Exploration

I realize even this needs to be broken down into smaller parts.

The next step

Is exploration

Of transportation:

The orange line

The pink line

The green line

And oh

All the colors.

I was thinking

Four steps ahead.

It is difficult

Not to move faster

Than I’d like.

The lady in red

Across the way

Is my reminder

To take it a step at a time

And also

To keep moving.

I watch her walk carefully

To her garage,

Emerge four minutes later

With two scoops of corn,

One in each hand.

She spreads each scoop

Oh so carefully,

Surveys the ducks

As they arrive.

She walks carefully                                                                 

Up the steps,

Carefully opens the back door,

Shuts it behind her.

Expansion

Our journeys take us different places. We all expand... differently.

I remember

In college,

Sitting in the coffee shop

With a Christian fundamentalist friend.

I drew pictures

On a napkin

Of how I believe

God works:

God in the middle

Of everything,

With so many lines

To approach Him

Or Her.

He grew more and more

Agitated

One Way

He said.

Then he repeated

One Way.

My friend

Had dabbled in the occult,

Had become a Mormon

For awhile.

He found a home

In college,

A Quaker college

(at that).

One Way

He repeated

One Way.

We finished our coffee.

He became

Roman Catholic.

I went to seminary.

Notice

Kitten noticing and being noticed.

We all need

To be noticed.

I write this and the kitten

Walks across my keyboard,

Moves on to touch noses

With the grandfather cat,

Lies down in the sun,

Work accomplished

For the morning.

Realization

The haiku is often like a burp. It comes on me suddenly, even if it has been percolating for minutes, hours, days, months, even years. Trust the process I remind myself. Trust the process. It's all process. Write it down. Even if it's short, not fully developed.

I realize

Slowly I realize

It’s time to expand.

Snow dust

For whatever reason, I seem to have the blessing of efficacious weather prayers. If we get a huge snowstorm, I have not prayed for it.

The East Coast

Got our usual snow.

They are buried

While we

Have snow dust.

The duck lady in red

Across the way

Must have bags and bags

Of corn

In her garage.

More bent over now

She is ready

Even for snow dust

Even for a hint

Of snow.

She prays for snow.

I almost think

Of snow prayer with her.

Then I don’t.

Pussy willows

Years ago now, I would buy "statement" pussy willows, gigantic pussy willows, six feet tall, they barely fit in the car, for the parish I served. That florist eventually closed. I have not seen "statement" pussy willows since. 

Pussy willows have arrived

At the local

Flower stand.

So many of my friends

Ok

And not-so-friends

Are in desperate need

Of pussy willows:

THE sign

Spring always comes.

Place them in water.

Watch them sprout

In February.

I know

This is not soon enough

For some,

Even for many.

I know

It is so hard to wait.

Pussy willows

Have arrived

In January.

There is hope

For February.

Pit orchestra

Twice

I was in

The pit orchestra

For Man of La Mancha.

My hands remember

The fingering

The rhythm

(Almost flamenco)

For the guitar part.

High school

And college productions.

So long ago.

My hands remember.

When I close my eyes

I remember

The sheet music,

Stored in another part

Of my brain.

I think of Dulcinea,

The street woman

Rescued as a maiden

In distress,

A street woman seen

As a damsel.

She saw possibility

And love

In Quixote’s eyes.

My hands remember

The guitar part for

Little Bird, Little bird,

In the cinnamon tree.

The only time I sat

On stage.

My hands remember.

My heart remembers.

It might have been

Yesterday.

Righteous

Then there's God. There's always God.

Righteous:

It is a word I have only

Previously applied

To Pharisees.

Righteous

Has been applied

To me

Twice in this last week,

A compliment

Both times

In very different

Contexts.

It even felt

Like a compliment,

Both times.

Language is an odd thing.

Words can carry

A wealth of meaning.

It depends

On the person speaking,

On the person listening,

On the understanding

Of both.

