Monthly Archives: September 2022

Ought

I said, "I realized this morning
that my shadow of control
feasts on Ought energy."

She said, "That is the Way
it ought to be."

I said, "Even the most basic
'Be mindfuls' come from 
the place of Oughtness."

She said, "We act surprised
when we discover how closely
Is and Ought dwell together."

I asked, not expecting an answer,
"Ought we not try to begin again
so as to avoid the Imperative?"

She answered, "Or perhaps
we must ask the vegetables
how we ought to grow."

What I Should Have Done

I begin these poems from journal entries
made in small, black books before I noticed
time flowing by me faster than a rapid river.
Now I return to learn the wisdom for the day
by dipping fingers in the moving water 
of what went under the bridge so long ago.

I dance with suffering servants
who have come down from their cross.

I laugh with laughing, fat monks carrying
bags of gifts over their shoulders.

I bring other divines together to see
how close they lay upon one another.

I do all of this to discover once again
that there is nothing on the other side
of wishing for what I should have done.

Divine Figures

Little figures of Buddha and Christ
dot the lawns and the landscapes
of those seeking to find comfort
in what they cannot explain.

Born from the Side or from the Virgin
we each stumble into being
with no ideas of how our ancestors
traversed the sorrows they encountered.

Picking a spot in time and hoping to evolve
into different behaviors not currently in fashion
we dance jerking and moving fitfully
while the figures of the divine remain still.

Questions

What is wrong with finding a reason
or a pattern where none actually exists?

How often must I become aware of my awareness
before enlightenment rushes upon me and decides to stay?

Is the next moment Time brings to me
the result of a repetition or of a sequence?

When will the next usual day happen 
where nothing unusual happens?

And suddenly there was a great earthquake. – Matthew 28:2

Subtle God,
Disquieting God,
Stone Rolling God,
who ruptures our reality
with the nuance of shaking ground
moving earth between Heaven and Hell,
pick up the dust of our bodies,
stir the center of our spirits,
decompose our minds
emboldening us once again
to proclaim
"Death is not the final answer"
because so much
around us
silences us.
Amen.

The Far Edges

I asked, "If every moment 
is different from the rest 
then how come I feel the same?"

She answered, "Noticing differences 
between the usual and the unusual
is part of the livening process."

I said, "As a species we are programmed
to see patterns and arrangements
to promote our own safety."

She said, "Whatever distinctions we make
on those days when the reality of truth
remains immeasurable fashion life."

I said, "I like how you never capitalize
the 't' in truth when you talk about
those things which matter most to you."

She said, "There is no evolving possible
if the absolutes linger at the far edges 
of where we wish to go and to be."

Sometimes

Sometimes I come back from the place
where apologies and forgiveness
do not attend to each other
laying the bought bundles of dreams
down next to the stones thrown
into the lives of children separated
from all sense of fairness in humanity
where tragedies ripple forever
across time and space tripping
all notions of common sense
remaining for any gathering of grace.

And there I find outside all the realms
of logic created by reasoned patterns
for the comfort of those who believe
the improbable place where
sometimes things just happen.

Labor of Love

I am sure I have labored here before
and danced when the day's job was done.

All my introductions and welcomes rush
into the past where smiles and laughter

hide in plain sight and affirm that I feel right
about the decisions which I have made.

Some places and some times have been better
for me than others where I felt less than myself.

Returning home I find all the love that I love
dressed up and ready to go to worship.