I used to think I was alone
here within myself
alone in my struggle to be
who
I thought
I ought
to be . . .
Shame is shit
From toddlerhood we are taught
to hold it, control it, to flush it into oblivion
Yet, try as we might
we are never free of it . . .
How can I walk unhurried through the buzz-clang-flash of a pinball world
Take a calming breath in anger’s face and spy the fear beneath
Be the steady rainbow over someone’s troubled waters . . .
Those who look down on others God has regarded with disfavor,But Christ has inhabited the brown skin of the oppressed.Those who assume their right to rule,God will pull out the rug from under them,And the people of the earth will eat at the table as family.Those who use scripture to keep others in subservience,God shines […]
Sometimes it splashes you in the face
brazen and breathtaking
as ice cold water
But how many more moments
slip by unnoticed
(for she rarely raises her voice) . . .
My heart’s wound is an old old story /
It chatters in the background day and night . . .
Quit trying to corral the river
to slow it down
or to touch every drop
or to steer it away
from the danger of the waterfall . . .
I am from cotton hand-me-downs, hemmed to fit, / From Carnation powdered milk / And big biscuit Nabisco Shredded Wheat. / From racing and yelling, “I’LL GET IT!” / Whenever the black rotary phone rang…
Born on the fourth day
of God’s great goodness
Your Creator crowned you
to govern the night . . .
In Praise of the Sun
Rays of sunlight beaming down like a gentle fan
set translucent spring leaves ablaze
midges become fairy lights, swirling sparks . . .