The Dan River

Flowing peacefully

Past abandoned fabric mills

Over dams and under bridges

Geese with goslings

Turtles and cormorants on the rocks

Dead trees washed up on the banks

The people are all gone

The slaves that built the giant factories

The owners who lived in Victorian mansions

We stroll thru time

Down walking paths along the Dan

And wonder why some things never change

Spring

In a world where

news is often annoying

and sad and frightening

Spring comes

and it's beauty

takes my breath

and makes me smile

And I am comforted

by the faithfulness

of seasons

the colors of the earth

The knowing of

God's love and care

Fear and hatred

drain the world of

beauty and peace

While my heart

is touched and grieved

by all that bile

I step outside

and breathe and breathe

and draw into my soul

the peace of God and

Pray his hand upon us

and His Kingdom come

to earth

Reparations

I wonder if that Revelations crowd

Standing in front of the throne

Those surviving the great ordeal

Those whose tears will be wiped away

And whose sorrow shall be over

I wonder if those are the people of color

From around our earth

Whose lives have been only suffering

Pain and heartache

Trials and tribulations

I wonder if they're the ones

The Father will gather to his bosom

If they're the ones who will receive

The robes, the crowns and the mansions

It would only be fair. 

This past Sunday the New Testament reading was from Revelations 7:9-17. As the lector was reading these verses, I was overwhelmed with the vision of people of color from all around the world standing in front of the heavenly Father, and he was promising them that the great injustices done to them over the centuries were over, and all the promised rewards were now theirs. Maybe it's just my way of making myself feel better...I don't know. 

 

Evening Sun

In my quiet space the 

sun no longer

sweeps into my morning

with its gaudy brilliance

Instead the evening

sun spreads long shadows

on my comforter

sliding through the slats

of opened blinds

Its shadows now

and evening and darkness

that call to me

The moon and lights of

night have taken on the

task of lighting up my soul

And with their lesser light

is invitation to enter

shadowlands and darkness

to explore the treasures there

Some buried deep

in childhood fears

and some entangled

in my dreams at night

All bidding me to

come

sit

breathe

rest

My candle and the

tiny lights around my window

light the way 

Three Poems of Advent

Waiting for Christmas

Alone in the house
Quiet folds aroundme
Leaves silently flutter
Past the window
My hands hold close
My Christmas mug
The coffee's turning cold
I sit longer
Savoring the stillness

12/13/15



 Waiting

In silence
my heart is
free to wander
pathways otherwise
obscured by noise

My soul
opens to the
quiet and is
nourished and
watered by the
depth of stillness

How fitting that
this truth should
nudge its way
into my being
at this time of waiting

Just before
the burst of
angel song
and glorious loud
proclaiming of
the Son.

12/13/15



Silence

I hadn't realized
How noisy my life had become
Traveling, visiting
Living in a house with others

Now as I sit in silence
In an empty house
My soul opens
and my heart breathes

I have missed
the quietness and peace of solitude
But I've been welcomed
To a different world

Still, I shall work
To find these quiet spaces
Where the stillness speaks
and silence gives embrace.

12/14/15

I'm sitting in a lovely chair

I'm sitting in a lovely chair--
not on a porch
not even by an open window
This chair is in my daughter's
tiny living room
decorated with peacock lamp
stacks of books
mirrors, candles, pillows
and photos of her family
and friends
She brings me coffee
and a blueberry muffin
warm from the oven
And while there are no
misty fields nor breaking sunrise
my heart is filled with love
for this girl
and I am loathe
to leave this chair.

Morning in Jubilee's apartment. I'm here for a week with her and actually decided to return for an extended visit. I'm having fun working as her sous chef, and marvel at her prowess in the kitchen.
-September 25, 2015

New Day

I'm present at creation...
However it all started
It's Genesis just the same
The sun has separated from the night sky
And a new day
Unlike any other
Is forming

All manner of bird songs
Dewy fields
Mystical meadows lying still
Under hovering mists
Blue skies with wisps
of clouds with gold linings
Peaceful stillness

How grateful is my heart
To be present in
This place on this morning
And many mornings to come
I'm one with this day
In heart and soul
I'm present at creation

October 2015