Thank you Lord for the gift of your love, and beauty, your power and your humility especially in the blessed sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist. It is here that you hide both in plain sight and reveal your divinity and humanity in a most profound and personal way. It is here that you meet us and here that you greet us as we fall on our knees to pray. You give us the sun to welcome us at dawn and send angels to guard at the end of the day. There is always something new and timely every time I am before you in this place. And every time I come away with a brand new look at your face. I look forward to the times we have together with such anticipation and afterwards am filled with jubilation! Help me cling to you, help me sing to you. In troubled seasons help me hold fast, and in stressful moments help me to relax. In sadness I ask for peace and the strength to rejoice, when I have a difficult decision help me to discern and make a good choice. We pray to you, we bring all we are to you. Our joys, sorrows, longings, praises and petitions. Give us eyes to see you, ears to hear you, a mind to seek you and a heart to love you. Help us also to see, hear, seek, and love others as you do for all of them and for each of us.

We ask this and all things in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen!

I haven’t been able to write about you, from the moment we met. I finally feel like I figured it out. You’re different. I don’t and I can’t find the words to write about our relationship or my feelings towards you, other than that you make me happy, but I can write about what you make me think. Our course of words takes me to places forgotten and new realizations and you encourage me to pursue and keep pursuing the things I love to do. To the boy next-door, I thank you.

Last month my neighbor lost his wife of thirty-three years.
Her friends and family are grieving and shedding tears.
She was sixty-three years old and Delilah Jane Webb was her name.
As her loved ones mourn, they realize that life will never be the same.
I feel sad and so do many others because she died.
I feel bad for my neighbor because he lost his bride.
When a person dies, it's always something that is hard to face.
It's giving her loved ones comfort because she's in a better place.
When she was diagnosed with cancer, it was certainly scary.
People had to say goodbye when she died on the 20th of February.

a weather-beaten door
i knocked on it several times
but no answer
“The old man passed away last month,”
said his neighbor

*first published on PoetryNook (Dec 2015)

Break the silence with a subject
That wouldn't lead to violence
Pick a page and turn it slowly
Don't miss a lesson for a revision

Who's the captain in this ship
Who could save us from a drown
Since the ocean waves are strong
Predicting our future is in danger

Live my life, or live your life
To imitate all your moves and talks
Who mentioned I could be my own
Is self respect and pride till doom

I'll love someone who's better than yours
To create a conflict in the midst of this
Dilemma of another sunrise, listen bud
Wish we had two different moons to shine

My neighbor is a responsible drinker, he won't drink and drive.
If other people were as smart as him, many people would still be alive.
Joe will not drive a vehicle if he has been drinking.
That is responsible behavior and it's also good thinking.
If you're about to drink and drive, remember Joe because he's an inspiration.
Driving while intoxicated is very dangerous and that is not an exaggeration.

I have a wonderful neighbor and his name is Joe.
He's a person and a friend who I'm proud to know.
He's been my neighbor and my friend for twenty years.
I'm glad that he lives in this neighborhood, I'm glad he's here.
Sometimes he gives me food and that is very nice.
He is a Christian who loves God and that is precise.
It's nice to have a neighbor and a friend who is so great.
He has been good to me and that is something I appreciate.