speak

Speak to me
in any language that you can.
There is no dictionary
that can translate total silence.

Hold me
in the bandage of your hands.
There is no substitute
for physical presence.

I'm listening
with moth-like ears, this love's mutation,
silently waiting with every power
of translation.

I'm bleeding
from a wound that never heals.
How sweet a blessing, how cruel a curse
to deeply feel.

reflections on love and conjugating verbs

Love is a verb,
conjugated differently depending on its subject,
a treasure box of a word
that holds some cherished object.

When I speak of conjugations
I mean I love differently than he loves,
but we love in the same direction,
holding treasure boxes open.

Love is a noun,
too big to fit in any single poem-
big enough for all the singing,
shining anthologies of heaven.

Too far, too high to submit
to our small earthly powers of description.
Close enough to cover
our deepest darkest direst distance.

deliver us (part 1)

Deliver us, O God who sees
our bondage, hears our cries,
from slavery in Egypt
to the promised paradise.

Pass over us, O Lord, we pray
and paint our doors with blood.
Let not the destroyer strike us down
along with Egypt's sons.

Go before us, split the sea,
make us walk on dry land,
that we may know the mighty power
of Your saving hand.

Give us this day our daily bread,
paint the ground with manna white.
Make us hungry for Your Word-
be our souls' greatest delight.

Be near to us, be Thou our guide
by fire through the night
and cloud by day, that all may see
You are with the Israelites.

And when we grumble and we stray,
forget not Your promises.
Bring us safely to that land-
for You are compassionate and gracious.

You are faithful when we are faithless.
Help us trust you day by day
as we wander through this wilderness,
and for your salvation wait.

pantoum 2

I glided gold across a cloud of gloom

and skated silver on an icy pond

imagining the fish below entombed

like pictures in a dream, making no sound.

I skated silver on an icy pond

of memories, the life I knew before.

Like pictures in a dream, making no sound,

they dodged my reach, vanished into the air.

To memories, the life I knew before,

I do not cling, but rather float above.

They dodged my reach, vanished into the air

‘Til my hands were empty, ready to hold love.

I do not cling, but rather float above,

Imagining the fish below entombed.

‘Til my hands were empty, ready to hold love,

I glided gold across a cloud of gloom.

perseverance

You are the author, the author of me-
so on the subject, you must be the prime authority.

You are my creator, the potter who molds the clay.
So tell me who I am, Lord. Teach me my frame.

The author of my faith, you created faith in me.
To be your servant is the only way I can be free.

Let me run with perseverance whatever race you've marked for me.
Let me fix my eyes upon your Son, my gaze on Calvary.

cinderella

When the clock strikes midnight
in the castle of despair,
she is a Cinderella
running promptly down the stairs.

She speeds back home to safety-
never leaves behind a shoe.
No dark prince can follow where she goes,
far from the halls of gloom.

Far from the ballroom's lofty music,
she now hums a simple tune-
sheds her costume, feeds the mice,
bends to pick up a broom.

elsie

Elsie is a quiet dragon
aching to explode,
a poet in the corner
striking fear into her foes.

She speaks so softly
all the class leans forward, listens close,
but neither hears her silent screams
nor detects the scent of smoke.

What hides inside that muted mind?
I work to crack the code.
I sense a little light of mine
beneath bushels of woe.

A strong voice snuffed and smothered
by some burning in the throat.
Dear Elsie, I am listening.
Read me the riddle of your soul.