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 . . .
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 . . .
You made this earth in Your image, O God
Ground under our feet, solid and still
In the sacred garden, we rose up out of the soil,
dust children,
and we spend our lives never leaving it . . .
You, God of Life
are the God of Water
Without you we shrivel and die
You built into our design
the craving for you . . .
We who sleep are awakened by your holy blaze
Glory and love infuse the earth with sweetness . . .
Feather on the Breath of God
tiny feather, downy white
tucked under the wing
of mother dove
close to her breast
near to her heart
warm and safe
hidden, obscured . . .
Let us remember and lay to rest
a creature so compliant
that she took the rules
and swallowed them whole
creating her own iron maiden