Relationships

Freedom covered me in bubble wrap To protect me from life Because that stuff would surely kill me. It took a while before it was safe to feel again. To look at my face in the mirror and count the bruises. It took a while before I believed That smiles were not a disguise To hide evil.   Freedom didn’t come with a map To help me find my way back home, Or to navigate...

There should be a word For the open road   You’ve been tailgating others around This town where you were born An impatient game of pac-man Where you are the hungry ghost   And everything you know of others You learned from their bumper stickers While wondering how the activists And theologians Would ever even see you behind them Through the decades of peeling vinyl Sometimes catchy Sometimes funny Sometimes true But who are they?...

All of this is for you   Every star in the sky That you followed out of your own personal Egypt All of this is for you   Every stone you laid your head upon To watch the angels ascend and descend All of this is for you   This stable outside of Jerusalem This feeding trough This bed of hay The smell of the blemished beasts That sustain the lives of your people The...

Breath that sounds like God’s name in my lungs The joy of connection Every rebellious moment of solidarity In a world determined to isolate Fellowship with those who think they follow Christ Fellowship with those who think they don’t Fellowship with every living thing Existence I like it here And I’m glad I was invited To this awkward party 50 years ago Many have left and gone home But other guests just keep arriving And...

Crunchy Pudding             “I’m so damned hungry.” I mutter to myself which makes me smile just a little bit. Momma used to always ask me why I had conversations with myself. To which I would always smirk and reply “If I want an intelligent answer to my question, why not ask a genius?” I have always been sort of full of myself, even at a young age. Somehow, I could take a problem and create...

The Devil Wins My Tears Once Again   You speak but your eyes tell the truth Deceit and lies spew forth from your mouth Hidden behind the walls of complements Forever speaking but never honestly My pain wells up behind a mask of caring My tears held back for none to see I silently carry the burden of Love Craving only Truth and Honesty from my partner in life I starve for Love’s sweet embrace...

Something so Small   Who ever knew the power in such a tiny thing. Many will claim to come save the day. Many will fall utterly short in that task. Like an Angel on high you came. Dispensing kindness without an ounce of selfishness. Miniscule in size, but massive in Heart. You have the ability to reach into one’s soul and heal them. What once was a broken husk is repaired. Crumbled and rotten is...

You sleep like a feather Slipping silently  From the nest of a dove Over a river at night Just one note from a  Muffled song Even just a slight breath of air And there you are Drifting down To the icy water Wide awake   Me? I sleep like a brick Like shoes made of concrete Encased in the mud Beneath the bridge Beneath the fishes A mouth full of gravity I sleep on borrowed...

You sit there hidden away from the world, Sitting against your favorite knobby trunked Willow. Hiding from the hot July Sun with your head on a Burl pillow. Meanwhile participating in epic adventures in far off lands, Touring across the galaxies and exploring unknown desert sands. You have an infinite number of possibilities, The multi-verse of knowledge at your very fingertips, Should you just apply yourself to whatever problem is at hand. The princess desperately...

Sitting inside a dark room, Lighting home-made candles for light. Igniting up a roaring fireplace, Using old papers and wood we found last night. Not for smores or happiness, But for solely warmth alone. Blankets piled on top of blankets, Simply to quiet stifling cold stone. Reading by the fire, Or by using the moonlight. Darkness and the frigid cold, Were my only friends at night. We got the big food stamp box, It’s like...