There’s no home for intimidation
Inside reconciliation,
And family must embrace
Deepest when facing
Deep differences.
Love shows no belligerence,
But patience and humility.
Love is what we are called to be,
Called and empowered,
For He has showered us
With grace upon grace.
My children smell of grass
And garden hoses-
All knees and elbows,
And sunburnt noses.
So eager for the comfort
Of shade and clean clothes,
They curl up in my arms,
My gift of repose.
And I can’t wash this off,
Not with years of soap.
My children smell of grass,
And laughter, and hope.
My God, my King,
I can’t sing a forgotten tune.
Come soon, show me the weak,
Speak purpose to my shallow frame,
Let me speak Your holy name to feed
The hungry, the needy, as Your breath fed
What was dead in me. You led me then, from
The valley of death. Don’t let me hoard the wealth
Of sweet salvation- let me run the duration with joy,
Spreading joy where there was sorrow. Give me tomorrow,
So I can render it to You again. Forgive my sin, and bless my faith.
Are there do-overs?
Moments derailed, and details
Lodge internally
Forcing antibodies.
The halls had doors,
And passive flow, I didn’t know
You can’t return again
Till a full rotation.
I thought nothing
Could be more secure, so sure
I would be near enough
To hear the closing door.
Blood on my hands,
I took a moment, it fomented
Internal insurrection,
Kissing vegetation.
Even while we never set it down,
Or lose it, or forget the sounds,
There are better songs than love and loss.
A child’s open outburst, caution after,
Because she’s learned to fear laughter,
But for a moment it peals free.
Repentance wrenching honesty
From the depths of tragedy,
And pulling beauty out of ashes.
A man putting aside his appetites,
To feed the starved, which satisfies
Them both together.
A crumpled woman, under condemnation,
Who stands forgiven inside salvation,
Treasured for once and forever.
I’ve seen these bits of heaven realized,
They make this mortal coil, this great enterprise,
Worth all the time and breath,
And years and tears and loss.
Time for a flurry
Of mental activity,
The best protection
Is in misdirection,
Sleight of hand,
Slight what understands,
Then the prestige
The accuser is besieged
By distraction,
Its own satisfaction.
Nearly asleep, nearly awake,
When a near memory shakes
Me to pieces.
A second here, a second there,
But the trip left me bare
And restless.
A lone sentinel, do you haunt
My dreams so they can’t taunt
My own memories?
Confused, caved in, even contrite.
Would you visit tonight
So I can sleep?
Water flowing from black seas,
Nightly flee, nightly flee,
From the wasteland to free,
Set me free.
Because I’ve worn these chains,
They’re the same, they’re the same,
Through the years that leave me, they remain,
They remain.
Skies crack open, clouds break,
Take it, take it,
And don’t look back, forsake this,
Save me and forsake this.
My highest dreams, my sole relief,
Drink the grief, drink the grief,
These waves that pull it underneath,
They roll it underneath.
Dark and beautiful rolling waves,
Find the brave, oh the brave,
Find the broken and enslaved,
Break the bonds of the enslaved,
So justice can sleep unguarded,
Unthreatened, Unhardened,
So children can dance in the garden,
No serpents in the garden,
Water of gray and grace, day seas,
Flow through me, flow through me,
Bring the blues and hues of free
Set me free,
Set man free.
Electrical overload,
You sent an ill-timed jolt
Through cardiac nodes;
A well-intentioned assault.
The burn was scabbed,
And I thought mended,
But such tiny stabs
Have largely offended.
It’s murder still,
While life still beats,
To sear someone at will,
Even if you’re discreet,
Even if you’re not the first,
Or the last, or the worst.
Autumnal Justice,
And they all fall down.
Baked and brown,
Dry and dusted.
Past the sudden growth,
Bursts of thirst and sun,
Unworn perfection,
Raindrops falling like piano notes,
Every age succumbs,
Worm-eaten or flawless,
Touched by the raw caress
Of what they can become
Before Autumn rises.
viewingcamelot 