9/30/2009

For Dan

don't be glum, my sickly chum,
for autumn days are here -
woodsmoke & wooly socks can fill you up with cheer!
feeling rather poorly?
want to sleep all day?
I know just the remedy to chase your blues away!
Walk into October, preferably at dawn,
and ...see the crunchy scarlet leaves sleeping on your lawn.
An instant cure! I guarantee!
Let FALL soak your soul in glee!
Go adopt a pumpkin; bake an apple pie -
maybe they won't cure you,
but WHAT A WAY TO DIE!!!!

9/29/2009

the suppleness of language

the suppleness of language
leaves me distracted
coming from your mouth, the meaning
refracted -
like the light
from your eyes.
i do not feel wise.

o! the tangles you've spoken,
and smiled in speaking,
leave me a token
carved from sharp hope.
They're like eggshells unbroken,
or an anger soft-spoken,
like a song & a vow -
but i cannot tell how
to unravel them out
and make them shout.

the suppleness of language
leaves me distracted;
it's a brilliance exacted
from a very plain stone.

please leave me alone

9/27/2009

Reinhold Niebuhr:

Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime,
Therefore, we are saved by hope.
Nothing true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history;
Therefore, we are saved by faith.
Nothing we do, however virt...uous, can be accomplished alone.
Therefore, we are saved by love.
No virtuous act is quite a virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as from our own;
Therefore, we are saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.

"It is His very closeness that makes it difficult for us to think of Him. He Who is infinitely above us, infinitely different from ourselves, infinitely “other” from us, nevertheless dwells in our souls, watches over every movement of our life with a...s much love as if we were His own self. His love is at work brining good out of all our mistakes and defeating even our sins.
“In planning the course of our lives, we must remember the importance and the dignity of our own freedom. A ma who fears to settle his future by a good act of his own free choice does not understand the love of God. For our freedom is a gift God has given us in order that He may be able to love us more perfectly, and be loved by us more perfectly in return.”
~ Merton No Man Is An Island 8.1 (“Vocation”)

To a friend

oh my dearest darling,
how the days do fly!
sidewalks lead to buildings
& clouds race through the sky;
dogs chase after tennis balls
moles burrow in the lawn
but everytime i turn around tomorrow is just GONE!
i've been trying hard to call you
(i...'ve scheduled it twice)
but Time's a ruthless houseguest
whose manners are NOT nice.
The long and short, my dearest dear,
is that i love you true
and that will never change at all
'long as the sky is blue

9/26/2009

HELLO MY NAME IS
VICTORY
i'm from the top of a mighty tree
and the bottom of the sea.
you'll meet me, occasionally,
but chances are, just briefly.
I'm transient, you see.

9/22/2009

when she was young, my mother decided to put
all her mistakes in jars. She
lined them up on the windowsill and on shelves in the cellar
& then grew up.
Once I followed the cat down the stairs and saw those dusty rows of experience,
and it frightened me to
count them out. i want to ask my mother
why she never taught me how to can,
but
something about all those jars
makes me think
i
understand.