Then there’s God.

There’s always

God.

Righteous appears to be

In the eye and heart

Of the beholder

And the beholden.

And God.

There’s always

God.

Words not said

Sometimes words not said were those we were hoping to hear.

Often

What is not said

Speaks louder

Than any words.

All too often

Words not said

Have a hollow echo.

They catch on tree branches

Only to fall at one’s feet

At odd times.

They inhabit the night,

Catch us

As we sleep.

These are the words

That lay behind

Oft-spoke praise

Or thank you

When we know

A but

Lurks there.

Encouragement

Funny. Encouragement is all over the place.

Encouragement comes

From unsuspected places.

We need be open.

Love

It's the small things.

Leaving work

I forgot to wear my boots.

This morning we awoke

To snow blowers,

The plow.

This morning

My beloved

Will shovel the walk

In front of me

As we walk

To the car.

We may notice

A bird or two.

He will drive me

To work.

Some may think

Such things are small.

No.

No.

No.

Hell in a handbasket

Reflections on Hell.

I never quite knew the meaning

Of this saying

Before.

Now it seems to apply.

I join the company,

The throng,

The whole kit and caboodle.

Come to think of it

I don’t know

Where this comes from

Either.

Handbasket.

Caboodle.

Good words to describe

The indescribable.

Then there’s Hell

That unknown place

Some people may choose

To go

Even though the travel brochure

Says

It may not really exist.

It’s not a place.

It’s Godless space.

It seems the only way to go there

Is in a handbasket

Whatever that is.

Whyever did I think?

For Martin and me and you, heck, all of you.

Whyever did I think

There would come a time

When the participation in,

The organization of,

Prayer vigils

Would come to an end?

It remains

In the same category

As the final obtaining

Of some sort of licensure

From some body of people

So I could prove to them

Every two or three years

I was still worthy

To pile letters

After my name.

Whyever did I think

I would see this time,

This halcyon

Dreamed about,

Prayed about

Time;

This time when the lion

Would lie down

With the lamb;

When the licensed

Might see the unlicensed

As having something of worth

To offer?

Whyever did I think

I might pray such limits

Away;

We might walk

Nay

We might skip together

In newly mown fields

Like children,

Look up at the sun

And know,

Simply know,

All of us know

It is good.

We form new churches

I know this may not be a popular thought. Still... I believe it is true. Everywhere... is holy ground.

We form new churches

With all in whom we see God,

With each new blessing.

Haiku day

The sun shines yet I find few words. I won't push it.

The sun is shining.

Still... this is a haiku day.

A day of few words.

I will pray

There is so much to be done. I will pray.

Today is the day

The Christmas tree

Comes down.

So much more happens

In the world around me.

I will pray

As I pack away ornaments,

Disassemble the tree.

I will pray

As the birds eat the seed

Spread on the back lawn;

As the Cooper’s hawk

Comes and goes

From the red bud

In front of the house.

I will pray

As the kitten sleeps

Beside me.

I will pray.

Friday is a day

For prayer

In the midst of everything.

My dreams have been filled

With comings and goings,

Amazing dreams,

Sound and fury

Signifying

Signifying

Signifying I am not in charge.

I will pray

As the tree comes down,

As the tree is packed away

For next year.

I will pray.

Hawaiian shorts

This was not meant to be an experiment, but I guess it was, sort of. I noticed the man in the Hawaiian shorts.

Today

I did not forget my pills,

Nor did I take my pills twice.

It is possible to make mistakes

In both directions.

Oddly

Both offer similar

Confusion.

Today I noticed

The man in the Hawaiian shorts

At the gym.

It brightened the day.

I did not forget my pills.

I did not take my pills twice.

It is possible

To make mistakes

In both directions.

I noticed the man

In the Hawaiian shorts.

Homage

The I-phone is dead.

Perhaps it’s the battery.

Long live the I-phone.

Furnace guy

Thankful for the furnace guy. Showing up is what counts.

