Will you meet me
   Under the willow tree before dawn,
      Take my hand and walk the crooked path
         That leads to the bank above the brook?

We'll touch earth's dewy blanket with fingertips
   As crisp morning air pinches our ankles and the napes of our necks,
      Spread a blanket of our own and sit
         Cross-legged with upturned palms and open hearts,
            A yearning for spiritual things...

We'll read to one another from holy books –
   Awareness, Unity, Love, Peace...
      Meditate to the sound of cicadas and frogs,
         Gurgling water
            And our own breathing.

We'll wait.
   For the Great Spirit,
      For insight and guidance,
         For the warmth of the Sun.

I long to meet you, to greet the day with you
   My confidant, my best friend.
      What a privilege to be at this place at this time,
         Sharing my sacred journey with you,
            Listening and learning about yours.

Will you meet me
   Under the willow tree before dawn?
      Take my hand.

"I would like a kiss please" proposed he.  "The first of fifty thousand."
"Fifty thousand?" challenged she.  "Isn't that a trifle small for a lifetime?"
"Point taken" admitted he.  He thought briefly.  

"I would like a kiss then, please, the first of one million."
"That's more like it" acknowledged she.
"But in fairness," observed he, "I've always preferred quality over quantity."

    What followed next
           took her breath away,
                made her shoulders limp,
                      buckled her knees,
                            and finally
                                  settled as heat in her pelvis

"Mmmm... point taken" conceded she.  "Point... taken."
"Nine hundred ninety-nine thousand,
     nine hundred and ninety-nine kisses to go" he proclaimed with a wink and a grin.

What do you have for me today, O Maker?
What do you want to show me?

I open my Eyes,
     Let me see what I need to see.
I open my Mind,
     Let me understand what I need to understand.
I open my Heart,
     Let me feel what I need to feel.
I open my Hands,
     Fill them with what you have for me today.

Thank you.

internet.
     i fell.  she fell.  
          i moved.
               far.

                    we fell.
                         often.
                              hard.

                     ­              cuts, bruises.
                                        death certificate. 
                                             unsigned.
                                                  mirac­ulous resuscitation.

                                                 ­      love.

I remember when everything was black and white
And I had to know that I was always right
It was so easy then, and yet so hard
Being God's saint in man's backyard

There was no room for error in my little self-made pen
I covered all the windows to keep me free from sin
And there I studied scripture and there I often prayed
There was talking on the outside, I could not hear what was said

Why must we have all the answers?
We're human and we make mistakes
When will we learn to be ourselves?
God accepts us as we are

It's a lonely kind of life when you're the only one who's right
Others just don't understand
I try to lead the band
But no one follows