Anticipation

Advent has begun

It is a fitting time

For a new year

We can anticipate light

While we head into

Dark 

Anticipation

Looms large

This year

In particular

New president

New vaccine

People string

Christmas lights

In anticipation

Of greater light

Greater health

For all

 

My Wildness

Black animals 

Inhabit my dreams

I am told pure black

Reflects no light

And doesn't register

At all

Still

Black animals 

Inhabit my dreams

The large black dog

Next to my recliner

The small black lignite panther

On the bookshelf

In my full sight

She is my

Spirit animal

She is the likeness

Of the panther

I purchased years ago

At the hardware store

In a dream

Wrestled her home

To live with me

So I could not forget

My wildness

 

One More Sleep Test

One more sleep test

What are the odds

I will find something

New 

Or the doctor 

Will find

Something

Old

One more time

To sleep 

In front of a camera

In a cold room

Under thin

Hospital sheets

Therapist in the Wilderness

Aren't we always

In the wilderness

No matter who

Our clients are

No matter what

Our level of training

Don't we join them

In the wilderness

If we see it

As such

Aren't we always

In the wilderness

With John the Baptist

Eating locusts

And wild honey

Baptizing our clients

Into a new way

Of life

Waiting for Jesus

To find us

 

Let it Grow

The roots are alive

Under the snow

Let it grow

No matter

The pretense

Of death

The roots are alive

Under the snow

Let it grow

No matter

The appearance

Of death

The roots are alive

Under the snow

Let it grow

Keister

Today

I begin again

I may have fallen

On my keister

Yesterday

But today

Is a new day

I am upright

Even if only

In my chair

Oh yes 

Discouragement

Is not foreign

To me

It's what helps me

Relate

To those around me

Witness

Who is your witness

Who sees you

For who you are

Rather than

Who she hoped

Who he hoped

You might be

It is a tricky thing

This witness

So easy for other things

To get in the way

And soon

To get mired

In what we wish things

Might be

Just Getting Acquainted

Some people sit

With a poem

For hours

Maybe days

Me

I say

Be off with you

Visit your friends

Let me sit

With this new

Fellow

This new

Gal 

We are just

Getting

Acquainted

Dance

The trees dance

In the backyard

Who knows

Their partners

Where they come from

North

South

East

West

I just know

They dance

Immaculate

Our neighbor's lawn

Is immaculate

 

In this season

Every trash day

Finds bags of leaves

On his curb

The trees have not finished

With him

This year

 

Nature will continue

To have

Her way

With him

No matter 

The season

 

 

 

 

When all this is over

When all this 

Is over

Something new

Will arise

 

God willing

We can learn 

From all this

Apply it 

To all that

 

First the grief

First the grief

Before the healing

Can begin

 

No

I got it wrong

 

First the reckoning

Then the grief

 

We must take such things

One at a time

 

First the reckoning

Then the grief

Finally the health

 

It will not happen

Overnight

Re-centering

 I walk down the stairs

As I do every morning

Realize the world

Has begun a spin

On a different

Axis

Of course 

It will take awhile

To figure

Where we fit

In the larger scheme

Of things

It has always 

Been so

Whether we see it

Or not

Will our friends

Still be

Our friends

Last night 

All the leaves

Let loose

We will need

To see

Where they land

When the wind

Picks up

Climate

The climate

The climate

One day in

And

It already begins

To change

It will not come

Overnight 

Good things

Rarely do

They eke their way out

They rise slowly to the surface

Soon

The day begins

To dawn

Brighter

 

Exhale

Pray

Pray

Pray

 

Exhale

Thank you

Amen

Melted into God

What if

It turns out

We are all

Melted into God

And

It is for our

Common Good

To see our neighbors

There

Even the Wicked Witch

Of the West

And her sister

She of the 

Striped stockings

Struck by the house

The Wicked Witch

Of the East 

What if

We are all

Melted into God

We end up 

As a Greek Chorus

I'm melting

I'm melting

I'm melting

Blueberries all year round

Blueberries

All year round 

They arrive

From all parts

Of the world

Today's blueberries

Speak Spanish

Maybe Aymara

They hail from Peru

On the other side

Of the equator

That imaginary line

We draw

To keep us all

Separated

 

Have You Forgotten

Have you forgotten

To vote

There are a couple hours 

Left

The air 

Hangs heavy

Here

As we wait

And wait

And wait

Recycled

All that is

Is

Recycled

We like to pretend

We are new

Completely new

Still

We are new paper

Made from

Paper pulp

We are creatures made

Of stardust

I prefer

The stardust route

So much more

Appealing

To watch the stars

Claim my heritage

There