Category: Poetry

Worn (a poem)

I don’t want to die
by the passage of time
the encroaching of rust
with a cover of dust
no, let my heart give out
from the sheer force of use
from the cost of the love
I refuse to reduce
let my hands be cracked
and my body be wracked
from the lifting and giving
—I will not protect
myself from the weight of
the burden of life
I’ll carry the burdens of
others, all night
so furrow my brow with
the plough-blade of thought
and give me the scars of
the battles I’ve fought
and weaken my legs
with the distance I’ve run
and so if I wear out
and fade out and come
to an age where I’m
battered and bruised—

I’ll hold my head up
and know it’s because
my body was put
to good use

Quite Slowly (a poem)

One thing I’ve learned
quite slowly in life
is how good things grow
quite slowly
and big things begin
quite lowly
and excellence starts
with doing it poorly

One thing I’ve found
in living my life
is that each little choice
is profound
that habits expand
and compound
and slower construction
is often more sound

I’ve seen how character
grown over seasons
is proved when the
pressure is on

I’ve seen how hasty
impressive collections
collapse in a heap
on the ground

I’ve found
in the rubble
a sapling still standing
still budding
and growing

quite slowly

The Illustration (a poem)

I’ve been taught by a lot of people over the years. In school and university, in trainings, Bible studies, and more sermons than I can count. I know it all shaped me, slowly, bit by bit, and I do remember a few things, here and there—the real stand-out, mic-drop moments—but most of the specifics of what they said are gone now. What I remember most is not the teaching itself, but the people who taught me. I remember their faces, their lives, and the way they interacted with me and others. I remember if they cared about what they said, and if they cared about me. I remember their sincerity—or hypocrisy.

Continue reading The Illustration (a poem)

Words Like Rain (a poem)

Your words came
like rain
and the parched ground
they found
was my heart

Your words fell
like seeds
in the cracked soil
of me
and they sprouted

Your words grew
like saplings
unfurled
like flowers
and tasted like
heaven’s own
garden-fresh
produce
and nothing at all
is the same
since

Your words came

“You have the words of eternal life” – John 6:68

A Given (a poem)

I laid my head down
and took it for granted
that it was a given
that I would keep living
that morning would come
and my heart would keep beating
in counterpoint time to
the rhythm of breathing
and so it was granted—
my consciousness lost,
my body continued
to honour my trust
I rested on forces
I could not control
and now with the light
in my eyes,
I know
that waking up here
on this marvellous planet
is something I cannot
keep taking for granted
it’s granted, but my life
is never a given
and yet—here I am!
because
it is given

Lifetime Lease (a poem)

zero money down on the lease of a lifetime no payments due
you can keep it and use it damage abuse it and love it so
tenderly until the terms of renewal are ended then turn
in the lifetime you’ve broken and mended and all of
the years that you’ve always pretended were
yours and yours only by rights and by
reason but this was a loan—it was
only a season and one day the
lease on the lifetime of you will
come due and you’ll find out
it’s always been true that
you can’t stop the
hourglass sands
as they sift
you can only
accept

the

gift

You’re a Popsicle (a poem)

This one goes out to my wife, Jessica

You’re a popsicle in the summer
you’re a water bottle for a runner
you’re the golden hour and the
April shower that grows the flowers in May

You’re the leafy tree that I run to for shelter
and I’m laughing too much—
you’re the words I can’t say

The invisible prism that
doubles the rainbow is you
the key to my door you’re my fire, my home
and my favourite place in this marvellous world

is just you

Feeding (a poem)

little love-heart likes
like drops of red rain
rain upon my image
imagine the approval—
approval!
       in my veins
in vain I try to keep it
it’s gone—the world moves on
on to ever newer stories
stories so sensational
sense is pushed aside
side yourself with someone
one side or the other—
other news is coming up
upward trending—multiplying
lying?
       maybe, I can’t tell
tell you what I saw just now
now is moving far too fast
faster still, the flow won’t stop
stop!
       or will it take us under?
understand that we will never
never find our fill
filling up on what this feed
feeds us

The Ingredients of a Petal (a poem)

What is a petal,
and how would you make it?
What alchemic mixes
would help you create it?

The basic ingredients
everyone knows—some
soil and sunshine and
air—then it grows

But how?

The microscope cannot define
the grand and mysterious
secret of life

We see it
observe it
and live it ourselves
we plant it
and grow it
and store it on shelves

But where did it come from
and why does it bloom
with a spring resurrection
on winter’s old tomb?

A petal’s a beauty you
cannot invent—
a wonder, an omen,
an Artist’s intent