Monday, July 28, 2008

hold go stop

yesternow floats like cotton from the rooftops
into here
morrownow drifts just out of reach off rooftops
out to there
inbetween rests the all

asking neither to be born nor to live
answering either the yes or the no
at times it seems so easy and complicated
the systems of it all

hearing the noises of the streets death
restless and sleepless because of the earths moaning below
building the next incarnation of its existence
without the choking interference of its partners

Divorce is on the table
we don’t get to keep the house
but we do get the children
having no place to go

in the loudness of this empty silence
the stillness of this dizzying place
nothing to hold onto
nothing to let go
stop

hear the tolling
clear the air for breathing
wash the water for bathing
dream in sleep for wakefulness

Friday, July 25, 2008

Psalm of Lament of the Adopted Stranger

1Why bring me here, O God
To dwell in the midst of these?
2Having carried me away, from land to distant land,
Bearing the mark of resident alien.

3How I long to remember the tastes
Of the pomegranates of home,
4Dream of the refreshing pools of the land of my ancestors,
But the beloved people of home, they cast me out.
5I am the beloved reviled, celebrated as one whose songs of pain
Gladden the hearts of many who hear.
Selah

6Yet in my abiding as resident stranger,
YOU HIDE FROM ME!
7Leaving me to find food among the fallen, rotted fruit
In the vineyard’s row.
8My flesh has become accustomed
To the chilled emptiness of the sun’s retreat.
9There is none to love
In the solitary place.
10I have forgotten the hands of human embrace
And my heart cries out to you, O God.
11But why do you not hear?
What is the reason for this scorn?
Selah

12I believe you are my resting place;
Can you find rest in me?
13Reach into this strange land and pluck their hearts with songs-
The ones who dwell here.
14That I may sing at the welcome table of your righteousness,
The songs of joy and thanksgiving.
15Bring the warmth of the sun’s light upon my face
That I may feel your presence among your people.
16I beseech you, O God, visit me
In the wind, the rain, the moment of your desire.
17Blessed God, just make your way to me.

Thursday, July 24, 2008

In Transit Ruminations

Fitting

The bough of the crook
of the lover’s arm, crease of hip

Speaks belonging in a way
no gift of love words can capture

There is the desire of the souls’
truth in that body bend

Quiets the mind, races the
heart, creates the unknown
deep in the core

Trying love on for size
to the radiator’s knock and hiss-
As the busy world outside
is hushed or disappears?



Branch of Mid-Winter

The dry branch bending in strength
to winter winds
Reminds of fragile strength
Some call love, or life
or joy or pain or death.

Each touch a fragile sense of strength
in desire, in longing, in risk of lasting.

Fluttering wildly in this elemental
phenomena

Fighting fiercely to understand
the sensation:
Being stretched to straining,
twisting as if poised to snap in two or three-
instead snapping back – whole

In too the life, because of the hidden green pulsing
still, oozing alive out and in spring bloom.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Just wanted to say

I've been intrigued by the desire to create a blog so just went ahead and did it. Hopefully this will be a space where I can flesh out some ideas, talk about the sublime intensity of life or maybe just think about the simple things in lfe. Those simple things that bring a smile to our faces or our hearts build up strength to face the things that cause our hearts unease.

There is a song with a chorus that says "If I can help somebody as they walk along the way, then my living will not be in vain." Day by day I try, day by day I hope to encourage someone else to try. I don't know who cares to read these musings, but I am grateful to any who do.