Photo by Emre Kuzu
Time is not a matter here
in the midnight hour
I sing to you my love song
though it be worn and tattered
I fell the deep wells of danger
of both your Joy and Light
To such will be the way of it
beneath the looming night
Come endure the midnight hour
where language has no name
Yet Hope and Hardship mingle
with your Faithfulness and Grace
Photo by alleksana
When Coca-Cola only came in a bottle
now seems like halcyon days in my mind.
I know there is no such thing as the good old days,
still it was the simplest of times.
We had one car families and all walked to school,
time moved slower because it had to.
There was not such a rush to grow up and move on.
The days were full and the nighttime warm.
When Coca-Cola only came in a bottle
all was right in my world.
Photo by Musa Ortaç
Shadow Boxer
glitters like gold!
Shapeshifter lies
have all been told!
His candy is poison
but sure taste sweet!
He shadow boxes
down on Deception Street!
Shadow Boxer betrays
with silver, he stole!
His beauty hides his
evil lust for control!
oh your fall from the heavens
like a burning star
shook the deep of this earth
what a falling was there!
Photo by Ricardo Esquivel
Have you ever had the strange sensation of having traveled off the map of your own existence?
It is like moving in a mysterious land where you only know a smattering of words in that language and feel so far removed from your core being.
Some scholars call this some kind disorder of adjustment but I disagree.
I find this to be a time of challenge and exuberance in this journey.
A bigger lens through which to view the magnificence of this great pilgrimage, from the cradle to the grave and beyond…
then just as quietly or quickly some sound or smell or jolt of love for someone brings me back home.
I am now standing in my familiar dimension and even though I do not feel totally whole in this earth shell…
I know that I belong here for now until I know that I don’t anymore.
…And you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” John 8:32
Photo by Tainá Bernard
You thought I never noticed you
in those hallowed halls of high school angst.
Like Breakfast Club we each played a part
and everyone said I would break your heart.
You thought I was a Golden lady with no scars.
You said my blue-gray eyes shined like silver stars.
Truthfully I thought no one really cared.
Only you could see that I was a little scared.
You were my best friend and always true.
I went to the parties and always looked for you.
You were too afraid to come my way
and then you faded black one day.
Years came and went till we met again.
We talked and laughed until the sun shined in.
We professed our love and gratitude out loud.
Friends to the end we made that vow.
Now I am old and you have crossed the pale.
I can see the halls of heaven prevail.
Nobody ever was or had a friend more true.
How wrong you were to think I never noticed you.
(this is dedicated to Tim C.)
Photo by Noelle Otto
I don’t know where you went when you left me.
I have to believe you were sure you had to leave.
People always seem to have to be, have to go, have to hear what someone else has said.
The Truth running away like a spool of thread.
Still, I remember it felt like drowning in a rip tide.
There is a sadness in the end, in the eyes of it all.
I am much the stronger for it but I don’t wait for your call.
Photo by Pixabay
I cannot keep trying to impress you
or manipulate what you think of me
it matters very little in the Truth of my identity.
To anticipate if you to like my verse
or if you’ll sing my tune or see my worth
all is Vanity and Vanity is a curse.
To know a person one must be true it is said
So do what you will and think what you think
It is only just words on paper with ink.
Photo by Miri
Standing on the highest sand dune people moved back and forth on the ground below. She no longer has their youthfulness of an unlined face but she knew she finally possessed the joy of ageless Grace. The pilgrimage called her to this beautiful place. The wind and the sun an old friend on her face.
Now she is the shell seeker in the wide brimmed hat, as a child playing in the sun she’d laughed at people like that. She remembers younger days when she grew weary but now the days of peace are what linger here. Emotions don’t obey the rules they are the heartbeat in being human. Like waves reaching the shore emotions can be kept for a moment but are better when given away.
The shell seeker’ s eye remains clear and adept while watching the children play. She knows that life is not going back but more of giving it away. The Truth is, life consists in learning and loving well with Grace underneath God’s sun. To remain whole in the midst of life’s ups and downs, to surrender all secrets and lies is anointing oil to the soul. To shed insincerity and live in the present, the waves echo behind her now compelling her to go on.
Photo by Nathan Cowley
The daybreak drizzle has moved out to sea.
The dawning clouds are steel gray.
The wind is about 10 knots up from the Gulf Stream.
Nations have risen and fallen, two world wars, more political unrest, man has gone to the moon and the World Wide Web has come along, but nothing much has changed on this little wedge of the island.
The tide goes in and out.
The gulls and cranes still swoop and dive and the dolphin still dance. The beautiful gold sea oats continue to hold the sand dunes together…
But now you… have been born!
Your little smile, your hands and feet have changed everything.
I cannot smile without you.
There are very few words of wisdom I will give you as you grow up and let me into your world of sticks, and bugs, and rocks.
You will sleep the sleep of the blessed each night and when I get the chance I will tuck you in.
What I will do my grandson is love you. Love you unconditionally with all of my being and spirit.
Long after I am gone I will still watch over you and love you with a love that has no end.
The daybreak is clearer now, the sea breeze cleansing. The wars and internet have no meaning to me now.
The tide is a beautiful dance and all of God’s creatures perform just for you.
The sand dunes are for you to climb and my whole world is golden.
Photo by Johannes Plenio
The Chinese refer the human heart as the “Emperor” of all the body organs. As some of you know I spent the largest part of my nursing career as a Cardiac Nurse. In the care of the heart I was in my element and in the technical exploration of the heart even more so. I literally loved looking at hearts and being a very minuscule part of attempting to repair them. There is much that technology’s advancements have taught us in sustaining healthy heart function. Did you know that over an average life span a human heart will beat without fail over forty million times? There is a wear and tear on such a faithful organ that works this hard and there are many physiological reasons the heart will wear out, malfunction, or fail.N
Takosubo Cardiomyopathy is a type of non-ischemic (a situation not caused by “restricted blood flow”) which is phenomenon in which a “temporary weakness of the heart muscle occurs.” In lay-people terms it is referred to as “broken heart syndrome.” A true diagnosis stating the overwhelming loss, constant anxiety, and other emotional situations can lead to a “broken heart.”
In the matters of the heart I believe we have only two options. We try to control it and it still dies or we give it over to God and it really never can die. There is no middle ground.
It is a given that after forty billion beats a heart is going to finally come to a stop. I am of course speaking tongue in cheek here as I am speaking of the Spirit of a person, their heart that does not die.
The writer Charles Martin says it this way in his book Send Down the Rain.
“Love rushes in where others won’t. Where bullet are flying. Love stands between them. Love pours out, empties itself. It scours the evil wasteland, returns the pieces that were lost, and never counts the cost.”
Jill Autrey Dorman 