On Faith

Jagged ignorance peels and aged
curls of bark coil away from their
familiar anchor. From this soft green exposure, pale
to new light and disrobed by time’s guardian
it is now known that this same slivering, raw
armor fell away from you in parallel sheets, shed
in uncombed ribbons. You emerged then, cold and
conscious, armed only with the purest clarity -
not gripped by fists but instead, glowing
from each fully blossomed
palm. Nameless then was the intended
form; just as in those thundering
moments of His sacrifice, unsheathed
you stood: my first man
and last example.
That dew drop truth nourished just
one leaf which in dutiful turn
quenched its brothers. In this new season, as
yellow almonds shiver from their heights
and fuse with soil, so does this chilly awakening
breathe blustery truth through my limbs -
poised now to extend
upwards, rooted in
history and flourishing
on faith.

Have I Been Running?

Have I been running? Did I run? Were those clouds the dim denial
of sun? To what degree was that mirrored lake an exploration or great
escape? I knew well if I stayed I would never move, lodged in logic,
convinced and soothed, so
despite biting anxiety that has burned
away, I have learned a stillness, the resolve to stay. In reply to
that voice press on, press on I ask, where have my convictions gone?
Where is peace, if in my heart, to lay its head? And with
whom is she to share her bed? In outstretched arms before a gentle
nudge I want to run forever and never budge. Is this a race
with a ribboned end, or a journey over which I segment
and spread? There is an us that has never seen routine
and an unpeeled love ripe for time unseen. Will I house
life or will life house me, and through which will I shine for those
in need to see?