Hold Control

There is no control
I can place to stop feelings,
I feel, when we speak,
What I want is transparent,
Yet it never fades away.
I belay my tongue
Short of saying how I feel,
Not trusting in me
Because the past did not go
According to my best plans.
Still, I harbor hope,
And believe love does exist
Even as I wait.

Him & Me

God is…

I wonder who I am

When I am here left

Alone to find my way through

These days where I cannot depend

On anything or anyone as in the past.

God is…

He says He is the Way

He says Jesus died for me

He says He will never leave me

He says no matter, I belong to Him

God says He loves all sinners, even me.

God is…

In Him, my life is found

In Him, grace forever abounds

In Him, there is hope for a future

In Him, there is strength for this day

I exist because the Lord chose to love me.
God is…
There is no mistake
He is the Truth and the Life
He is the reason I still survive
He hides me in Love when I am lost
He brings me safely through unto himself
He is the Resurrection, Proof, and Testimony
He is Eternity, and to Him, I cling in everything.

Canine Verbs

I know the dog has
No words,
But the Wookie talks.
When I got back up at three
After sitting reading in bed,
She frowned at me, those
Brows knitting, thunderclouds.
When I began working the trash
Her tail tucked tight to her belly,
Her eyes wept, and she dropped
Her regal head down low;
See, she has a terror of trash bags,
When I snap one to open
She hides.
I do not know the reason why,
But she is a rescue so
Whatever might be,
I try to make clear that bags are safe,
But I am not sure she sees
Even humans taking that space.
She has settled now
Under the table at my feet,
Wookie and Tribble love
Times I sit down because
They can nestle close with me.
I think them extraordinary dogs
To adapt to someone like myself,
My canines bring such happiness
In their being, doing, living.

This Now

Now is an extension
Of every now this pandemic
Has held us, hostage;
For some, it began with
The first announcement,
There was a disturbing
Feeling, an uneasy inkling.
One hopes for the best,
But it is nowhere found,
A world on lockdown.
Life at home becomes
The new normal,
Some find themselves
Desperate for escape,
Some grow fearful of any
Exterior contact, staying sheltered.
Children homeschooled,
Telecommuting, lay-offs,
Entertainments canceled,
Doctors, nurses, medical
Professionals pressed beyond
Human limits, risking all,
And steadily, death tolls rise.
We are yet together, connected
Because of virtual life,
All of us, aware, knowing,
Hoping that humanity can go
Forward into a now where
Dying is no longer a constant
Fear, contagion is not everywhere,
A now where we can embrace
One another in loving security.

Prospecting

Sometimes the words hide
From those of us who often
Write,
We are left adrift, bereft,
With empty pages where belong
Delights, emotions, fears, images.
It becomes a time to wallow
In every medium, imbibe all
The different expressions,
Performances available
Until
The mind begins to percolate
With newfound creativity
Ideas which may be distilled
Into work whose focus is
Breathtakingly original in
Its content, measure, and scope.
Too
The borrowed quiet chased,
Captured, in a solitary moment
Away from this and that
Where a simple notebook catches
Jottings before the thoughts
Swim rapid away, is another
Form of what is needed to stoke
The flame of generation
In a brain no longer merely
Content to reveal the secrets
It has long sorted and contained.