Walking to Meet You

While crossing the bridge
Two swans sleep
S-curled necks
One touches the bank
The other floats behind
Teasing 6:30 sun
Cradled in rivers palm
They disappear upon our return
Perhaps they moved to willow shade

She the Sun

Sun, modest as she tends to be

Robes her form

With velvet dawn

Just before her pale tresses

Fall over the earth

Rabbits linger

On the edge of scattered lawns

The bleak night bleeds

Through Seneca Lake

At dawn he gorges himself

On her damp flesh

He slurps – sallow flesh

Hangs at the corners of his mouth

Lake water drips down his chin

The yellow mistress

Disrobes politely, steps forward slowly

A silent carousal of light  

Claims day begin

Her unveiled form shames him

I Can't Wait To Sit In Traffic With You

I on land

And you in the sea

Folding in the waves

Like shadow leaves at dusk

I in open air

You sheathed

With ocean mist

A broken clam shell

Next to dry weeds of the sea

On charred sand

Dull vertigo

Rides you in

Provider

Lord today you led me to Psalm 111 where I was able to delight in you and your promises.

“Great are your works Oh Lord they are pondered by all who delight in them.”

How true it is that many times I ignore what you do or overlook your mighty hand in my life. How many times have you provided for me and I have just gone on with the next thing, submitted my next request, become consumed in the next worry that I am blinded to your hand? We move on after struggle and pain without acknowledging who it was that got us through. Lord shame on me for neglecting to acknowledge you and what you’ve done. It is like walking through an art museum with blinders and an unappreciative spirit. That canvas was once blank! Bring to light the magnificent things I have ignored that I may ponder your beauty.

“The Lord is gracious and compassionate.”

Now this one you have revealed to me lately. You are exactly what David describes you to be. I don’t understand how you can be so loving and comforting. You extend your kindess despite my turned face. Lord you ARE compassion. You ARE grace. You cant act any other way towards me. I cant believe I am allowed to be in such intimate contact with the source of these powerful and life changing traits. Lord soften my heart that your kindness might transform me.

“He provides food for those who fear him”

David’s practical addition seems a bit out of place in the context of this passage. However, I think it matches our nature as humans. Even when we are acknowledging the goodness of you and your loving character traits, we so easily turn to worries and concerns that have turned to habit. What will we wear tomorrow? How will we pay for our next semester? Where will we live when we get married? What if I don’t pass that test? What if I can’t find a job? How will I find time to do all the things I need to do?

David’s assurance that we will be fed extends from the provisional master that God IS. 1 Timothy 6:17 claims God richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

David goes to great length in other Psalms to glory in the provision experienced in God:

“O God, you provided for the needy”

“He also gives bread and provides meat for his people”

God IS provision. He is gracious, he is compassionate. He will therefore not allow his child to go wanting. He will fill your stomach, but he YEARNS to fill you mind, soul and spirit with the water that forever prevents thirst from entering again.

In view of the loving daddy that God delights to be to us, how silly we are to let our mundane concerns affect our attitude, behavior and effectiveness in loving others. When filled with anxiety over something God tells us he will take care of, we waste energy worrying over something that logically doesn’t make sense to worry about.

In the case of something we DESIRE God to provide for us, we can trust he will give us what is best – exactly what we need beyond what we can imagine. His prescription takes the entire chart and family history in to account. He has the highest degree in medicine. We only see the immediate headache. Wouldn’t you rather be treated for the source of the disease rather than just disguise a small symptom?

We can trust him and delight in what he provides for us, KNOWING that He knows better and wants the best for us.

Psalm 65:8-10 “You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide their grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth.”

Harvey's

The field has always been here

She's the patient page

That felt first the soles

Of Amish folk

Bare feet, protecting her whiteness

The field has always been here

She wasn’t always a farm

But a skirt to the mountains bosom

Wheat grass doilies line her hem

The field has always been here

In her youth she blossomed

The willow

Lips through which the wind sings slow

Whose mystery increased

Under every sad branch

Whose shade made you cry

The field has always been here

She pollen bled the day they shaved her golden hair

The day they plastered her stomach

A scarring bath of tar down her middle

Pried open her elegant gate

And let you undress her with your eyes

4th of July Parade

The drum line red sweats
Under their helmets
The metallic stampede behind
Sends a smoky message
For the plants that listen on the curb
Warm stalks
Rooted with permission by the town
The peoples eyes pick out
The oversized vendor
The unbehaved child
Carve the batonist out of step
In their visions mural
And title it 'People Watching'