EXIT 18 ON 90 E

solitaire sky
shedding sparkles on the surface (of the deep)

I'm ready!

rise from the ruins

"A VERSION LIKE THAT IS OUT THERE"

A you
for me

Just knowing a version like that exists...that's gotta be a good thing, right?

That's got to be a good thing, right?

UNTITLED

i'm giving him everything unlisted
like a wedding ring
like a vow

NOBODY DOES IT BETTER

I'm in the most intimate space with God
crawling into His bed because i've been in every other
and His is just right
where He reads to me
and comforts
and quells my fears
and promises to lead me
beyond the bed
to a place of action
of verbs
of love

my tears absorb my pillow
and He takes note
without a paper or pen
i'm still there and that's where He meets me
between the pages
between the sheets

the ways that he met my needs
is what He'll have to provide
the love, the like, the affection
all these He does better
forever so much better than the world

THE TURNING

the brick reds come out before the ochres
as a flame is depicted in books--
red on the outside
yellow on the inside

then the lime and avocado
burnt umber
and all the other crayon names I can't remember

"CLOSE YOUR EYES AND MOVE ON"

in my dreams i'll be leaving
even if i wake
in the same bed

Just a little more time...

--with quotes and lines in italics from "Sunrise" by Nate Campany, Brandon Heath, Daniel Muckala

BEDSHAPED

After my emotional armor is gone
and I'm more vulnerable than ever
my feet are sticking out from the bedclothes
and my heart is being held in by the mattress and my hands

PHIL WICKHAM

his music often sounds like the sky looks

black upon blue cools the burnt skyline
twinkled by city lights and airplanes

6:44 p.m. Oct 14:

lift your eyes
the sun has overcome the night

good morning

UNTITLED

i'm still sorry for breaking your heart
for giving you a black eye
with my righteous right hand

CRESCENDO

I need you
great white cymbal in hydrangea blue sky

street lamps try to dazzle
but your antique glow
is all the more bright

USING GOD'S HEART AS A CRAWL SPACE

the things that I want
and the things that I think I need
are all found in the heart of God

REVENGE REVERSE

my only revenge
is to be exactly what you want

except

that only reminds me
of how perfect we are for each other

except

that who I really am--
apart from all the trappings
and liner notes--

explains

why we are so far apart

MILD, MEDIUM, HOT

the first time i met you
i was interested
but i didn't get a chance to try you

the first time i sampled you
i wasn't that impressed
and almost did not come back for more

once i had your main course
i couldn't get enough

i would have you every day
if not for the heartburn

GRACE

"You who are seeking to be justified by law, you have been severed from Christ; you have fallen from grace." Galatians 5:4

when my father died
i was ready

he was not perfect
nor had we perfected what it meant to love each other
but the love we had covered a multitude of sins

that's what it means to die in a state of grace

SX

I've abstained from the vowel all these years
With the hopes of savoring it all the more

With the one
the only
the everlasting

There are those who say I am missing something
And I suppose I am
For how can a person compose a word without it?

But just as the Jews considered the name God so holy
That they wouldn't write His name with the vowels
YHWH
I suppress the urge
To ooh and ahh
As much as possible

I've dabbled in the "S"
And given in to "X"

And I've had it

THE COPPER BEECH

If I could do it over again

I would recommend we investigate that ancient tree
Put our arms around it 
And touch hands

I would suggest we continue our conversation
Before lying on the couch
And rolling on the floor
Before scaling the wall
And lying in the grass

Despite the meadow
And the moonlight
If I could do it over again

I wouldn't

UNTITLED

I am beginning to feel like a peony
blooming and ready to be picked
but fearing to die on the stem

FRUSTRATION

nobody knows my sorrow
and the dead bodies piling up around me

in the past four years
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
father, uncles, cousin, aunts

dead and gone

if they only knew
perhaps they would be more sympathetic

and less mean

DECEMBER 26, 2011

On the night my Uncle Billy died
I went outside and watched the sky
I saw an illumined plane go by
Is that you, dear Uncle, mine?

It was cold as I stepped outside
I coughed and saw my breath
The sky was clear and the stars were bright
And the heavens ready to receive your breadth

UNTITLED

I certainly want many of the normal things in life
a husband, children, a home
but not at the expense of living a life full of risk
perhaps nothing scares me more than being too comfortable
being shielded from life's elements in such a way
as to become immune to the storms that come
deaf to the cries of the poor
tuning out the voice of my Lord
settling down in such a way
as to store the hitchiker's spirit in me
I want to be up for an adventure
whether all I have is a pack on my back
or a mortgage on my shoulders
a bird in the nest or a bun in the oven