These Three Remain

________________

If I speak,

Would you listen?

Would ears

Lie prostrate

In worship

On the highways

Of my tongue?

This town is

Hearty,

But peaceful

Compared to the scattered

War zones,

The tiny hospitals

And shacks

Tucked away in the

Dusty brown

Hills

Of tomorrow.

Yet,

Blood.

My boots kiss

The invisible residue

Down

Monument Avenue.

There is history

Here.

The same struggle.

The same

War

That never

Ends.

That never

Will.

Not in this

Life.

Peace,

Prosperity,

Power. *

These three remain.

But the greatest

Of these

Is

None.

__________________________

*Regards to author Ted Dekker for the three P’s.

--040910--

To Marry a Whore

___________________

- for Hosea

I.

Return to me.

You who wears darkness

Like a wedding gown,

Who calls dust and

Ashes sweet friends.

Exchange your wasteland

For Eden,

Your thirst for Plenty,

Your wars for Peace.

Dance like David

as the tent of

YHWH returned

From the enemies of God

With rolling heads

To pave the weary way.

The nations did not know.

They did not turn.

It is not so

With you.

II.

You have been

Bought with the spoils

Of the universe, with

The wine of heaven.

I sold myself

On our wedding day.

Sold my anger,

My fairness, my wrath.

What do you hold

In your hands

That I did not

Give you?

Even your very name

Is borrowed.

Not even life

Can you claim.

III.

You were led

Into darkness

To see Light.

This is why you are here.

Do not trade a complex

Question

For a simple answer.

Neither stop the asking.

Only remember:

life is a

Rolling shadow

With fire behind

And an ecstacy

Unnamed

Ahead.

--Fall 2009--

Eternity's Tongue

_________________

Sorrow is the mortal’s

Food,

But only for a time.

Then he shall fast.

The ravens

Will feed him with

Sweet death

By the bitter

Brook.

It will drop

Like a worm,

Dissolve like

Sugar water

Upon

Eternity's tongue.

--032510 & 040510--

Still the Snow

_________________

Maybe I stay awake to write.

Maybe I write to stay awake.

Whatever it is

I hear the darkness

Tickle the belly of

The morning

Hoping

He’ll cry Mercy!

Mercy!

Why the dark

Every night?

Why the cold bed

And feet?

Still,

The snow

Reminds of God’s purity,

Of His unfailing devotion

To keeping us alive

Until

The night is

Complete.

--020810--

You Know Who You Are

_____________________________

- For my fellow Josephs


Eleven stars bowing down,
Sun and moon knelt before us.

There’s a sparkle in our crowns,
Our skin, transparent, porous.

Our brothers have betrayed us,
Traded our lives for pennies.

Piled high in rusty cages,
We knew no milk, no honey.

Lose not hope, slaves of Egypt;
Turn toward the sacred Morning.

His hands will unbind, free us.
God Himself will crown us kings.


--020310--

Breathing the Apocalips

_____________________________

We knew the trees would betray us.
We knew the Night would sing his song.

Oh, how Death has snuck up on us!
As quiet as a banging drum.

The land weeps slow and silent tears.
All hearts beating steady and strong.

Every pulse taps the melody,
As quiet as a banging drum.

Our blind eyes saw the cavalries,
Heard their voices shout, loud and long.

How we felt the deep blue tremble,
As gentle as a banging drum.

My, my, how our hearts disown us!
How they lust for youth and young, like

Whores screaming Infidelity!
As quiet as a banging drum.


--020210--

Khalaas!

__________

I draw lines in this white sand.

Mark my words with magic marker.

I'm not a man that I should change.

Not a god that I shouldn't need

to die.

Khalaas!*

I am already dead,

yet alive again.

__________

*Khalaas is an Arabic word meaning "enough, complete, it is finished."

--020210--