Knowing

we slouch on the curb

you twisting a blade of grass

between thumb and pointer

a distant look in your eye

me with my head down

concerned with the pavement

the sun beats down on our faces

and the words that stop at my throat

don't need to escape

you know the thoughts

the worries

the doubts

and the fears already

you turn towards me

squinting

and offer a shy smile

a breeze lifts the hair from my face

and I smile back

that was all I needed

Continuation

I am from her incessant holiness

and little pins stuck through purses

congratulatory thoughts as light spoke into the darkness

from “what happened to her?”

to “what happened to them?”

I am from total rock music and seven swans

everyday, something golden and new

I am from early mornings

spent rolling through the fog on Samson or Jonah

I am from idealism

and I am from that smiling, bobbling head

gleaming with all promise and foreshadowing

I am from oxygenated, starry nights

with the windows down and melodies lifting us away from youth

and scattering us miles apart

I am from “SHOWERS!”, chow, a cannon

and a well-developed dread for the five o’clock hour

I am from the vine, a withered thirsty branch

filling up on Thursday nights

I am from reconnection after dissatisfactory chatter

half of those absences accounted for and

half hearted delinquency in the park

totaling one whole mess of my affections

I am from mourning my mother’s endless tears

and turning my back on David

praying for his redemption

I am from the glow of reality

brighter as layers of life continually peel back

in joy and in sadness

To to to

she feels the dirt falling under her feet

and sees the mountainous clouds colliding

rolling

peaks and valleys just miles above her head

manic shouts of thunder alert thousands of birds

to take flight away from here

every dried blade of grass folds

and buries itself hurriedly beneath the soil

to the left and to the right, she is alone

frantic, she sprints to to to

the place in her mind that takes her

away away away

from a lonely world that moves much too quickly

Mess

The woman covered in sandstorm robes

bent slightly to pull rope and motivate her bucket skyward.

It took all the strength in her arms

and inspired an ache in her thigh.

She clenched her jaw and breathed in preparation for

one last exertion

and falling backward, the woman saw the vessel rise

and sway

and spill across stone, sand, and cloth

before diving again, invisible, into the well.

She remembered that when one wrestles deep water,

one should expect to make a right mess.

In My Life

In my life, certain events are going to have to take place.
Recently I've been contemplating a list of specifics. Here are a few such goals:
-Meet J.K. Rowling and hug her brilliant head
-Visit DragonCon dressed as Buffy the Vampire Slayer
-Go to ComicCon dressed as Buffy the Vampire Slayer
-Spend a weekend in Helen, GA celebrating Oktoberfest
-Sit in on a sermon at both Imago Dei and Mars Hill Church
-Hang out with people in India
-Ride every roller coaster at Six Flags during Fright Fest
-Shoot the breeze with some weirdos at Burningman
-Have Tim Burton's child
-Have Taylor Hanson's child
-Write hate mail to both Taylor Swift and Colbie Callait
-Audition for American Idol
-Smoke hookah in Israel
-Write a children's book
-Go to Epcot and drink something different at every country
-Accompany youth on a retreat and attempt to teach them something significant

This list is not complete, but it is awesome.

Calendar

The days receive numbers to mark their many moons
They are packed in tiny squares, lined up by sevens
And stacked high by fours
Twelve large boxes swallow the constructs
And stand together, a silent and bleak train of time
Waiting for motion

Faithful

You’re fighting tears and withholding a venomous word

But don’t hold back

You’re pulling your hair and swallowing shame

But be careful not to choke

Your eyes are shifting towards the door and your feet fight to take you there

But the last thing you should do is run

Because when you’re cocooned under sheets and pillows, craving the comfortable veil of night…

His light is faithful to shine

In Repair

When the voices around us got too loud
You were restless
Your eyes spoke first and your mouth followed
Insisting that “we could get away”
Our hearts linked like hands in the new solitude
And the hands on the clock danced in hasty circles
So I got dizzy and left too soon
Out on the porch you said goodbye
Stepping forward just to get closer
And the light washed over your face
Your expression caught me by surprise
I had never before seen hope in the crease of a mouth
Turning away in awkward recovery, I walked toward my car
The engine started and the radio sang:
“I’m in repair, I’m not together but I’m getting there”
Driving away, I saw you wave from the porch
Now I’m praying that you’ll be there when I return, waiting with patience
Because I never said goodbye and, Boy:“I’m in repair, I’m not together but I’m getting there”

Wrestling

The Angel of the Lord strikes
And He fights with glory and light

Ignorance

Behold all the troubles I create for myself
I sweep anxiety around the floor
Without ever disposing of its dust
I cry lakes full of tears
And never swim in the waters
I knock on the door of love
And refuse to step inside
I read of your Life, even press my finger to a well-crafted word
And leave the text behind when your book is closed
My heart is beating like a cheap drum
My life is two-dimensionally inclined
Because I fail to recognize the vastness of your ocean
And the fact that I’m standing in it

Color

You were a million shades of grey
I was seeking black to suit my mood
Or white to lighten my load
Today you are gold, the radiance of light poured over clouded vision
I am blinded and smiling
Because you are all I needed to see