The furnace is out.

The cats chase each other

To stay warm.

I sit in the sun.

Now the furnace guy

Is here.

He speaks

In monosyllables.

We don’t care.

He shows up.

We don’t call him

For his personality.

Prairie path

Mine is to stand on the edges, offer refuge, if only for a time. Up or down the prairie path the Crusades continue. May peace be found, however it grows. True peace. That which grows, even in cold and ice.

I work up the prairie path

Or is it down

From what feels

Like the Crusades?

I work to keep

My own house in order.

May others walk up

Or down the path,

Reach whatever refuge

I might offer;

Find whatever peace

Is elsewhere.

May they return

Holding the peace

That passes all understanding

In open hands.

May they return,

Let peace trickle

Through their fingers.

May that peace root,

Maybe even sprout

In the snow.

While we were gone

More to be thankful for. Thank you, Jan Birchler!

While we were gone

A neighbor shoveled our walk,

Took wonderful care

Of cat and kitten and turtle;

In fact

Loved them

As we do,

Maybe better,

Way more than we could ask

Or expect.

When we walked through the door

At 10 PM

They were happy to see us

But not

Neglected happy.

No:

Well-fed

Well-played-with

Un-neglected

Happy.

There is no more

We could ask for,

There is so much

To be thankful for.

Amen.

The less I carry

Off to Florida today to see my beloved and the rest of his family. Back on the weekend. Traveling light.

I will go to Florida,

Not take the computer.

The less I carry

The better off I am.

I will take

One carefully chosen book.

The less I carry

The better off I am.

This was even true

Before all the head stuff.

The less I carry

The more seems possible.

Generosity

Generosity, one step at a time. Leave it to a Girl Scout to make it to our door on an icy sidewalk to remind us of our generosity.

We didn’t

Get the sidewalk clear

Of ice,

Yet still

The Girl Scout

Made it to our door.

She knew

We would buy.

We buy every year.

This is a generous neighborhood,

Her mother said

People always buy here.

In keeping

With the neighborhood’s

Generosity

I now work

On the icy sidewalk.

I add to the bags`

For Goodwill.

I allow the kitten

To play with the ornaments

On the bottom

Of the tree.

There's always tomorrow

Continued life with kitten.

We both woke up with headaches,

Unlike the kitten,

She thought headache-y people

Meant more people

To play with.

Even the grandfather cat

Slept

Until she woke him up.

The turtle

Is in winter hibernation mode.

The kitten

Has not figured out

How to disturb

A sleeping turtle.

Maybe tomorrow.

There’s always

Tomorrow.

Covered with camels

We anticipated Epiphany in church today. Every year I laugh about the Isaiah reading and being covered in camels, the three gifts brought by wise men... Were there really three? Were they kings? What does a baby do with those gifts?

Anticipation:

People covered with camels,

Wise folk with strange gifts

All of this

We don't get to decide what counts as treasure.

All of this

Has nothing to do

With how many binders

Accumulated

In the closet,

How much grain

In the storehouse,

How much money

We leave behind.

All of this

Is not about

How much,

How many,

Even

Who we know

Or don’t know.

All of this

Is simply

All the possibility

Its realization.

All of this

Is

Our treading

Our dancing

Our writing

Our seeing

Our hearing

Our caring about

Our loving

That one thing

Which no one else

May even notice.

All of this

Is treasure.

Create your own binders

Sometimes things are best heard in threes.

Create

Your own binders.

Open them up.

Let the pages fly.

Let the words loose

Into the world.

They are your voice.

They are your hands.

Open them.

They are not meant

To be contained

Anywhere.

Keep practicing.

Drive (if you can).

Walk (if you can).

Write (if you can).

Create your own binders

No matter what.

Open them.

Open them.

Open them.

Let them go.

Let them go.

Let them go.

Do not leave them behind.

Leave them forward.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Sometimes things are best heard

In threes.