An Exposition of a Phrase

"How Sad"

voiced low; just past 

condolences - then silence. 

A glance, 

then eyes to the floor.

inhale, tilt head, adjust jaw -

(as if the silence 

results from improper 

bio-mechanics)

Change the subject,

we both know 

How Sad. 

Moses

Once-

Mother church lifted me 

out of water,

and I was her child. 

Now- 

I am disrobed -

unable to hide what's

buried in the sand.

once a prince -

now outcast.

So I've wandered in the wilderness 

- my own heart charred, 

seared by flame and my eyes

still blind. 

Yet I stagger forth, 

unsure of all but this:

what embers smolder in this heart

are stoked by God's breath

and I will be ash

before my own breath relents 

of saying: "Let them go."

Faithfulness

Sometimes, at the pulpit, I imagine I am

officiating Your wedding.

In our counseling sessions 

I wasn't convinced you two 

would make a good match. 

To be honest, I thought you could 

do better. But I could see you

were in love so I relented. 

Now you stand beside me,

rocking on your feet

and I think

"I'd be nervous too, buddy."

What is it that you see in her?

She doesn't deserve the white dress

she has on, but no one is saying anything.

She waves at ex-boyfriends on her way

up the aisle. 

I roll my eyes --- you are smiling.

"Who presents this bride?" I ask.

but You've already taken her by the hand 

then turn expectantly toward me.

You've written your own vows, 

and I frown as she struggles

to keep her eyes open

as you read them. 

Now her turn comes, and to be safe,

she repeats after me the words she needs.

And I wonder to myself as I hear

the weighty words I am pronouncing,

if it is enough that You have heard her 

say them. 

Coffee Cup

See, the used coffee cup 

melting into the ground.

Could hold the coffee

but not the rain. 

What is a child for?

What is a child for? 

I ask myself driving home,

just hung-up with my parents.

Sun setting behind me,

Makes mesquite trees shorter

while their shadows grow longer.

I listen to a conversation

between tires and asphalt,

murmuring something I cannot

quite discern with the windows up

and the air conditioning.

Like mom and dad in their room 

watching TV after all the lights

are off and a child falls asleep

dreaming in voices without words

and words without meaning

and meaning without searching. 

Uninspired

Sometimes when the poetic portion

of my brain is numb 

I just start a sentence and see 

what falls out of it. 

I put words together like refrigerator magnets: 

"Small 

Ants 

Drink 

Swirling 

Toilet 

Skin"

no, no, no...

"Small 

Toilets

Skin

Ants 

Drinking 

Swirl?"

Oh, give it up. 

Now I've tipped my first line over

tapping the bottom

hoping something will come out.

and sometimes...

if I'm lucky... 

like a star unstuck from 

the dark bowels of space, an idea

unbound by the laws of creative 

physics illuminates

the dark night of a passionless poem

and a radiant beam of 

bright and unabashed 

crap

dribbles forth. 

Faithfulness

We do not attain perfection,

it is not ours to take,

but only learn to be 

with the Perfect One. 

A Note on a Monastery Wall

God is not

mad

at 

you.

Be His.

Somewhere there is a place

Somewhere there is a place

with a porch and a chair and a view

of grass and trees and sunlight

touching flowers bending under

the weight of dew. 

Somewhere there is a place

with room for many friends

hugging and laughing and praying.

With room enough for their 

enormous hearts.

Somewhere there is a place

where light does not enter

without blessing. Where breezes

tussle hair like mothers. 

Where silence is not death but life.

Somewhere there is a place 

where hands feel what they touch,

where feet thank the earth for 

holding them up, where minds 

descend from the brain to the heart.

Somewhere there is a place 

where calluses act as rosary

beads, where grease and car oil

are sacramental elements, 

where souls are cleansed by dish soap

Somewhere there is a place

where the table bears

the sustenance and the chairs bear

the life. Where food has the same 

origin as man: the dust.

Somewhere there is place 

where there is no gain,

where there is no loss,

there is only God.

Somewhere there is such a place,

May God's grace make it here.