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Mountains Rise

Mountains riseBefore meI wish I couldRun my hand Across the crest of themAs one caressesA pup’s headNoble and watchfulLined uniquelyWith purposed shapeBeautifully invigoratedYet they are bigAnd I smallIn statureBut not soIn heart and spiritWould I one dayBecome their masterDignified in gratitude? This poem was written at my parents’ house in North Georgia sometime last year. […]

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Blitz

Blitz me bleary-eyedUnnumbered thoughts, encumberedWords washing over downAn ever-moving streamSuccessive excessesRush, a burst breakingSteady in suitScattering light, senseA rained on sopShaken top through Written on a frenzied, rainy December day in Texas. Unfinished, but maybe it’s enough. Ever had this feeling?

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Tracing the Line

At a glance unseenCrystalline tendril Leading up and onStout in swayShining, lightingThe path homeHeaven and earthSpanned somehowBefore very viewEver present lining Daily anew, renewingHope, bright possibilityGift for allConditioned onlyFor the still, slowedWhose way seenAs light anglesAngels upward go This poem was written on my back patio last Spring in a moment of inspiration while trying […]

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Come Anyway

Far from my firstYear yearning, pressingPrepare room, rustleAwake my sleepy soulSnapping to, too lateLagging as one seizedShamed by the frenzyOf a foe’s drubbingBlushed, struck seeingA visage true-shapedSharp similitude staringSullen, mulled over-downI am not readyThere is no roomYet you come, readyNot pen-clicking, Reviewing wrongsDown the nose, gnashingYou come anywayFull well, knowingAnd still loving untilStill slows me […]

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The Arithmetic of Grace

A shadow at middayAbject terror piercing through crowdsThere’s more than one wayTo feel aloneThe slow, sad acheOf light edging awayLike sand throughThe glass slippingThe corrosive among usImmoralSpecter of self-sufficiencyA rusting pretense separates allMachined downWe don’t touch anymorePassing by, reducedDown in the deepening darkWhat light breaksShines in through the cracksStopping, reversingThe rot’s routGreat enoughTo stall the […]

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Dwell Different

My Papa firstMy uncle secondRead the storyOf lightOf surpriseOf the Timeless interrupting timeJust like LinusSimple and sweetClearing chatterPutting meaning at the centerThose lying in fieldsLike us lounging on couchesWould ever dwell differentGoing to seeThis thing that has happened This poem was written while reflecting on Luke 2:8-15 and the liturgy and prompts in Every Moment […]

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Tears Remain

When the flood of words And surge of shock Run dry Tears remain Could they forever flow In the dark In the deep Detached disintegration? We are scattered and strewn In the valley stretching On and across A vast expanse of pain Like bones Dry, very, very dry Misplaced and displaced Disordered in decay While […]

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Deep Down Good Things

There is a sorrow That seems endless Like a rope Pulled and pulled There is a darkness That stretches out and on Like a cave Deeper and deeper There are foes That hate and plot Like wolves Pursuing, pursuing There are gods That promise and shame Like a warden Beating on, beating down How long? […]

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The Weight of Dreams

How much do dreams weigh? Desires of the heart Ambitions of youth Fixations of attention And how much when they die? Shards of imagination Fragments of hope Dust of intention How heavy they are! Lifeless loads Burdens of brokenness Jars of salt water We thirst But what’s the cost? To lay them down To account […]

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Yet What Fire Burns

This way, not that Here, not there Now, not then Wash Clean Heal Restore My soul pulses But my body hurts Always changing Burning, failing Slowly fading shadow Evening’s withering blades A smoldering wick I am, fading Yet what fire burns But destroys not Power that swells Shaping clay containers Not into what has been […]

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