A Gift for the King

He’s coming? Oh, dear! Search the pantry– a little bit of rice, a few cans of beans, all out of spice, the fridge almost empty– He cannot come here. Still coming? Oh, dear! Check that closet there– a frumpy, grey dress, a pair of old jeans, hair all a mess, no jewelry to wear– He […]

Love

The all-night wait for sunshine’s face, The shade that softens blinding light, A voice like music, eyes like havens, Mirror of each one’s delight, A king who takes the servants’ place. The architect of welcome words, The labor for a loved one’s fate, A prayer of peace exchanged for hurt, All wrongs washed off the […]

Chasing Fireflies

Sparks of fire dot the night meandering in trails of sudden bright, and flashing dark— luminescent light-tails seen. And quickly lost to sight. – The light ignites! A yellow ball appears beside my arm. I flash-grab at it greedily, but powered by alarm it disappears beyond recall. – I never know where I would take […]

Wedding Sonnet

She glances round the room with happy grace. A pleasure she has longed and waited for, she turns and looks into her husband’s face. His boyish smile widens even more. It seemed he never would be standing here with her beside him hand enclosed in hand. The agony of waiting still so near but gone. […]

Castles on the Shore

We built our castles by the shore by foamy surf and shell-crushed sand, our ears resounding with the roar of water crashing into land. — By foamy surf and shell-crushed sand we formed the ramparts, built the wall, The water crashing into land reminding us to make it tall. — We formed the ramparts, built […]

The Unmapped Ways

I loved the little, stone-paved road That wound beneath the aspen trees And stepped across the stream that flows Where daisies dance and brush the breeze. I prayed and dreamed the soul-craved road. You stepped away into the grass And offered me Your wounded hands, And what choice did I have? I chose To […]

Indescribable

Formed in clouds before the storm: holy thunder signaling a strike of pure, celestial fire. Indefinable. Undeterrable. Precise. Unknowable. Precipitous perfection unhindered as the driving rain. – Formed inside a woman’s womb— wholly circled. Embryonic growth of pure, celestial life. Indescribable. Unrepeatable. Precise Theophany. Perpetual Personal unfolding God to every man. – Enthroned in […]

Reflections

Ebony on top of ivory Face mirrors shining. Waiting to be played. Daunting beauty, magically arrayed. With hidden music only few can see while list’ners wonder what must be the key. Is beauty only effort—all man-made: hard work, denial, human drive displayed? A marker to our creativity? But notes ignite an ember in our […]

Face-Off

The stag turns and snorts, Stamps his seal on autumn earth, Sensing unseen foes. ____ Indistinct, wraith-like shimmers— greens, and blue above. Nothing moves. —- The hiker freezes, breathlessly searching the deer. Patient as winter. —- Brown like the wild grass. Alert, head cocked. Stately in fright. —- The deer lifts its nose— the spring […]

Sky Diving

When God tells you to simply trust… it’s not the fear of falling through the skies with Him beside that makes you gasp. It’s feeling that your parachute is wobbly on your back. Jump, hoping against instinct flight instructors understand. Land in horrified joy, never to leap from heights again. Trust… as white mountains flash […]