Before Arriving at His Door

Before Arriving at His Door

(Matt 25)

We assemble

each with our color

and textures and sizes--

all with our palettes

of spirit surprises--

foolish and wise

still we gather

here at His Table

willing and able,

like so many lamps,

yours fuller, mine lacking

his flowing, hers glowing

theirs dim

coming to Him

in consecration--

a celebration of amber and blue,

scarlet, ecru and clear

here

sharing our store

so they who have less

have more.

Turning Hearts

"The hearts of the children

shall turn to the fathers..."

...and to the mothers.

With siblings still at rest in my nest,

I'm blessed, but missing the others.

I yearn for the fledglings' return to me,

those lately-flown few

who've soared far from my nursing,

my gentle rehearsing of verses and truth,

the stuff of their youth.

They've now outgrown

my yearning heart

and I am necessarily

learning the art of letting fly

while holding on

to the promise of their hearts turning...

knowing they're gone, but off and on returning

quieting my yearning.

Within

I have met a part of you

that you have yet to know;

a hero humbly waiting

for his chance to face the foe--

a man that you don't realize

is struggling to break free

to be the mighty warrior

he was sent to earth to be.

Magnificent in stature,

brilliant to behold,

and in his hand, the sword of truth:

Shining. Polished. Gold.

His heart holds much of sorrow

his mind still shelters pain,

and still, he steps out boldly

on the battle-scarred terrain

and all of the mistakes he's made

have tempered him like steel

combined to make the whole of him

Powerful

and Real.

Return of the Prodigal

You left before you left, you know
and couldn't know how far you'd gone
or how far you'd need to go--

packed up the Spirit and Truth
of your youth,
hid them behind your 80 proof,
spent all your time with Jack*,
and Jim**, and Mary Jane***,
always trying, always failing
to forget from whence
you came.

This time the leaving
has brought you back Home.

How far you'd gone.
How far you've come.

*Jack Daniels
**Jim Beam
***Marijuana

To a Child Too Soon Grown

When you were very small
with thumb and tricot never far
from your lips,
I would brush the hair
that tangled in your lashes
with my fingertips.

You would smile with chubby-cheeked delight
throwing stubby arms
around my face
in an open-mouthed, wet
toddler-tight embrace.

I would hold your squirming
to my heard, and you would start
to pull away
your little brain already chugging
toward the next stop-plop
like a two-year-old, diapered train.

If I had only known
you'd travel faster than a baby's breath
from those days to these....

If I had known you'd glide
from child to woman like a breeze
from earth to trees...

I would have held you close
a moment longer
trying just to make it last
long as a lollipop.
I wouldn't stop
as precious seconds passed.

But you would be already off,
bouncing baby fat from my lap,
to the floor, to the door
to the day...


hurrying away...

hurrying away....