Walking sanderling

I discover new birds every day. Today it is the sanderling.

I wander
Like the bird
On the beach
Seeking pictures
For my
Web page,
Words
For the clients
Who might need
What I have
To offer.
The sanderling
Will live
At the top
Of every page
Hold out
A sand-covered foot
A foot of welcome.

Sevens

An interesting exercise, and an exercise it is.

I practice at night
Count backwards
By sevens
Never know
When I will be called upon
To do it again.
Few of us think
In sevens
Forwards
Or backwards.
Forgiveness
Comes in sevens
A number
That clogs the brain
Means endless
Endless
Endless
Backwards
And forwards.
If or when
I find myself
In yet one more
Emergency Room
Counting backwards
By sevens,
Count those
I must forgive.
Sevens
Always sevens.

Yutori

Thank you, Naomi Shihab Nye, one of my favorite poets, for uncovering the concept of yutori in a conversation with Krista Tippett. 

Yutori
The Japanese concept
Of what every schoolchild
Calls recess
Here
And more.
It's more than
Playing kickball
Way more.
It's more
Than simple time away
From scheduled things.
Yutori
An accomplishment
Of its own.
I never knew
It had a name
A form
Yutori
A way of seeing
That there's more
Way more
Between the cracks.

Ugly pumpkins

Looking for pumpkins with innate character

The goal today

Is to find

The three 

Ugliest pumpkins

In the patch.

They will probably

Not be adopted

Otherwise.

We will give them

A home.

Ugly is

As ugly does.

No round 

Perfect

Jack O'Lanterns

For us.

We will adopt them

Find their beauty.

Righteous

I am finding the brave ones, the righteous ones. They are legion.

Righteous
Is like brave
We cannot name ourselves
Either one.
One week
This past summer
I was called both
In the very same
Week.
Brave
Is like righteous.
I caught myself wondering
If there was something
To this.
I did wonder
Who were
The brave ones
The righteous ones
I might name
I found several
And began
The process,

Jesus and the dinosaurs

Godly play comes in so many forms.

Years ago
My beloved
Taught
The church preschool.
It was called
Godly Play.
There was special training
He refused to get.
The desert box
With beautiful white sand
Became the site
For more stories
Than the special ones
In boxes wrapped in gold paper
Ones that were limited
To the Bible.
I was not there
But I heard about
An enactment
Of Jesus
And the dinosaurs.
I'm sorry I missed it.

What I might say

It's a humbling thing to be called to sit in the pew.

I sit in church
Think about
What
I might say
If I stood
In the pulpit
An interesting exercise
No
I think
You forgot
To mention
This
As if
Any one preacher
Has the end-all
The be-all
Of sermons.
As if
Anyone
Has the exact right thing
To say
Ever.
Each of us
Trips over
Her own words
His own words
All the time.

Hot to drink

In memory of my pastoral care professor, Bob Carlson, in seminary.

Would you like something
Hot to drink:
Hold the cup
In your hands
So your fingers
Come alive
In the warmth?
Something
Hot to drink
So your stomach
Says hello
To the warmth
And there is an endless
Endless
Endless
Possibility
An opening only warmth
Can bring.

All that sparkles

All that sparkles IS gold, I tell you...It is.

All that sparkles
Is gold.
Do you see?
The gold in the cracks
The gold
In the sky
The gold
In the lawn
Between the blades
Of grass?
All that sparkles
Is gold
The light
In the person's eyes
We encounter
On the sidewalk
Any gold we mention
To another
Do you see
What I see?
All that sparkles
Is gold.

Web page

New project

I browse pictures.
A web page
Is a different beast.
Not mythical.
Clear.
Understandable.
Who are you?
What's the point?
Will we work well
Together?
I can do this.
Still
A web page
Is a different creature.

Seismic shift

Waiting for the earth to split.

When the earth
Splits
It depends which side
One stands on.
It is only
Until the settling comes,
The rubble clears
The skies blue,
The volcanoes
Erupt
The lava hardens.
When the earth splits
It depends
It all depends
Where the rubble lands
The rivers flow
North or South
East or West.
When the earth splits
It all depends.

Don't they know?

The wisdom of a five year old. Let's go back and tell them.

Hail Mary
We sat in vigil
With others
She five
Me
Her mom.
Mary was called upon
Over and over
She
Five years old
Did not understand
Hail Mary
The prayer
Came again.
We drove home
What's all this
About Mary?
She asked
Don't they know
About Jesus?
Don't they know?
We need to go back
Tell them.