Christ and the Poet
declare the same cry,
“to those who have
eyes to see,
let them see.
To those who have
ears to hear,
let them hear.”

It's been a while since I've
Written to you, my reader,
So today I should go searching
For some inspiration.

Maybe I'll drive to Carol Park
And watch the stay-at-home
Mothers pour out their joys
To one another,
And I'll write you a sonnet
About enjoying your life
Rather than taking it for granted.

Or I could walk through
The local antique shop
Where I would tell you about the
Rusty old straight blades,
Or the dusty bookshelves
Where I search for Irish poetry.

Then I could visit my
Local tobacconist where I would
Relate to you the musty aroma
Of thousands of cigars
That have been worked
Into the carpet.
A place where old men
Like to go to talk about
Their wives and the
Upcoming football season.
Meanwhile, I'd watch as
A newborn adult curses,
Burning his fingers as he
Tries to light his very first cigar.

These are all the places
I could go to gather inspiration.
Instead, I'll just sit here
On this old leather sofa,
In the same coffee shop,
Drinking the same espresso
I drink every Friday morning.

Here I'll keep my same routine,
Writing to you, the only person
Who cares enough to read
About all the things I could do
This morning, but don't need to.
All because you, my reader,
Will be perfectly content
With the product of my imagination.

Statue in the wind.
Refined liquified fossil
from tanks below.
Stoplight foresight.
Epistemology,
'knowledge' is vanity.

Furnace's warmth,
Creator's compassion.
Wife folding clothes.

Binary buzzes
invisibly through
the air.
High-definition
image on the
television panel.

Friends preparing dinner,
awaiting, in faith,
to enjoy company.

Fog, like the sigh on a tired man’s pillow,
rests upon a snow covered field.
Golden grass, aging and dormant,
stands like broken glass
on the snowy walls of
deep roadside ditches.

Ten brown mourning doves
perch upon black power lines.
Juxtaposed against a gray sky, it seems
carefully composed, like a painting.
It is so unfathomably beautiful.
Awakening to wonder is like this.

I saw God handing me
His entire heart.  
After I took it, I saw
What could be done with it.  
I feared as I realized
I could stomp it on the ground,
And feel its flesh between my toes.  
I saw it on a shelf collecting dust.  
I feared the pain
I could cause his heart.  
So I prayed he would teach me
To treasure the priceless gift
He has given me -
His entire heart.

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.

is a child running
into a busy street.
Only inattentive
and
lazy parents
let inspiration die.

Meeting with God
Is not like
Taking a trip to
The Principal's office.
It's like eating a meal
With an old friend,
One who can melt
All of your anxiety
With the simple
Pleasantness
Of his company.

I looked in despair
at the fallen red
pine needles resting
on the ground;
not because
they were there,
as some would say,
representing a death,
but because
something in me
could not see
something grander
in them.

puts the toothbrush
here, takes
the watch off
and puts it there,
creates little
machines -
efficient, lifeless,
needing oil.

Long to break
the system -
eat the wild
honeycomb,
let the honey
slowly run
through your beard.

Caress the heads
of dandelions
and daisies,
run through the field
holding nature's hand.
Break the cycle
and be free.
Life is more
than working,
rinsing, and repeating.

Follow The Way.
Be wild.
Take risks.
Love dangerously.
Trust openly.
Forgive generously.
Become tenacity.

Life is a game of perspectives,
Valleys and mountaintops.
Choose to set your feet
Upon the mountaintop.

Silent cardinal perched
on a cold November branch,
you are watching me.

Silent sloth wrapped on
an encased and snowy tree,
remind me to rest.

Silent succulent
planted quietly in dirt,
remind me to feed.

Silent apple on
the adjacent journal page
remind me to eat.

Silent cardinal perched
on a cold November branch,
sing my numbered days.

Some of us
give up hope
when the seasons begin
to change.  When life
becomes difficult,
it's so easy to
only see the world
as harsh and unforgiving;
only see the rain
on the window pane;
only see the leaves
dead on the ground;
only see all the things
we could never
repair or replace
despite all our effort.

Behold, sometimes
it takes a death
to bring a resurrection.
Sometimes
it takes fertilizer
for us to grow.
Sometimes
it takes months
of cloudy skies
for us to fully appreciate
the sunshine.

So do not
only see the depravity,
see the goodness.
Do not
only see everything
you've lost, look
around and be thankful.

Behind those clouds
is a sunny day;
within that fertilizer
is a root system
becoming healthy;
and in that darkened
grave is a heart
beating back to life.

Midnight as a teenager:
"This is fun!"
Midnight as an adult:
"What have I done?"

I’m a poet whose imagination’s died,
a galaxy whose sun’s ceased to shine.
Pray for me, for I am lost.
The builder didn’t count the cost.

Laid in a tomb behind a stone,
swallowed by a fish in the deep unknown,
I’m waiting for my day to come
when you make me speak
like you healed the dumb.

Call my name and there I’ll come.
Loose me and I’ll freely run.
I’m just waiting for your hand
to pull me on the sea again.

There I’ll see you in the light,
the water’s calmed and the moon is bright.
Little, yes, my faith may be,
but I’ll try again, just wait and see.

I watch my little sprout
push through the tender soil
reaching for light,
asking for water.

A tiny blade
soon becomes a little bulb
with tiny seeds
bursting forth.

A little grain,
enough to feed a bird
or a small rodent,
but it is enough.

It is enough because
it is all it needs
to be.
Nothing more or less.

As we get older
We have to watch what we eat:
Our health, weight, and heart.