Wonderland

My mind is foggy, I don't know where I am
I suppose I will sit down for tea
as long as you promise to point me towards home
I've been along winding roads that lead to nowhere
and my body has betrayed me in size several times now
a many-legged man offered a drag of his pipe
and a fat cat has twice smiled at me and disappeared
He's withholding information from me
and I know he's familiar with my family
but he keeps their whereabouts a secret
Oh, where are they and where am I?
Hatter, you may be the only one to tell me
even your friend, the rabbit, laughs
and grins as though he likes to see me squirm
he'll run away from me soon, anyway, as he always does
I've never felt so lonely
I've never felt so plotted against
And you are proving to be just as unhelpful as the rest
So now I will continue forward
you can have your cakes and foolishness
soon I will wake up under the shade of a great tree
and you'll be nothing more than a bad dream of a wasted Wonderland

Pride

For today I am selfish
And that is just fine
Tomorrow I’ll live for you
If I don’t change my mind
You see, I’m fickle
And I can’t put that aside
Please don’t blame me
Lord, blame my pride

Little Leaf

Summer days make him weary, warm, and green
and the darkest nights engulf him
he's swallowed whole by starlight and moon shine

Fall comes to steal away his livelihood, (how mean!)
and his face turns a burnt orange
he takes notice of how far he is from the ground

Winter covers him with snow, so he lies unseen
his colors have faded away
and the weight of melting ice smothers him

Spring summons new life to flourish full swing
showering the land with purple
peacefully, last year's leaf makes room for the young

Trash

She's negotiated with the trash can:
While his dirty mouth stays shut
she'll let him stay.
If one parcel of dirt escapes
from his wide belly
Well, she'll throw that mess away.

Running

Rounding the corner, she saw the glint of metal
grasped in his hand.
She quickened her step and he hastened
to catch up.
His strides were longer, and he wielded the weapon
grasped in his hand.
Across the giant lawn, too long, she ran
to catch up
with the setting sun, dropping her belongings
like so much baggage
keeping her from living.

Eden

She crouched down with him, the human,
searching for a hiding place in the grass.
The human heard thundrous footsteps
marking a path towards him,
and he instinctively covered the woman's ears.
He chanced a brief smoothing of her hair
while she searched his newly fearful eyes.
Unfamiliar was both the lump in her throat
and the rising temperature in her face.
Before this hour she knew nothing but
contentedness
and peace.
The human, Adam, obviously understood.
Never had she seen his mouth drawn in such a straight line.

"Where are you?"
The authority of this Voice
was both breath and fire.

Nearby, the snake recoiled, tucking its legs firmly beneath him.
Every tree shook as a fresh stream of wind rushed up from the garden gates.

The woman glanced nervously towards the tree,
the one that she knew would haunt her.
Adam cleared his throat, voice cracking as he spoke,
"We were embarrased. Ashamed, even.
Both the woman and I...we're naked. So we hid."

Calmly, the Lord asked,
"Who told you?"
Adam observed the snake shift uneasily out of the corner of his eye.
"Adam...did you eat from the tree which I forbade you to eat from?"

"Only because she made me! This woman whom you forced on me." Even as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. His own guilt was reddening his hands.

The woman wasted no time.
"The snake told me to, and he's to blame. He's a liar and a deceiver. I only did it because he convinced me it was alright with you!"

Now the snake lifted its head and flitted its tongue, uconcerned and silent. He only stared ahead, anticipating the wrath that followed.
Even as YHWH cursed him to crawl on his belly, the snake's disappearing legs seemed only a minor inconvenience. His eyes flashed at the humans, both man and woman, and then at God as he slithered away, out of the Garden.

Both Adam and his wife, whom he decidedly called Eve, (for she was to be "Mother of All Living") received a curse for their deliberate disobedience towards their Creator and Friend.

"You will surely die, as I warned before you partook of the fruit."
The Lord's voice resounded as Adam and Eve walked out of the Garden's shelter and into a wide, cruel world. God covered them with animal skin out of love, but he likewise banished them from Eden so that death was imminent. The humans would never eat from the Tree of Life. Turning around for a last glance at Paradise, Adam and Eve observed a flaming sword and a being with wings, a head like their own, and the body of a bull pacing the entrance to Eden. Eve looked down and a single tear striped her cheek.

Wiping it away, Adam whispered, "Just as YHWH protects the Garden, so will He protect us. Somehow...well, I just know it. He will make a way for us." Eve nodded
and steadily they stalked into a horizon rising over a great, wild, and untamed world.

Comparisons

Dahlonega v. Lawrenceville v. Athens

Saints v. Newbodies v. Bulldawgs

Mountains v. Malls v. Arches

Chow v. B Building v. Apartment

"That (forsaken) Thing" v. Water's Edge v. RUF

Catterson v. Wilkes v. Landers-Potts

Uncertainty v. Uncertainty v Uncertainty

Some things never change...

here lies an old man
squashed by his own dreams
and he wonders, "what does it mean?"
he stares, wide-eyed through
the lenses of his rounded glasses
and accuses the ceiling above
for crashing down so unexpectedly

Wind Up Doll

I find it unfair
that you can wind me up
and watch me inch forward
as you
step back
and laugh, enjoying my broken stride
while I am powerless
to make you move