*The only face I see of God is the face of another human being.


two musings

first


the half-moon through quartered blinds
appear at once dark and half-divided
dark and subdivided into potions of light


through open shutters and quartered blinds
i watch the movement of the night
and through the night, the day of light

this is what one does if one cares
to nurture light
and be brightened through the fading night

second


Jerry advised
wear the prayer shawl while seeking
and your midwife's hands creating

let it be a tent you wear to art
welcoming guests and feeding them

the Holy will speak through a fire in your heart

the Silence at the core of things
will be the voice guiding what you see
channeling the fire trembling in your hands

Song on the theme of "Empty"

Traumatized by the violence
mesmerized into silence
the Woman is shaken free of words
her memory can't escape

She stares at the blank walls with empty purse
no money in hand

The bare box traps some wayward light
beaming 'cross her back in grey

Where's her angel as she grasps a bar?

Her angel stands beneath her vision
circling clouds rising as smoke
floating at angles moving upward

What is she to do but step up, then down
hoping that a door might creek
or someone hear her cold feet shuffling
searching for some word to wake?

Her pent-up walls define her space
but she can't see
just sing for what's not there

Her vision's empty as her song is empty
and every pierce of music is empty
like her life is empty
recoiling like a frightened snake

Her angel floats 'tween cloud and cloud
sullen like a sunken ship
rotting and holding ghosts in the muck

What's she to do with an empty purse
but spend the contents on who she ain't
then let go and await her fall
and sing a song to redeem her soul?

*If Death doesn't get you, you'll die of somethin',

*Sometimes, I am the first eucharist that another eats on their way to Jesus.

*We all can speak as if we're innocent yet we all are guilty.

*When the parousia happens, there will be Somebody cleaning up the shit.

*Try again.  Fail again.  Fail better.
                         -Samuel Beckett

*Is it You I want or some image or idea of You?

sullivan'sfleet