Off Center

You were hung off-center,

tilting sideways

like the picture of Christ

I just hung on a nail.

I drove you into the wood

Not as an offense

but as a wound, bleeding

under the flesh, scab off-center.

Which is not to say

that I didn't have enough

transgressions to crucify

Him repeatedly

but this nail pierced Him

off-centered,

caught my skin,

and bound me to Him.

Daydream

I beheld you

as a pane of glass came down

between us

and suddenly I was in a church

a chapel

small, it held me in its bosom

large and vast, it planed my mind

with the enormity of space.

I wanted to touch you

I wanted to run my fingers through your hair

but I will not.

I was the one who couldn't have.

My Lord wants to steal my heart away.

You hold me fast by not trying to.

I see it now

Clarified

Edify.

Early Morning Sonnet

Awake my soul!...I will awaken the dawn."-Psalm 57:8

O unfurl Your golden wings,

over the rushing void of night,

the bird of praise awakes and sings

as You kiss all land with light.

Now unfurl Your robes of white,

shake off Your vestiges of dew,

bring all mankind warmth and sight

and radiate Your joy anew.

Calm Your seas of icy blue,

let loose Your thorn-crowned hair.

Intoxicate Yourself with rue,

for all the sorrows You had to bear.

O Lord, my soul awakes aware

of soft sung psalms of praise and prayer.

Red Ribbon

I didn't get the winning hand

And the machine said, "Good afternoon," today.

So I stood there silently

Teetering on the verge of insanity,

Fighting off the urge to run away,

to swallow-up my fears,

to drown myself in you.

I must believe what I was told

And act according to righteous principles.

Yet my impulses and compulsions

Crowd out my good intentions,

As I sob and kneel and try to be,

I just can't see anyway out.

You tied a red ribbon around my wrist.

Rend

You rounded even my horizons

detailed my smallest cells

You have cupped Your hand over me.

You have sewn the clothes of heaven

to hold me near the fire

You have rent the heavens.

You have taken my cup

shaped each knot of my soul

healed me inside out.

Ruth Unbound

You untied my wrists

it was so simple-

pulling the cord with a smile.

I would that you escape me

or rub salve into my wounds,

instead of effervescing like an angel

and gently retying

the rope around my wrists

loose enough to slip off.

Steppin'

the glare makes it hard to see

and though I feel the wind

lifting my fingertips

can I trust that I won't fall

if I step wrong

again its when I'm spinning

and I run against the world

or fall down dizzy

and You catch my eye

when I step

towards You; splashing

at the lakeside trying to swim

when the fog comes in

I no longer see You, saying

take a step in.