A Word in the Sand

 

A Word in the Sand

(“I heard a loud voice from the throne say, ‘Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God. Revelation 21:3)

I saw the letters left in the sand, shallow around the edges
where froth and wave had smoothed their homemade angles.
It was a long way from the dust of home.

I resisted the urge to measure my footprints by them;
even children know the alphabet withers when seagulls
strategize noisy assaults upon the beach.

So I walked around the single word traced when the
sky was afire,
and sighed I could not find its author. But I stayed;

I sat on sand still warm and waited for the tide
to erase the temporary script. My breath was

Endless.

And though night was soon to follow the last
perforation, the dusky prism of sunset,

Even the darkness ran from me,
silent in the glow that inhabits everything.

A Change of Opinion

A Change of Opinion

(“John the Baptist preached that all the people of Israel needed to repent of their sins and turn to God and be baptized.” Acts 13:24)

Some lives are not loud, denouncing every opposition.
Some lives refrain from mockery, shocking the elite believers.
Some lives are small voices in the choir.

Some shout at every opportunity, imitating prophets,
eating crickets, sucking molasses, and telling the masses
to buy up their solo releases while there is still time.

Some songs use subterfuge, laying their eggs in the middle of the night.
Some rhymes are evasive, several degrees from perfection.
Some poetry sojourns until the earth turns to face the sun.

Some rants pierce foreheads, destroying the minds they try to mend.
Some sermons shatter the cracks, demanding tears for proof of devotion.
Some arguments inflame canyons, making the rivers impassable.

But I am changed at the first hint of a smile.