There's absolutely no proof
That if left alone
Human beings will be
Or course correct more than anyone
Who have lost themselves
Most resoundingly at sea

If anything we
Need more guidance than ever
In this time of being most encouraged to be

Whatever we feel
Whatever we dream

When really we are actually not at all these things

We are just that which sees
Humans who be

I lost my best friend today,
more like my child than
merely a friend.

My 24/7 companion for 9
all too short years.

He could read me, my moods
my health, even my intentions.
We were both fully habituated
to one another that way.

Laugh, oh my how every day  
he could make me laugh.
A born and breed clown that
never lost his puppy inclinations,
his love and joy for life always
on display, even on the last day
of his earthly existence.

In the end though his eyes reflected
his pain, still his love for me remained,
with no words ever required.

Weeping does no good,
the loss and anguish must
be endured. Tucker my Boxer
dog with a wonderful soul,
will be remembered evermore.

His beloved chew and fetch
toys litter the floors, along
with his now forever empty bed.
What shall I do with all these
bittersweet artifacts of his life?
That now have become sad daily
reminders of his demise.

I will have to think about that
for à while.

There used to be a bottle on the wall.
It was very green.
I'm sure it was the loneliest green bottle
that I had ever seen
It used to sit on the wall
all day and all night
And every day, when I looked out of the window,
it was always in my line of sight
Then one day, a cat came along.
Something was going to happen; I could tell
The cat then accidentally nudged it
and off the wall, it fell
When it had fallen off the wall
it had dropped with a very loud sound.
There were all these little pieces of the green bottle
all over the ground
Then the cat yelped
and I knew it had gotten hurt
I could quite obviously see its paws were caked in
blood and dirt
The bottle wasn't harmful in the beginning
it did not look the slightest bit treacherous
but after a nudge in the wrong direction
it became very dangerous
Now I look back at you smiling
next to me on the big armchair
Your fingers running through your soft locks of hair.
You remind me a lot
of that green bottle.
In the beginning, you were harmless
you were all sorts of fun.
Now you hurt me.
Could you tell me why
as I don't quite know what I've done

I am now worthless because of your generosity.

Hey Alabama. I drove through
you half my life ago. You were
most green and gracious. Blue
skies foamed clouds supine on
my skin. A thin veil of fog an
unseen future away.

I slowly crossed your planet,
picked flowers on the verge.
I remember the heat. The red
hair of summer curled against
the day. Nights vibrated, a gong
gone mild. Soft, resonating, still
resonating. I breathed air in
like smoke, holding it inside
for long seconds, a question
waiting for its answer.

Long years have veined miles,
mapped time. I am blued with
thinking of it.

Hey Alabama.
I remember. Your highways
still, so sweet. You travel
soft as sleep.


June 11, 2000 rc

I talked with my parents this morning (they’re in a time zone that’s 6 hours ahead). I’ll be off, back to school, before they get back. They sound very tired, certainly tireder than they did a month ago.

They’re working with “Doctors Without Borders” somewhere in Poland. We have a fiction between us, that they haven’t been in a war zone for the last couple of months, spending 16 (18?) hours a day, in ineffable, meatball surgery - sewing pieces of people back together.

Although our conversation topics are no more important than soap bubbles, they evoke a kaleidoscope of emotions (in me), our mutual deceptions as fragile as eggshells.

Time is for tides
And boating lake rides
It’s for boiling your eggs
And the swimming pool regs.
Time is spent in detention
Or paying attention
Or sitting a test
Or having a rest
Time is for departing
Not for outsmarting
A pie shaped chart
With nothing to impart
A dish served cold
That chimes when your old
It scrawls lines on your face
And flutters the flag
At the end of the race
But the best of time
Is when it’s all mine
No pressure on the day
No programme to display
No seconds tick away
No words left to say
A smile paints my face
The sun warms my skin
My mind’s lost in space
My heart’s deep within
A Disney ride
With three kids in my care
Bristling with pride
The wind in my hair
And come the time
When I’m
Just a thought
Caught in your throat
That’s how to think of me
Because that’s where I’ll be.

SE

“How foolish you are, and how slow of heart
to believe what the prophets have spoken!
Didn’t Christ have to suffer [be broken],
then enter His glory [new life to impart]?”
Can you hear these words Christ spoke Easter Day
as He journeyed (resurrected!) with two
who had not yet grasped God’s Covenant view
that Jesus’ shed blood is Hope’s ONLY way?
From Genesis on, God painted pictures
pointing us straight to the cross of His Son
in shadows and types through Providence done—
Jesus fulfills the weight of these Scriptures!
So come, invite Him in! As those two learned,
He’ll teach you, open eyes, cause heart to burn!