On Deck

All my prayers

are sailor's words,

trying to push the rain.

For three days

soldier grey cumulus

hid the arc of hawks.

Before pillows cool my head

I'm up, counting moons.

Is He walking on waves tonight ?

I'd call out through the storm,

but I know you too,

are waiting to hear your name.

Anchor

Straight as the crow cries

a dawn between storms

lights the rain weighted daisies.

Barrel bellied bees bungie

on long lavender wands.

I've got the straw beds down

between bean and beat rows

in case Jesus comes to lay His head

in the cool shadow of sunflower crowns.

I hope He finds me here

with a gentle pea pickin' heart,

butterflies curious if I'm as sweet

as swaying cosmos.

"I've come for the lost,"

and me mapping my way with lies,

forgeries, forced advantage,

foot in a snare,

hand in the cookie jar...

overnight a young green tendril

seeks anchor at the beanpole

of Calvary.

Push

I don't care more

than you care,

I doubt my lungs

take more in,

I'm a feather in the middle

that completes a wing,

a blueberry

balancing on butter just so,

if there's a diamond

abandoned in your mother's drawer,

a key to an office

long closed,

then I'm the right age

for coffee on the porch,

I'll remember books

and gospels long overdue,

if you get a phone call

that returns

and returns to a swing in a tree,

I'll push, do a duck under

and run.

Four Strides

Peas tall as rain,

winged flowers strung to a pole,

careful to plant boots

between ankle deep beans,

I snap pods for salad.

The whole patch is four strides

by ten, just enough mud

to stain fingernails

and knees. Late lettuce

bolted since the storm I hoped

would drown the mole.

No flaming sword at the gate

but it is a bit of Eden,

for beginners.

Footnotes

Feet on the floor,

one day the cold wood

could shock the heart,

the daily miracle of knees

interrupted.

Aspirin, magnesium, exercise, even

scripture, all cautions;

an ant wrestling crumbs

across a mountain of cake,

the arterial paths of stars,

the pulse of the moon.

We make our way, 

grunting turtles in the sand.

If it were just magnets and light,

this thing of mornings from night,

we'd not bother with letters or names,

or footnotes to the intelligent

design.

Mud of a Man

Airborne blossoms

simulate snow,

a blushed blizzard

of parachuting pear petals

touches down on up turned

ground, a new garden.

Seeds captive in a sack

await almanac

for thumb deep immersion

in sanctified soil,

new life in three days rain...

a bud added to the body

of earth to catch sunbeams

and make them fruit.

Unless a saint dies in harvest

saints can't spring up.

The Savior taught that from a tree.

Scorned, thorned, born

for this, to breathe His life

into the mud of a man.

Sparrows and Lilies

There is a gold

butter envies in a sunset

backlighting

a stand of long leaf pines.

Spring begins extending light,

gilding a dozen tree top sparrows

as purple crocus

thumb up from the ground.

Swaying maple buds

tap their hint at resurrection

against stained glass

as we ash our foreheads in

procession,

from the basement, a crashing noise

as the Life of the party

drops burial cloths,

and the faces of lilies

rupture death's dour door.

Loaves

Modest commerce,

trading Mingus recordings

for coffee, Coltrane for 'cados.

We make eggs from music,

a garage sale of loaves and fishes,

worn wicker baskets stacked to capture

the outpouring sun.

It's still too cold to consider lilies,

new birdbath is dry, drained

by an ice storm crack,

sparrows in tumult descend

on scattered seed.

A circus of squirrels tightropes the fence.

What we feed now

we'll shoo when the fruit

comes in.

Oreo full moon melts,

evening tea bags twice squeezed

to stretch the week.

We'll make it to payday

but not by bread alone.

Echo

The house is without onions,

grey has overdrawn the sky.

Silent cell phone in the other room

begs an echo.

The young girl's cat,

missing the girl,

nests anew 

in every chair.

We pretend to read,

fingers following every line,

but lacking pictures the pages

stay unturned.

It might as well be

the one night Jesus

lay dead.

Even the motor gunning trucks

are dry leaves in a blind alley.

Separation is not a mother's

favorite skill.

Bum ankle creaking stairs,

I cart the coffee trey and cereal,

ancient altar boy in steaming

processional.

As the cups are finished,

the calendar fast forwards

toward return.

Window Dressing

The day after sin sits

frozen, off yellow wax

staining the otherwise blue.

If it weren't for the light

of the Empty Tomb,

you'd think it ruined,

but as the window seat glass

reflects the wondering face

above approaching city lamps,

a whisper of angels

numbers a current of prayers,

circling in the air draft,

posting the eternal ETA

of our forgiveness

and future.

Far from home,

going home,

the jammed seats

face forward to a welcome

landing, the trained to be friendly

personnel assure us

the gravity we just defied

bears no grudge,

and the first steps we take

in the new, will much resemble

our last, dignified

by hope.

Common

My wit's end

is a balloon string

spectacular in release.

I lean into the wind

"blowing where it wishes"

and watch my apprehensive crutch

fall to the yard.

Messianic melodies

drape on a mandolin,

is it a mitzvah ?

Our Deity digs ditties,

a few angels spared

for the heads of tuning pegs.

Not yet old men,

our grown children

groan over our table manners

at the Feast.

Challah bread and jelly

not the only things

common  to our plate.