Of Two Kingdoms

Of Two Kingdoms

(“God has freed us from the power of darkness, and he brought us into the kingdom of his dear Son.” Colossians 1:13)

And we dance at dark, choosing partners we barely know;
and we dance at dark, chasing music we barely see.
And we make up words to songs we’ve never learned;
and we dance at dark and scurry away at dawn.

Come the light of day faces we knew in the shadows
have disappeared. Once the music ends, we hear our own
words again,
and search the riverbanks for forgotten conversations we
thought we enjoyed
dancing at dark.

We do not destroy because we are wicked; we are sinners, sick
and gray. We harm the very ones who would hold us, but we
deny we lost anything along the way. We explode with invectives,
we spit shrapnel and curse each other with body parts. The beauty
of reproduction is a schoolyard cuss-word. We cannot stand
the intimacy so turn it on its head

Wait for the next moonless night to grab the fastfood imitation.

One time

Let the night pass slowly, like genuine maple syrup on
the biggest stack of pancakes; butter dribbling in rivulets
and the breakfast aroma filling the house. Let the night
pass quietly, like a midnight meadow when the stars’
glimmers are the only sounds.

Let the morning rise warmly, like summer days
and crepe myrtles. Let the full light dawn and
without a single word, crass or creative, do one simple thing:

Stare at a face, any face, fully lit; let the light and shadow
dance across each beauty mark and each imperfection. Stay!
Do not turn away. Memorize the face and be memorized;
and think about a kingdom filled with light unafraid of
the dark.