Monthly Archives: December 2022

With Marie

One day we will dance together
after the sun has set on both our lives.
Any sense of separation will fall away.
The angels of care will prevail
over the demons of despair
and we will step into heaven
holding each other's hand
like I used to do as you learned
to take your first steps along the way.
"What ifs?" will no longer matter.
"Whys?" will not need to be figured out.
The answer to "Where?" will be right
beside each of us, gracefully
and gratefully, smiling at the other.

“Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” – Isaiah 7:11

Gracious Sign-Maker of signs
showing the way through the maze of ways,
give us a sign, one more sign,
a sign of infinite sides and shapes,
a sign of infinite colors,
to lighten our load
and to lighten the many paths
that we so delightedly take
on our own way
through life towards the heavens;
because those who wish
to take down the rainbow
have sharpened their mechanisms
of playful destruction leading to hell.
Amen.

Without Moving

I dream of solstices long ago;
to study how the earth tilts
its face towards the sun without moving.

At times, my love can do the same;
move to you without moving.

Yesterday, I saw how the winds,
without moving, pushed the swing.

The reflection of my face in the glass
held both of us without moving.

A finch landed in the small tree
next to the bird bath.  It began singing
without moving.

How is it we can talk of being overwhelmed
without moving out of the way of that
which overwhelms us?

And then, without moving, the light of the sun
shines into the circle of life dissipating solitude.

Attention

With each death the divine is scattered
across the earth making all things holy.

I remember the feeling of expectancy,
a sacred feeling, come upon me
as Christmas morning moved closer.

And then there are other traditions.

On days when the holiest of people 
turn their faces to the gods, others do not,
never thinking about falling to their knees.

Yesterday morning is no more transient
than the preceding morning upon which
eternal happiness is perpetually contingent.

Life is a fountain into which we dip our hands
hoping to find our attention taken towards
something greater than ourselves.

“They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” – Isaiah 35:10

Holy Emotion,
always in motion from gladness to sadness
and back again across a life and through the ages;
so many sighs are greater than the winds
ceaselessly moaning across the empty wastes;
fleeing from destroying and controlling powers
is the only way through to a next breath;
separate yourself from the rush of our winds,
and send us into spaces of quietude
not of our own making where we can rest.
Amen.

A Place in Paradise

Not every child knows the blessing
of following clues in a treasure hunt.
Some hints need helpful interpretation
before the path of devotion can begin again.
Upon finding the gorgeous hidden pieces,
we pick and choose which we like most,
putting them tenderly into our pockets.
Yes, we will grow tired from carrying
those tiny loads, though, somehow,
unwrapping them twenty years later,
we will know that we have been
guaranteed a place in paradise.