Get Out
I have known since long before I wasA gardener that weeds seem always toFind their way back around. I amUnsurprised when a dark day finds meAgain; this is the work of darkness.What darkness knows is to come and to comeAgain. To make a home where it isUnwelcome. I am unsurprised to find myself,Again, in the…
Teach Us To Pray
My prayers have always been true. I’veAsked God for just those desiresWhich, I find, he asks me to cultivate.Begged relief for my suffering friends,Neighbors whose struggles I do not know;Enemies whose civilities I do not acknowledge.Heaven to rise up in small movements ofLiberation as a stream which will not beDamned.Bread for the hungry. A baker…
Pilgrimage
Let me find a wayThrough tangled vines. I wander throughA wasteland or a vibrant jungle. I catchMy foot on thorn and briar, or uponTumbleweeds gathered just before me, orUpon vining sweet peas in bloom. ICannot tell if this path is blocked byMy own failures or envy at another’sSuccess.Let me find a way to tear away…
Sower
Impart the seed upon the groundAnd see what fruit, arising, grows:A sprouting vine, though all aroundGrow thorns which will no mercy show; A hopeful bud upon a pathWhich birds shall fall upon to feed;An eager leaf which not the wrathOf sun nor rocky soil heeds; A humble seed in prayerful soil,A bounteous, multiplying crop?We pray…
Nine times out of ten
Nine times out of tenThe dog does not catch the car.The storm’s snow does not Provide the child’s escapeFrom school’s next day.The exception which proves theLaw is the light ofEach day:Monotony steered justOne degree off its path.A day whose expectations,Whose normalities eclipseThe sun.But the sun blazes yet,Brightest at the edges. (December 7, 2019)
Newness of Life
“Remember,” the singer says to us all,”Remember when this happened to you, too.”The pastor’s quiet voice, often pointedlyCharismatic, echoes a magnified whisper,The overhead speakers giving voice to unspoken,Unspeakable reverence.Who ever said technology was not a miracle? The pastor remembers his own immersion,The first of many deaths and dailyResurrections. He had held the preacher’s hand,His nose…
Ledger (II)
Never have I hoped so ardently, soOpenly to be wrong of my confident,Particular convictions. I pray with myQuietest vocabulary that this stumbling,Resurrecting world’s graces to come wouldShine with radiance, outshine what IThink, what I know it will not. I hope that I mightUnderstand that hope is not a prayer forVindication. It is another word for…
Ledger (I)
I hope my car will start today. I hope that theAir conditioning kicks in, that my commute isBearable. I hope that there is still warmth in myCoffee. Too, that one day I will not soDepend on things to keep me attentive, toExtend my waking hours. I hope my dreams to be lessFitful than my days.…
On What Is Due
“Jesus Paid It All” we sang at church again today.And pondered I the darkest of the deeds that I have thought,The sharpest words which I have said or only thought to say.The works I know I ought to do which lately I have not. And pondered, too, the contemplations of my neighbor, whoHas gathered ’round…
Psalm 35
It is a crushing feeling to cry oneself to sleepAware that the tears are only there because they are.To cry because one is crying,To feel the breaking inside which results only fromAnd only inBrokenness.No step taken in contention with oneself seems quite to produceA reconciliation,But contend, we must. In a senseless time, I long for…
Amos 8
In October 2020, I was commissioned to write a liturgical piece to accompany our pastor’s sermon series through the book of Amos. Behold, the Word of God upon the vineAlong its trellis grows, but is withoutThe fruit of righteousness, though it is time. The summer fruit for us shall be a sign:The season’s end portends…
The News
I wrote this poem in September of 2020, just after I heard the news about the grand jury decision in the case of the shooting of Breonna Taylor. They say it is risky to sit with the dyingWhen living amidst a pandemic.When the air itself is heavyWith death and rumors of death.If I die before…
A Sonnet for Righteous Indignation
“Take up your sword” I heard a prophet say,”The justice of the Lord we shall defend.”I take up arms and ready for the dayWhen, by my word or deed, I may portendThe coming wrath of God upon my foe;The righteous indignation for the sinOf those who sing of praise in empty showAnd suffer not the…
This Day
Like smoke rises,Dissipating, permeatingThe rest of the air–Rich, meant for our breath–So fades this day,Like the last.Into weeks. Into years.Yet the smoke, as muchAs it pollutes, is a partNow indistinct. This day passes;Whatever its quality, it passes notAs something toxic,But as something essential. (May 6, 2016)
Jesus & His Friends (II)
When Judas met the great teacher, Jesus of Nazareth, did he know how this story would go? When did Judas’ mind turn to profit? Was his devotion ever true? Surely their journey was one of genuineCompanionship. I think Judas lovedJesus, though by the endHis loves were many. What would it take for my love to fade into betrayal? What…
Jesus & His Friends (I)
When Jesus first met that man Named Judas, did He know exactly How this story would end? Did Jesus know that his dear friend Would hand him over? If I had known, I would have Turned away, Betrayed Judas; So many shared tables later,Bread taken together again and again.To know that I would be broken in the end. Which is…
This Is The World
On the couch, recliningThe dog warms my feetIn rest. I sit, writing,In a place I am calling ‘home’. Across the street,Children wrestle sleep,Filled with dreams–The kind thatCall us to run fast,Faster. Parents laugh, tiredFrom work. “Work” thatCalling, as the wise put it,Striving labor whichMakes all else possible,The rest of us say. In another city, aWoman…
Here
In townships, where life seems slower,Tides roll in, out as small families,Farmers, all folk gather or disperse. Life seems to call out, “Hurry along”For there are many places to be,Many worlds to see, And many things to become. This is the original tale told, from Eden.In truth, the world is here, in its fullness,Though we look…
Prone
“So frail am I,” I oft have thoughtWhen wind or storm descend uponOr while upon this road whereonI find myself with worry fraught.For I do love, though I am not,To be a martyr; and thereonMy deepest pride is prone to spawn. And sharply yet does Christ forgive,Gives grace as he propitiates.His challenge there I find:…
Dunkin, JP
There are moments in life which,Without fail,Occur according to a precise schedule.It is easy to point outThe things which are wild, unpredictable,Disappointing.The things which operate likeClockwork,The mundane things,Are Ordinary,Boring, even.Or at least not the thingsFor which a person takes up pen and page.Then, some things split the difference;They go wrong in the very same way…
Embrace
Strife conquered is strife yet,As a wound, which scars,Still remains. Strife conquered, chaos quelledTeaches not always thatLife prevails over death; At times, the storm’sRespite is only causeTo prepare for the next. In such times, hope mayAbandon; the balm for theAche lies not there In the future, but the present,In the hand, the embraceOf another. (March…
Some Day
May tomorrow be the dayThat lives for itself; neitherPast indwelling nor foreordaining.
Faith
I’ve faith in many thingsGod, namely, but others too.I’ve yet to meet any without. It’s too frightful a word for some,Not of the requisite awe for others. I tend toward the latter today;tomorrow, the former. Does it mean just one thing?Today: not keeping any worries. And maybe that’s the heart of it.Not ignorance, but humanity,in…
At Walden Pond (or, All Creatures)
I wrote this in 2018 when my spouse and I visited Walden Pond for the first time. It’s lovely, and if you’re ever in Massachusetts, you should swing by. Two geese across a beach incline To guide their goslings two; Divine Is this, a bond of child in flock With parents who, in patience, walk Before,…
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