When the Reservoirs Run Dry

 When the Reservoirs Run Dry

(“You let our enemies trample us; we went through fire and flood, but now you have brought us to a place of safety.” Psalm 66:12)

What to do when the reservoirs run dry?
What to see when the sky has pulled away like
a yoyo on a string?
What to say when pressed for faith?
What to sing when the melodies fade?

We shall wait.
And we shall set our tables with bread
in our narrow alley.
And we shall shower rain on the scrub brush
and the listless.
And we shall not be asleep in our though the
heat lulls us.
And we shall listen to the rhythm of seeds and
seedlings.

What to do when fear is a language
adopted by masqueraded sheep?
What to feel when cattle are thin and
blame is the only offer?
What to see when seeing has been discarded
for shades of lies? Why walk the streets of
gaslighting or original sin?

I will begin again. I will sing this verse instrumentally.
I will wail. I will whisper. I will let the shorter days pass
like chaff. I will sit with you, if you ask,
as long as all I am.

Our bread will be for both and our wine
shall be for laugh or crying. When the reservoirs
run dry
we will fill our cisterns with the rains from beyond the
sky.

A Little Dusting and Pruning

A Little Dusting and Pruning

(“You know that the day after tomorrow is the day of the Passover Feast. On that day the Son of Man will be given to his enemies to be crucified.” Matthew 26:2)

If the earth had stopped turning, or something even stranger,
we would have noticed it more than the posthole dug
on a Friday morning
awaiting the mixed sounds of mobs and mourning.

Like a thread wound round the earth, a thousand times and more,
the inner coils of an electric motor, the strands have surrounded the
inner core. And so, seas and continents are touched by the cruelest hoax
man thought he had ever devised.

The surefire method to rid the world of madman prophets is to
kill their sorry message with the breaking of their bones and heart.
And, so many succumbed to angry passion, some drank their own poison,
and followers fell at their feet, then drifted, then disappeared like rain clouds
that threatened a month of monsoons.

But, the One, the Son of Man was put down the same way by enemies
who grew religion alongside their houseplants in the windows.
A little water, a little dusting and pruning the dead growth just before
company comes; a faith well-suited for entitled classes who need a way
to keep the masses abated.

But truth is longer than potting soil, heaven deeper than pop-song worship.
And so, before the event upon the next dark Friday, perhaps a child would
kick a clod unknowingly
into the posthole made ready for a dead trunk of a tree
to root for a day while its fruit hung, and slowly dropped in agony.

Few call it victory, all know its name; Calvary, a skull-place is where
hate and sin were defaced by death. For, when He breathed His last,
gave up the spirit and said, “Father, into Your hands
I commit my Spirit”, he carried, in all his ugly scars,
every wound of the world to healing. Yet, unregarded by many,

There are still those who, supposing control is better than conversion,
tend their houseplant daily, keep up appearances, and sway the masses
to war. The Prince of Peace still is weeping.

All Your Commands

All Your Commands

“May my tongue sing of your promise, for all your commandments are righteous.” Psalm 119:172

We do not often think of “commandments” as a reason for singing. I cannot recall any Top 20 songs recounting the joys of speed limits or lyrics happily recalling a summer of shoplifting restraint. Perhaps that is the reason that even as followers of Jesus we do not always see the commands of God as reason to rejoice.

Inquire of the Lord

“When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, they went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold…so David inquired of the Lord.” 2 Samuel 5:17, 19

David actually been anointed king years before by the prophet Samuel when he was much younger. After years of being chased down by King Saul, David is finally anointed by Israel itself. Saul has committed suicide and the people are ready for a godly leader to take his place.

As Far Right as West Is

As Far Right as West Is

(“I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer.” Matthew 5:44 [The Message])

Let’s pick teams like we did in grade school,
the greens with the greens, the cool with the cool.
Let’s fight it out after the last bell,
prove the scholar versus fool
on the steps
behind the gym
underneath the seats
making shadow lengths
of aluminum.

Make sure the crowd gathers circle,
let it begin with verbal (words find their mark
but leave no bruises)
and end with mortal (me against you
settled with black eyes and blue).

Let’s not parade our antique brawls,
or masquerade our sophomore squalls.
We are walled as well as bully in the halls
with better decorum and etiquette.

Propriety quotes unknown sources,
and throws them in the faces of false quotations
smearing names with a righteous incantation
that smells like an electrical fire, like a model
railroad locomotive run too many times past the station.

Grow up new-birthed, wear the wardrobe gladly of
rain disdaining our fences,
sunshine disregarding faces
and washing away the lines drawn in the sand.

How could your Father create
words you rearrange to dictate
costumed hatred (sounds like scripture
the way it is stated).

Grow up new-winged reflections, like the shine from
your Father’s house, the doorbell answered,
the family gathered from as far right as west is,
and east as left is; mud and rain and sun.