To Some Great Spirit Creator…Whomever You May Be

GRACE:

 

My courage is a whisper,

My conviction comes and goes,

My love does not move mountains,

 

I’m consumed by human lows…I’m clumsy with my blessings,

I stumble through my chores,

My virtue is not spotless,

My only glory’s yours. When the landscape seems uncertain;

Full of snares and sin,

My eyes lose sight of sunlight

My faith is sometimes thin…Still I rise each day with purpose;

 

 

Share gifts that I possess,

Greet each stranger with a smile,

Meet hate with tenderness.

 

 

I try to choose the right from wrong;

Resist boasts when I speak,

I try to walk a steady path,

Though at times my will is weak.

 

 

I try to lead with goodness

When the choice is mine to make,

I try to hold a humble heart

And give more than I take. I lift my eyes towards the stars

When I don’t know who I am,

For the strength to be a lion

And the grace to be a lamb…

 

Inhaling breeze in times of pain,

when my heart is dark with doubt,

I feel some universal love

and breath the sorrow out

The oceans flow beneath my feet,

The forests creak and sway,

the mountains tower around my ears,

the fields sag low with hay,

 

Behind the doors,

Inside the walls,

Below the windows,

Down the halls…

 

We feed our children and tuck them in,

We share our sacred lives,

We hold our husbands in our beds

We caress our precious wives,

We steal our private moments,

We confess our secret woes,

We do the daily living

And the worldly loving flows…

 

 

By: Kate Van Raden -”Let it flow people, let it flow”

 

To A Box Of Shirts

You wear white shoes… I forget where I met you. I forget the first time I saw you naked. I forget what we fought about the weekend in April when we went to your parents.

I see your two front teeth when I drink milk. I remember how they hate the cold. I get a whiff of you the subway and cozy up to a warm stranger; just for a moment, just to be with you again. I have a single dress sock that was forgotten under the sink in haste. Sometimes I slip it on and wear it around under my boot all day. I imagine that I glow when I have this secret. I giggle periodically, envisioning how the sandwich artist at the deli would react if he knew I was wearing only one sock… and that it was a size thirteen, argyle, men’s dress sock.

Last night was Tuesday night, so I cooked lasagna. You know how I hate lasagna but we’ve gotten used to having it on Tuesdays after the gym. I find myself cooking it and leaving it on the counter to be devoured by the cats.

I got a call from your sister last week. She was wondering if I still had your box of summer clothes, and if she might have a few shirts for her boys. I lied and said I gave them away. She wouldn’t understand that I still need every single one of them; that I’m so afraid of the day they start to smell like me.

I forgot to remember where I met you…and now I can’t ask.”

Blue Lion (Lyin’)

“Blue Lion” poem

I’m layin’ low, stayin’ cool, but I know that you can tell
I’m tryin’ hard to keep my cool although its hell
And my head is bent, my eyes are straight, my steps are strong
And I may not slow, or show I know…but somethin’s wrong.
I’m cool to you, but in the blue my soul’s a fire
I’m lion strong all work day long, ‘cause I can’t afford to tire
I surround myself with vivid dreams, while resisting their attraction
My heart could thrive on other things, but now they’re just distraction
I taste no food, I sleep no winks, I swallow down my doubt
But secretly, behind my eyes, I’m wonderin’ which door is out