One man alone...emerges
seeking to claim His own

Barely, yes
but still breathing

Desolations disgrace
is what has been shown

Clawing up from where
crushingly abandoned

Sure to escape
the horror the man
He has known

Describe Him
despicable rejected
Quite altogether forlorn
Surely far lower
than hopeless

Still advancing steadily on

There is not one
that He can call out to
Neither friend
nor family or home

Ignoring
the laughter of cynics
Oblivious
to the jeering of scorn

The continuous
critical whispers
only lengthen the sojourn He is upon

But still through
the music of His conscious
His soul cries
a sad quiet groan
The total
incalculable sorrow
of all the man He has borne

Finding
yet always pursuing
Searching for all
His destiny has sworn

One man alone......emerges
Seeking....... and sure
to reclaim His Own.

-R.

(06)
TX

Search
and ye will perceive
that you have been pursued

Pursued
and perhaps persuaded
Then prevailed upon
through and through

Prevailed within a purpose
a purpose of the truth
The truth of a proclamation

Proclaiming the promise
of pure and perfect Love
for You.

  -R.

(05)
-TX

Um, um, don't let me parse that out yet.



(sonnet #MMMMMMDXLII)  


What of the two espressos long gone hence?
Perfection, as lunch' fine spread was t'avail.
Eclipsed in ya, one phone call, aught detail
Was likewise, 'cept our dinner, or the sense
Of fleeting time I grapple for now, whence
Oh me!  Now Texas winks at me like's bail,
Ten-gallon hats with crueler heat to scale
Than Lincoln's Land, and lo, a man fr'intents.
It's wonderful to be encouraged fer
All that to fear the LORD. I've missed it too
Long now.  To talk together like's not poor--
Of Scriptures--ah, and with a man.  I do
But fear now losing what's sae precious, were
It mine to have.  Ne coffee's like this brew.

06Aug17b

down in the Frio river
where George Strait first swam
i grabbed ahold of the rope
and swung right into the country
where clear water flirts with the hot sun
and my face is kissed by their entanglement
freckles of life
eyes of a child
simplicity with audacity
laying hind down on the shallow end
as the stream tickles my toes
and the minnows say hello
wishing this were my childhood
but today i grew a little

Tiny ankles hang down from a wooden bridge over the bayou-
and my friend and I stare at the black water
and point at all the furniture legs jetting out of the blackness
as if they were Cyprus knees—
and he says to me  “Someone said there’s at least a hundred bodies in there”
and without hesitation or a moment of silence
for the uncertain yet forgotten Dead
I say, “Bodies float, so we would see them if that were true”
and he replied,  after a brief moment of thought,
“Maybe they’re tied to all the couches or stuffed in the refrigerators”  
and I couldn’t believe how many house hold appliances
have been repurposed to host all these passed souls
in the bowels of the swamp
and with a swing of my leg, too swift—
my left shoe dropped  and hovered on the water
where lily pads should have been

in the small town land marked by it's single gas station,
teens skateboard through
the Walmart 15 minutes away
smoke cigarettes
in the baseball field of their high school rival
spend Friday nights at waffle house
after football games
the hospital near Walmart
is being closed down
history replaced by
churches and banks
patriotism and school pride
is sewn into the school
t-shirts
a memorial for the boys
who drove drunk and died
it's a community
built on family values,
everyone recounts their
blessings and after years
of collective prayer
He even
bestowed upon that town
a Dollar General

Made a home in
The County of Emmet
The smell of another Lucky Strike
As you’re trucking, state lines in the rear view

You made the trip down
Took you over to the field
To watch them circle the bases
Spring of ’01, the last time I’d see you in health

Made your arrangements
Buried you a block away
78 of Nemaha, right over on 6th street,
The paper read

Time of Day mid-afternoon
The smell of a Texas June
I’m sleeping in a car,
The news is crossing state lines, impedes my innocence

I learned about selfishness and mortality
As the youngest of the grandkids
Just trying to find a spot to sleep in your basement
I never heard your stories about the war

I'm lost in the city
But I'm taking my time
The streets keep talking to me
They're asking how everyone can spend so much time looking down and straight ahead
When a whole world grows rapidly above them

Buildings grow into the stars
A new styled solar system
They dance among the clouds
Wisping fluffs of greys and whites
When I look, I know that I want to be where it all connects

I am gliding down hills
I am fumbling through crosswalks
I am slipping past street signs
because I can't keep my feet on the ground and my head from that new world