she steps over to me and in that way she does
tilts up her head to me and smiles
how can i respond but with a
darling?
i am at your service – what is thy desire?
and she says oh nothing i just wanted
to stand next to you
what can i do but gather her into my arms
even with the many witnesses gathered
around the living room
and not heeding their eyes upon us
i say i know the feeling
oh my darling i truly do
and in my arms her eyes sparkle up at me
and she says wordlessly please kiss me
and in that moment as the clock strikes midnight
i respond appropriately
and a life time later i say the words
i love you too
Tag: poem
Potter
grey clouds float across early velvet sky masking
the curious eyes who peer down from heaven
and at the kiln site she sits and works
apart from all her peers who sleep even now
the jar lies at her feet and she bites her lip
seeing every flaw again as if for the first time
yet the memories well up in harmony
and she again strips back its layers
peels the skin and gouging deep
will she hit flesh this time? perhaps
but the armor is not superficial
and her target is deep within
again and again she in anguish runs her hands
across the unfinished work
what next she says what next
I am the pot and the pot is me
and her hands show the blisters of fervent effort
somehow still not enough
she drops her hands and her shoulders shake
this jar will never be a masterpiece
if she has anything to say about it
and she drinks a swallow of the contents
of the thermos at her feet
help is on the way she hears in the voice
that floats on the wind
Calvary
In silent mourning and in fearful yearning
I fall to my knees this day and pray to you
For of my sin and in my sorrow I confess
and say plainly of myself I have nothing left
I cannot offer you a gift worth having
I cannot offer you a life worth buying
I cannot live as I should for you my God
for in the shadows of this night I give up
and lay down my burdens at your feet and
look up to the reality of the cross
that you my Lord Jesus hung there for me
and in grim satisfaction declared it done
and now you hang there no longer
for though you died and was buried sure
your divine power proved itself in resurrected life
and now you sit at the right hand of the Father God
eyes flashing forth of fire and promises of love in hand
and someday though your judgement shall be pronounced in earnest
now you cry out come and repent and buy the pearl of great price!
and I want it and I need it and there is nothing else even close
I give up all else and rip my clothes and burn my pride
and tell you that I want nothing more than to be called your own
oh Lord I need you oh Lord I plead you
oh Lord I believe in You and in You alone
I have no other
and now I come to You and in memoriam tremble
and in festive garb I eat this bread and drink this wine
remembering the words you said that fateful night
and say to myself that the life you gave willingly
you gave for such a one as me
in actuality
you gave your life for me
Pride Strides Afore
a dance to the death they say
i welcome it
bring it
the dance or the death?
no answer given
only my lips move slightly
in the beginnings of a
smirk
across the floor stands my opponent
well oiled, prepared, painted well
here i stand alone and sad
without a petal to my name
she tosses her bouquet of roses
and out i shimmy
we shall see who conquers
in this dingy bar under the
neon lights
Signed and Sealed
in the fog he strides and sings
glory glory to my king!
he lifts his head and smells the smoke
whispering to himself of what he knows
promises that were long ago written
words of life that for him were given
and though too oft he tends to stutter
and wastes his thoughts on another
there are times like now when he stands tall
and remembers seeing the rainbow at the falls
so please forgive him for not always being plain of speech
for it brings him perhaps perverse delight to weave poetry
that subtly whispers truth that aches with love
and gently hints at the truths of him who sits above
but now he laughs and cries as he remembers his story
his heart burns within him as he ponders that farther glory
and he knows that though he was lost and broken true
and that he had no idea what if anything he could do
there was one who reached out his hand
and pleaded him to come into the farther land
all he had to do was fall and kneel and pray
and in desperate humble brokenness ask and say
Lord I bring nothing I am but ash and rust
save me save me oh save me or I am lost!
and so he looks to the cross and says i believe
help me God to come now to thee
for on my own i would surely be done
but now i rest my faith in you God’s own Son!
and that is all and that is enough he cries
for he knows that for his soul the Son did die!
so now he’s washed and now he’s clean
and now he stands forever among the redeemed
he rises up through the waters of the brook
and to the far shore he now dares to look
the pilgrim way continues on and ever on
but now he walks with the light of God
and though his writings still sometimes stumble
and though his poetry tends to kind of mumble
he leaves this here for a witness
to the God whom he confesses
Father, Son and Spirit Holy
eternity now whispers
and I follow
Styrofoam
so many of us feel hollow inside, a pinata gaudily painted
and fated soon to burst
and though there are those who hoot and holler and proclaim
all is merry all is fine
the hollow ones know that the fuss is all for show
for at the end of the day the glitter and feathers
are cheap camouflage for the cracks that gape open
when she sobs her emptiness into her fingers tapping
up again and up again and up again
the phone reveals nothing new but why not a little more
but if we are hollow all
and even the full ones uneasy bite their lips
perhaps there’s more to this?
then what does this mean if we’ve written off the story
and decided the author’s all for show
i make all my decisions
autonomy and free will and agency
those fine guiding lights
i’d rather be my own
even if it means i call myself a hollow one
who cares if i’m all alone
close your eyes and don’t look to the horizon
there is no shore that beckons that’s only imaginary rain
cry and feel alive once more and scream the chorus
and paint yourselves up again
Witness
the moonlight shines down slantwise upon the eastern wall
neglecting to reveal the refuse strewn down its base
but a few words from a recent traveler remain
i love you my darling Em
and then a scribble from a scoffer
that may or may not be profane
but in the stillness of that 3am hour
there is one who looks down the alley
and reading the prophecies decides against
so she leans against the corner and lets the streetlight warm her
and pulls her scarf closer now
I Understand
it’s wonderful sometimes in the land across the sea
do you see the storm blow up from the palm tree
in which you sit
of course you do for you spend your time gazing
and I do for I am in my canoe with her
and as she gazes upwards into the sky
eyes open mouth open
rain drops falling
and though the storm rages
we don’t care for we’re already soaked
and we know the island
is closer now
Unveiled
the noise deafens and the ground shakes
the eighteen-wheelers rumble past
and the smoke billows upwards without ceasing
where is the fire she says do you see the smoke?
i just want a moment to myself a moment please
nothing more
but a silent night is not to be had or
so it seems for the chaos swirls
and the darkness of the void looms
and the babble rises yet i can’t hear
a single word
or at least none that i can understand
so she puts her hand over her ears and looks
pleadingly waiting for the wave to crest
then a voice sounds out piercingly
be still and rest
calm and glory
and in the story live
and be filled
come to me and know thy salvation
wonder of wonders
i understand
the word has come
the bells sound and the incense rises
o holy night
Manifesto
quiet reigns over the city this morning
and i think i’m ok with that
sometimes it is better to be still
and with palms upward call to the one
who redeems
that one day we might have rest
and now in faithful abiding
let us be diligent
let us hold fast
let us draw near
so that we might with open hands
receive mercy and grace
through the blood of the one
who redeems
and in awe and wonder i sit in silence
underneath the shadow of the ancient tree
Something Weird 