Outlined diamond-light against the darkness -
        Hope in the darkness -
            Has always watched over me.
Always in my dreams he glimmers:
    Glory unquenchable, unveilable, undiminishing.

A bow of fire my Warrior wields -
    This Hunter-King in relentless pursuit.
Finally lets fly his arrow precise,
    Which pierces its mark,
        Through my flesh, into my heart.
My Warrior in the sky.

What Makes Us Feel Alive

Let's talk about what makes us feel alive.

Let's speak of the race and
Harvest-time and
How the fishing's going,
Rudders turning our course toward
The Morning Star.

Let's speak of an Anchor and a
Secret Hiding Place,
Of a flock of sheep and a
Lamb with seven horns,
Of a Groom and Bride all beautifully adorned.

Let's talk about what makes us feel alive.

Night

Rest-heralding shadows - silent, undistractable - process...
Gather the world into the cradling arms of night.
The sun's black cloak - star-studded blanket - Earth caress...
Gather every creature of the day to tuck them out of sight.
And should dark dim cheer - draw sadness - summon fear...
Gather humankind to the warmth of great hearth's heartening light.

Late Afternoon

Day, feather-soft
Hour-hand-slow,
Steps quietly into
Late afternoon.

There are fairy tales
Hiding just under
Warm green-gold leaves and
Cool moss-robed rocks,
    For those who would
See them.

Waters seem deeper,
In these hours,
And breeze to
Carry richer life.

We are wiser from the day,
Fuller from its grace
If we but accept
This sacred moment:

This chance for solitude.

9.6.15

I am tired
And cannot think about a beginning.
Our beginnings are scattered,
Asymmetric journeys,
And I am sad.
I am sad, and try to
Take the edge off with beauty.
My mind hides in trail's length -
Disappears
In the mountains' embrace as I
Attempt to distract, sedate my heart;
Numb the lonely with adventure.

The Communion of Saints

A thousand miles away
You're still warm.

And with lungs breathing
Magical holy air,
You are broken but a strand of
Hope still flows through your veins.

Here I do not stoop to judge,
But rise
To take hold of
The unspeakable, untouchable,
And all that is counted nothing,
To draw you in, deeper,
To this communion of saints.

Here I shared the wine
And took your confusion,
Held your shame.
Your suffering is mine,
I feel your waiting,
I'm bearing your pain.
Here I reaffirm
The communion of saints.

Of Lent and Perseverance - 12.7.14 & 2.22.15

Waiting, waiting, walking
Through the fog of the season between-
Between Christmas and Easter
Between birth and rebirth
Between looking back and looking forward...

Waiting through the gray cold of hidden preparation
Our souls hibernating
Our bodies sleepwalking,
Waiting for that day when the Spirit
Enters this stale air and
Makes it come alive,
When sun melds with breeze and
Turns it warm and living,
When Holy Spirit blows the wind of hope
To wake us
To thaw the world,
When our hearts pump sunlight
Through frosted veins.

You gave us life

We laid it down for you

We wait

Now raise the dead.