The snow it did not fall
only frost, thick as walls
creaking floors, a long hall
leading upward
where stars whispered
calling to the moon
from behind curtains,
branches and clouds

In beauty may I walk.
All day long may I walk.
Through the returning seasons may I walk.

Beautifully will I possess again.
Beautifully birds . . .
Beautifully joyful birds


On the trail marked with pollen may I walk.
With grasshoppers about my feet may I walk.
With dew about my feet may I walk.

With beauty may I walk.
With beauty before me, may I walk.
With beauty behind me, may I walk.
With beauty above me, may I walk.
With beauty below me, may I walk.
With beauty all around me, may I walk.

In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, lively, may I walk.
In old age wandering on a trail of beauty, living again, may I walk.

It is finished in beauty.
It is finished in beauty.

In the half light of the
Dying sun
Blood falls from her lips
Puts dark beads in
The sand
Around her fingers.

She traces the shape
Of her teeth
With
A tender tongue.
Taste of rust and redness.

A grimacing bloodstained
Smile
Stretches her aching cheeks
As tears slide from
A swelling eye and
The air
Echoes with the sound
Of her
Breaking laughter.

The waves moan in reply,
Licking up
The droplets of blood
And caressing
Her kneeling legs.
She breathes deeply through
A bruised nose.
It won't be long now.
Closes her eyes.

Morning finds her sleeping,
Face down
And out to sea
Her body haloed by a
A ring of dark color
Obscured
By the blackest blue.

The fishes are her pallbearers,
The horizon is her headstone.

Tonight’s the night
when your throat swells tight,
your breath falls short,
your costumes don’t fit right.

Tonight’s the night
friends will surely mock,
your hair’s utter chaos,
your knees nervously knock.

Quality is demanded,
perfection from each night;
it’s subtly commanded;
it solicits stage fright.

Hiding from view
behind glamour and grace,
lingers that time-tried spew:
“Get those nerves off your face!”

From backstage, a call:
“Everyone take your place!”
You’re not ready at all!
Just breathe, steady pace.

Silently whispered lines
across a tongue of cotton,
but then the spotlight shines!
And all these worries, forgotten.

Because tonight’s the night
when your smile will glow,
your beauty stun
and passion show.

Tonight’s the night
you’ll become like a star,
Creator-made,
perfect just as you are.

Nothing else compares,
not applause, not stares,
when you dance for your Savior,
who loves you, who cares.

Tonight’s the night
audiences will applaud,
but you know what they don’t:
it’s not you, but God.