Looking for light
on the northern horizon,
waves colliding
with the sand,
my eyes are straining
to see the stars.

I've never seen
the Milky Way
until tonight.
I've never seen
the Northern Lights,
so I wait.

I can smell
the lake water,
I can hear the voices
of my friends,
and nothing is more
overwhelming than Now.

Covered in
this moment,
saturated
like the sand,
I look up to the heavens,
and give my breath to the wind.

When I see
the five robins on the lawn,
and hear the beauty of their song
I'm filled with wonder.
I'm reminded of the detailed
Zoas I learned about yesterday,
delicate rainbows
painted on each one.
I remember the crimson cliffs
You built in Zion,
and the white granite monoliths
You raised in Yosemite.

How can I not fear You,
shake and tremble
at Your word?
You are far more powerful
than anything I've experienced.
Much more dazzling
than anything I've seen.

Psalm 96:6 - Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.*

I think of the cliffs of Zion,
the Hoodoos of Bryce,
and the grandeur of
the Grand Canyon.

The splendor and majesty
I've seen on this earth
cannot compare to that
which is before you, O Lord.

I've seen your strength
on display in the power
you used to lift these,
like pillars, from the earth;

and I've seen the beauty
that is in your mind,
forming masterworks
from dust and stone.

Papa showed me the way
to the wild blueberries.
We hiked up the tall hill,
and found those sapphire
spheres hanging from
delicate stems.  

He told me stories of
our Native American ancestors
as he taught me how to pick
the berries;

surely a lesson in gathering
like this goes centuries beyond
our two lives combined!

We took
handfuls and filled our
mouths with the sweetest
blueberries I had ever tasted.
Once we had our fill, we
gazed out upon the horizon
and admired the beauty of the
ancient forest, then we returned
down the dusty trail, climbed
into the truck, and drove away.

That shivering night you and I
walked out upon the ice in our
snow suits, we slipped here and
slid there, and I remember taking
stones to throw through the ice.
The ice was too thick to be broken
and we laughed when they
ricocheted with a sound like
spring reverb turned all the way up.
I was there when your family stretched
the Giant Christmas Tree to the ceiling.
Didn't it almost fall? who caught it?
Some of my fondest memories were
with you, in your parent's house,
but that was many years ago.

I wonder
if you remember
those times

like I do now.

Would we still be
friends like we were
if I had not

forgotten?

Jesus, I need the light
of your face to shine
on all the places that I
cannot see my hand
right in front of me.

entirely empty except
for a few fallen petals
from a red tulip...
entirely empty except
for a wrapper of a piece
of spearmint gum I
just put in my mouth.
Mint usually helps my
stomach when it's upset.