Youth Reach

The children, simple,
Underfoot teaching lessons
Of brave innocence;
Love their flashing sword, bright shield,
Determination – armor.
The children bestow
Gifts wherever they go,
Fond smiles bubble up
Filling hearts like coffee cups,
Bringing laughter to sad eyes.
The children desire
Understanding of all things,
Learning from old souls
Every blessing and conflict,
Each harsh word and compliment.
The children reveal
Past secrets, future dreams, things
Unknown and unseen,
They dabble – eternally
Calling out for kindness, care.
The children face time
With a will toward conquering
Those troubles they must –
Choosing courage enough to
Produce the needs, become who
The children can be
When raised with sensitivity,
Shining in history
Free to grow because there
Are miles to go, LOVE to show.

Again Then

Time does not come
Tied-up
In pretty ribbons
Red and Blue,
More evidently
Purple –
Green of a stubborn
Bruise,
An ebony night, or
Sun bright raging
Thirsty day
When
That is, the harrowing
Cold is
Out of season.

Prizes
Are rare and never
Given for participation,
No,
Those gains only come
With blood, sweat, pain –
Paid
Perhaps by generations
Who strive to keep
Love, faith, effort alive;
Tears,
Prayers over many years
Are not just present,
The future
Is also their target;

Entreating God
His mercy, grace to
Unleash
That survivors remain
Christ’s love to proclaim –
Overcoming
Overwhelming dangers, trials,
Through the continual
Outworking of individual salvation.

Cred

Tonic

So many snippets
Stream through windows of our minds,
Frantic squirrel-like the acorns we hide
Unattached – space, time,
Carrying subtle music
It flows; we nearly catch it.
Upon fragrant air
An idea, oft thought, lingers
We may become more
Should we step beyond the door
Appearing as choice – before.
Have we only this
To treasure, a muffled line
Not aptly spoken
Shedding meaning left behind
Past, present, future, equal.
Us, we, a people
Seeking love without measure
To give life purpose, pleasure
When dreams lose cause without hope
Promises then made, broken.
Lives come forgiven –
Things acquired for which we strive,
But funds slip away
Leaving emptiness still ours
Loneliness star cast
A role to play – until hands
Reaching hands lead onward, love.
All come now peaceful
Like fog on morning pathway
Leading to an ease
Reconciliation frees
Who we can be here, agrees.

Unnoticeable

Some people mention
Elephants in these rooms –
I do not see even one,
Though there was a platypus, once.
No, there are pastel pink
Balloons, buoyant,
Perhaps lifted by the warmth
Of fat jar candles burning – fiercely
casting shadows and reflection.
The mirrors hardly notice
Any of this as each ponders
A presentation less often seen
than, the naked boardroom
Dreams spreading shock and awe
Into the adrenaline wakefulness
Where fear drowns pregnant
with crystal-shattering screams.
An open window vacuums
The bubblegum balloons toward
What near, the beyond, outdoors holds;
Pedestrians pause to take in
Doves serenading in the park.
Maybe an egret at the lake
would like the elephants
I have not seen on extraordinary
Days that pass yodeling about
A damsel once viewed, just a face,
in transit
Imaged in a cotton candy balloon.
Ah, but how all float away –
The past into centuries, the present
heading by, behind with the wind,
tomorrow a vision maintaining itself
Just a little forward, never to be caught;
and the cherry pop balloons
Go to where it is unknown, exist or burst,
Once they were and how they did rise.
My room is lonely now
And I surmise, alone is mine –
Dancing with balloons was and is
Another moment, given time.