Super Check

Sitting beside you,
Transfixed by what
Is holding you,
While my hands stumble
Held in check, wanting,
But not freely
Touching you because
Sometimes I can be wild
As a tigress hunting,
And I will not open up
The jungle I contain
Exposing you to all
That is kept quiet
So I can navigate
Polite society.
Still, I feel it and know,
Just a word, a touch,
Could crumble all
The self I create,
Allowing my hunger
To become as
Feral as a wild cat,
Taking you for mine
In a moment of time
Lost, left unending.

Pronounced

You cried your words, right,
Into the heart of my life, soul,
Answering was I
Bound close as yourself to you
I sang beauty in a voice
I borrowed – starlight;
The wind untamed took captive
Every small moment
I did not hide in pockets
Protected from your unknown.
Across many years
I chased every pleasure found
In other places,
But each was lacking something
Proven in your words to me.
My nebulous thoughts
Converge, enfold your body
In a field tender
As the minute sensation
Of love, long-deferred, come due.
Myself, my sight, is
Frequent as light traveling
Across space and time
To portray your perfect poise
Provided contrasting darkness.
I have now become
More than distant yesterdays;
Music you wrote, soft,
Upon the flesh, heart, dancing
Beneath your strong, gentle hands.

I Voted

This is the first time in a long time that I did not vote early. I walked right in, was processed, and voted. It was good because standing in line would have been difficult.

If you have not yet voted, please do it. There is still time. I was hesitant this time around, but I had a few champs telling me I must.

It was 46 degrees out there. Not the best temp for a lightweight jacket.

Love is what I see
When confronted with your face,
A particular grace.

******

I thought I owned
Myself in this quiet time
I find my heart has
Another idea in mind;
You have taken me, no crime.

Interspace

The heart becomes a wilderness,
The trees are bare, left bereft
As Winter falls cold and colder
I, no longer bold, grow older,
Your footsteps make no sound, echo,
On the leaf-strewn path, receding.
I wonder at myself left bleeding,
Trying more to bide believing,
But cannot know if your anger –
Was an outburst or soulful season,
Shall we again together have reason
To celebrate the who we are
Or risk space come between us afar.

Faded Roses

The flowers began as a wistful dream of a bountiful harvest, but once cut from the bushes and placed within a vase, they began to fade and crumble—a falling off begun because the blooms were separated from their source.

Nothing living can long survive without nurture. So much depends on tender care. In this life with its challenges, desperation, distractions, doubts, fears, being connected to a network of people who love us is essential.

In this time of isolation, we must find realistic ways to rally our spirits in whatever togetherness we can devise. We need safety zones to engage in conversation without masks and where we can give hugs freely.

We would be negligent to disregard the needs of those who are most vulnerable, but even they need the reassurance of beloved faces and physical touch.

It has been an exceedingly difficult year, but we can help others bloom and remind each one that even in a shadow season, the Lord is present. God will eventually clear the clouds away, and the beauty of humanity’s promise will shine as newly minted gold.