the bread broken and the wine poured
up to the table i walk once again
still it feels as the first time
the wonder and the love that somehow
this feast before me is rightfully mine
but why when my feet are dirty and my eyes dry?
the wrong assumption of course
it is not my eyes that looked with love as they spat upon him
it is not my feet that were pierced through with heavy iron
so i do not claim anything of mine own as merit sufficient
if i did that would not be a rightful claim
only pride
instead i clutch a ticket stub that has stamped upon it
paid in full
by that divine one Jesus Christ
with whom one day I shall dine as we break bread
and he looks me in the eye
and we toast each other and each take a sip of wine
someday soon i pray but for now
i cling to his feet and sing once more
the song that is forever mine
he loves me yes i know
Tag: poem
Westering
she knows it won’t be long before again
the sun shall slip below
the horizon
but before that moment
a gasp of beauty
a slash of light
once more sings my heart this night
the glory of the stars most visible
when it is darkest after all
even as we peer up from the bottom of the well
do your eyes fill up as mine do?
someday we shall ascend the ladder too
What Is Necessary
she crosses the front room and comes to where i sit
kneeling at the table she takes my hand and
lifts it to her lips
and then i tremble silently
letting the book fall into my lap
she says not a word but lets her eyes do
the talking
and that is all and that is enough
and i drop down beside her
and together we bow our heads
Prophecy
raindrops on roses and
you know the rest she laughs aloud
i do but i like hearing you sing it
your harmony sounding out
it brings a richness that contrasts greatly
with the mundanity that so often abounds
she rolls her eyes of course
but then i see them sparkle
and once again her sweet voice sounds
as we sit on the old back porch
and let our fingers touch again
Barabbas
sometimes i wish i had another calling
far too often these days of late as the sun slides closer to horizon’s embrace
my heart has sprung up with a yearning my mind does not know how to answer
do you hear the music too?
or is it all just in my head
keeping time with the footsteps that continually sound from above
i see you sighing and in a moment perhaps i’ll slide down to your end of the couch
for now i let my fingers wrap around this mug and i breathe deep and wonder
for the thousandth time why me
this prisoner exchange that i ponder, that he might die so that i might go free
it’s too much really for such a poor one as i
and as i tilt my head and think on it i can’t help but begin to cry
you notice but pretend not to politely or so it seems to me
your head burrowed a little deeper into your kindle
my head bowed over this cup of strong black tea
New Year’s Eve
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
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
Something Weird 