Monday, March 28, 2011

To Die, at Last


Baptized,
Quite literally,
He smiled.

Up from the water,
He trudged
—no, not trudged,
He was without
Burden.

Free,
Maybe
He had tears in his eyes—
But too hard to tell
With the water
Washing.

Unburdened now,
That's the answer.
Slavery now,
That's the answer too.

And he found—
Because I lost faith,
He loved me.

And he loved.

When freedom in slavery
Tackled him,
Tortured him.
He learned the meaning
Of baptism.

And it's always yours.
And he's always yours.

And he loved.
And he's loved.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Concerning that Evening outside Lexington

Always trouble talking about science.
Even the poetry house welcomes you and says,
"Es muss sein!" — "It must be!"

I remember an evening
when the stars broke their orbits
and came down to meet me
as I stood in a crowd of people.
Our bright lights, heavier than I knew,
reached out their hands and grabbed my head
and shook my shoulders.

Everyone standing there watched, astonished.

Some said, "What we have here,
though difficult to understand, makes sense."
Others said, "Only by some dark, dark magic
could he have made the stars come down."
Still others—maybe those with sense—
simply ignored the whole spectacle.

And at the end of it,
the stars decided to shake my hand,
burning it, I assure you,
right before they said, "Have fun!"
as they piloted up through the atmosphere,
back to their rightful spectrum.

So they left me there
with their maddening partners,
the sub-atomic particles,
who I barely had time to meet and understand
before the girls in the crowd gathered around—
addressing my success
and addressing my wounds.

Distracted as I was then,
and as life spun me onward
away from that evening,
sometimes late at night
I look at my scarred hand
and consider what I learned
from those great masses of burning gas.

I remember how either way,
soon after the stars left,
the crowd grew weary of me.

And the religion house,
the murderers of every prophet,
even they welcome you:
"Es muss sein!" — "It must be!"

But the stars laugh and say,
"Consider how the little girl rose and
was saved from the dead!"
Always trouble talking about science.

Friday, March 11, 2011

The Burning of the Bridge outside Concord, Followed by that Night outside Lexington, and Then, Somehow, the Kiwi Lux.

Hello hope, good day, how you do?
I like to think that all is well.
But like a rush of a sonic beauty comes something,
Magnificent you might say.

You can't silence my love.
The sky brightens up as the night darkens as the sunrise
Bursts in bold displays of beneficence.
The tree catches fire in the middle of winter.

How sad, the burning arbor!
And it seemed so well.
And it seemed so free.
But everything inside of me surrenders instead.

With the authority I am granted—
Oh, I am a failure—
But what power I have!
These choices…these choices…

The soul comes ripping out,
Remade and renewed,
Refreshed with a test of irony,
Halleluyah, you cannot silence my love.

I am a sinner! I am a saint!
There is a season for everything—
I am cast away, I am gathered in.
Our hearts still beat, still beat.

Let's go, let's go, let's go, and beyond the horizon.
But who is gathered first,
The wheat or the tares?
You cannot silence my love.

Dear white flower, good day, how you do?
One couldn't imagine a more beautiful you.

The ones that run me through,
They run me through for you.

What the cow am I talking about?
No one knows, quite literally....

Friday, March 4, 2011

Loved.

Breathe in, then breathe out,
Because you are loved.

Hope when the morning dawns,
Because you are loved.

Sleep with peace in your heart,
Because you are loved.

Listen to a song, then sing it,
Because you are loved.

Bloom and flower brightly,
Because you are loved.

Stand in the rain,
Because you are loved.

Wilt in the sun,
Because you are loved.

Feel dust on your face from parched years,
Because you are loved.

Thirst in the drought,
Because you are loved.

Hunger in the famine,
Because you are loved.

See loved ones fall in the road,
Because you are loved.

Bear the burden of your brothers,
Because you are loved.

Bleed from the heart on your sleeve,
Because you are loved.

Cry at the blood on your hands,
Because you are loved.

Scream for mercy,
Because you are loved.

Know your faith wavered,
Because you are loved.

Weep miracles from your eyes,
Because you are loved.

Watch the torture of dear ones,
Because you are loved.

Touch those holes through the wrists,
Because you are loved.

Cling to compassion,
Because you are loved.

Receive the water that washes you clean,
Because you are loved.

Fall into the grave and be born,
Because you are loved.

Plead for the lifeblood that covers you,
Because you are loved.

Hear the quiet wind rushing over you,
Because you are loved.

Light up like fire,
Because you are loved.

Understand the price that was paid for you,
Because you are loved.

Cease trying to repay it,
Because you are loved.

Believe that you are loved,
Because you are loved.