Journey of Words

God’s joy moves from unmarked box to unmarked box,
from cell to cell. As rainwater, down into flowerbed.
As roses up from the ground.
Now it looks like a plate of rice and fish,
now a cliff covered with vines,
now a horse being saddled.
It hides within these,
till one day it cracks them open.

-Rumi

It is hidden behind
the bright green eyes,
under unmanageable blond hair,
of one who the world says
is odd,
is different,
is slow.

But it is this boy
who lives his life
broken open each
day
with the joy
that we search for
but rarely see from
amid the busyness
of the world.

Where do you find the hidden joy of God?

This is the life you’ve been given.
Well…it fits too tight
Like those jeans of yours
You know

The ones in the
Back of the closet

The ones you last wore
When you were seventeen
going on thirty.

The ones you tried on
Last week
When you felt that desire to
Make an exchange,
To return what you have
To relive those high school and
College days
That weren’t so good
To begin with.

Life has moved you on,
Has given to you
Its no returns,
No exchange policy
In the form of

A spouse,
A child
(Maybe two),
A home,
A faith
more mature
Than what you once had

Even so
You look during
Dark, quiet evenings
At the
“What could have beens”
And the
“If onlys”
And you tell the shadows
Of the past that you would like
To make an exchange

But not really.

This post is part of L.L. Barkat’s (Seedlings in Stone) Giving Away A Beginning. Go a visit to see the many other great posts on beginnings this New Years Day!

It Is Good

begin: to come into existence; to bring into being¹

it started with nothingness
it was neither light nor dark,
it was neither hot nor cold,
it didn’t exist
except in the mind of the maker.

the maker thought,
considered,
and then spoke.
a word.

it began with a word,
it heard the word,
it became light,
it became warm,
it came into being.

and it was good.
yes, it was good.

but in time
it changed.
it listened to
the other,
it stopped hearing
the word.

it became a bit darker,
it became a bit cooler,
it began to listen to itself.

it was still good,
not perfect but still
good

the maker thought,
considered,
the word became
it
to restore,
to redeem,
to return.

and it is good,
yes, it is good.

1. Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary [↩]

the mirror

the mirror stands as a testament to
imperfectly reflect that which is real,
the surface reflects what we need to do
we see dimly, looking hard for his seal
behind the veil which separates the worlds
of here and now and of eternity
which, in part, we are shown by his heralds,
glimpses brief ’til called to see completely,
our journey is not a means to an end
rather it is the end within itself
remember what is reflected will lend
chance to see reality of oneself
               hidden behind the veil for all to see
               what the reflection offers us to be

Ok then…I’ve been sitting on these few lines for several weeks now wondering where they might lead. I need to throw it out there for some feedback, good or bad. Does this look like it will go anywhere? What feelings are evoked when you read this bit?

Maybe it just needs to percolate a bit longer…

Thoughts? Comments?

In the Image of God,
In the Image of Man

…God created man in his image, in the image of God he created them…

icons
images of the saints
in orderly lines
of godliness grace,
pale, gray plaster
lining the walls,
with pious eyes
offering ancient solace
and silence

Update: Thanks L.L. for the highlight on this weeks RAP at HCB! For more RAP goodness take a look at these blogs:

A Simple Country Girl’s Raspberries
Monica’s Dinner Table
Joelle’s The Beginning of the Path to There
Claire’s Wind-Tossed Paper
Laura’s Tumor
Yvette’s A Daily Prayer
Sara’s Night
LL’s Sweep
Deb’s Orange Glow

Found this on TED this morning and thought it worth passing along. Poets.org has more on C.K. Williams as well.

In light of the realization that it is now April which brings us to National Poetry Month AND add to the fact that I am now going on three weeks with no writing and fighting off whatever bug this is that keeps me coughing and sleeping a paltry two hours a night AND that I have had down time to go back and meander through one of my writing files I figured I would offer this piece from back in 2007 for your thoughts. (Hopefully I will be back to more regular writing these next few days…one more day with the cherubs and then spring break!)…

Enjoy

culmination anima
red leaves of ancient oaks
flutter restlessly in autumnal breezes
as the erubescent sun
reaches with florid arms
to embrace and kiss
the evening star

This piece started out as just a part of Christine’s (Godspace – see link below) Lenten synchroblog but ended up going a bit further when reading Marcus’ post for this weeks RAP at HCB.

I thought that I was meditating on temptation while reflecting on Christ’s temptation in the wilderness but it turned out I was wrong. What I was looking for was grace. The grace that comes from knowing that the one who saved me truly knows the temptations that I face each day. I pray that there may be something in my words that will touch you or give you pause to reflect this Lenten season as we journey toward the cross, the tomb, the raising. I welcome your thoughts and comments, thank-you for taking the time to visit.

i searched for grace

i searched for grace but
instead i found temptation
in conversation:

he said to you:

turn stones into bread,
leap, angels will bear you up,
world’s yours, bow to me;

you said to him:

does not live by bread,
do not test the Lord your God
worship only him;

i searched for grace in
the midst of temptation
and found salvation

Find more Lenten synchrobloggers over at Godspace

A Lenten Prayer

Ash Wednesday
A forty day journey begins
A lament, a calling, a cry out
To the one who creates,
The one who saves and makes us
Whole.
We come to you in brokenness.
We come to you in heartache.
We come to you from wrong roads,
Having departed from the path
You have set before us.

Though we may not know,
We hunger for you, crave your
Touch in our lives
To relieve the suffering,
To heal our pain,
To bring us the terrible sweet joy
Of this journey toward the cross

We offer ourselves
Broken and contrite
To your mercy and love.
We come to you mourning and
Ask to be filled with your joy.
We come to you faithless and
Ask for our faith to be restored.

We begin again as we have
So many times before
Looking to you,
Stepping out on our journey,
Following as you would have us,
To shine your light in this world
Of darkness

Hold us each in your gentle loving hand,
Molding, guiding, loving us,
As we look to deepen our loving relationship
With you our
Father
Creator
Abba

Amen

I came across this video of former U.S. Poet Laureate, Billy Collins piece entitled Forgetfulness.

I have been spending time on YouTube viewing various animations of Collins’ work and am intrigues with the use of the medium of video in poetry. What are some of your thoughts on the use of video/animation and the like in addition to voice in representing poetry?