AWAITING SPRING

Spring begins in the ground,

Tiny shoots of grass greening all the land.

Bold faced daffodils peer toward the warming sun.

Yet the bare oaks lift skeletal branches heavenward,

As if in supplication.

Frenzied March whips the leftover leaves round and

Around while the tree trunks still wait for Spring’s

Sweet kiss.

Oh, those silly Bartlett Pears will early fling their white blossomed

Limbs in the frivolous March wind with Winter’s last frosty breathe

Still the giant oaks will slumber on.

Yes, all the earth will stretch and yawn with sun warmed breath

Till finally, with April’s magic touch, the great oaks shake their

Newly garnished bright green heads, for Spring has finally spread

Upward to embrace the last bare bough.

 

                                EUCHARIST 

                        Eyes searching, hands reaching

                        “Body of Christ”

                        Mouths opening, hearts yearning

                         To receive Him.

                        “Body of Christ”

                        From the ends of the earth we come,

                        Brown, black, yellow, white

                        “Body of Christ”

                        All the shades of humankind,

                        We come gather into one.

                        “Body of Christ”

                    Wherever we are He is, receive Him

                    Be aware of Him, open to Him.

                    “Body of Christ”

                    We come to Him, become one in Him.

                    “Body of Christ”

                    Smooth hands, snarled hands, open hands

                    Reaching, touching, needing, pleading

                    “Body of Christ”

                    Faces taut, hopeful, expectant revealing a life

                    Unseen, unknown except to God

                    “Body of Christ”

                As He knit us in the dark of our Mothers’

                Wombs, He knits our beings our souls

                Into His likeness, the gentle revelation

                The transformation

                “Body of Christ”

                                ONEATA, ONE AND TWO

My name is engraved on a granite headstone

With a date that isn’t mine.

I have seen her sepia pictures.

She was tall and dark with unspoken words

shaping her lips, hovering in her eyes.

She was named by my English Great Grandfather,

And I was named for her, my Grandfather’s beloved sister

As she lay dying in an agony of pain that oh, so

Slow summer, long ago.

Where did our name come from? I often

Wondered as I stood staring at her headstone nestled

In the long grass of Elmwood. Until today.

Today I discovered there is an island in the fabled land of Tongua

Named “Oneata”. How fitting that “Oneata” should be

A far away place with oceans and lands between here and there

As there are oceans of time and change lie between she and I.

Perhaps that old Englishman had heard of Oneata Island and thought it a

Good name for this daughter of his elder years. He may have thought

She would be an island of refuge and delight in the seas of his old age or

Then again maybe it was only romantic whimsy that caught his fancy.

This name, a source of family legend that has traveled further then her life, seems to me a

special link of kinship, a recognition of our shared essence though her thoughts are

hidden from me even as that tiny island floating in the vast Pacific ocean.

 

                                                                        Amnesia

I thought I saw you in the distance the other day, but as the person turned, I knew I had only forgotten.

How can it be that I see you everywhere?

Sometimes I see your face in dreams. Beside a train, one of us is coming or is it going?

You smile, your mysterious smile and there is a happy contentment in your eyes that I don't remember, somehow.

When I am excited and have news to share, I pick up the phone to

call and remember with pain, you are not there.

The pace of life moves on, but there are no more memories to be

made with you.

Oh my friend gone too soon, I have only amnesia to help relieve

the pain of this emptiness in my life your dying has left behind,

like traces of rain on a window pane.

 THE KISS

    Your lips touched mine oh so softly

                                       in your Uncle's old green car

                                       the first time. So soft, I was surprised.

Then came a time of learning love.

19 red roses for my 19th birthday

Little things that meant a lot 

                                       Future hopes and silly jokes.

I gave you my Senior ring and you 

gave me more kisses and promises

of happiness and everlasting love

                                       I believed it all.

White lace and sweet promise

A time our lives entwined

We made our vows and began

a life together.

Our growing love gave birth to

a family, our house and our 

Life was rich in joyous chaos  

Watching our children grow.

Valleys of sorrow and peaks

of joy, we moved forward side

by side.  You were my all.

I was your "Bridge over Troubled

Waters".

Your eyes left mine, looked 

into another's. I was too

busy to see. You said you

loved me and your lips were still

                                        So soft, but the words 

didn't mean what they had.

On that day you left me, you kissed

me good bye.  It didn't mean

anything at all; you left and

The emptiness said it all.

Fifty years and more since that first

kiss, you kissed me again as you

Walked away with another. 

Your lips were still as soft. I was

                                         Surprised.

In my heart I know it  didn't

      Mean anything, really. Anything

       At all; the emptiness beneath the

                                       Kiss said it all; Judas' Kiss

       was just as soft.

                                                    IN THE SILENCE


In the silence of the Churches, waiting with eternal patience is our God Made Flesh.
In the silence of the plazas and the centers of commerce throughout the world, waiting with eternal patience is He Who created the world.

In the silence that veils our world now, take time to listen. 
Listen to the sweet loving voice within you for the Redeemer awaits you.

Don't be afraid of the silence, let it penetrate your being, stop all the noise
Listen to the voice of He who loved you more than His own life.

Let the true peace of Christ rest within your soul.  Remember we were not
created for the world, but rather the world was created for us.

Lean into the silence, take a deep breathe and put your head on His shoulder.
He has always carried the weight of the world, let go of your fear and anxiety.

Remember, there is life beyond this time and this place. 
Remember, He waits for you with loving arms wide open.

Oneata 3/21/2020

ELMWOOD

ELMWOOD



In the deep green peace of Elmwood
When my time on earth is done
And my shell remains.

Take the dust of me and leave it
Beneath the Memphis Skies
In the place called Elmwood.

Among the mighty, the fallen
Among the proud and poor
Among my kin and strangers
Lay me down once again.

Under these Southern skies I
dwelt in joy and sorrow,
Known love and awe
Held my babies and wept
For the hope I saw in their eyes.

Within this place, in this time
I will come to take my place
beneath the ancient boughs
Of Elmwood.

By the Mimosa tree, beside
Our loved ones, we watched
Grow through the passing years.

Remember, we came here
Passed many pleasant hours
Among the stones with fading
letters, beauty all around us.

Sharing many moments of peace and
Companionship, so much of what gives
substance to life, and nurtures our souls.
True Joy.

Remember me with smiles and bring
Your presence to this place when I
and gone.  Share the timeless pace,

Share the peace that dwells among
These stones and trees.  I will hear
Your voices and your laughter as
You pass.

My spirit will rejoice and my laughter
will echo in the breeze among the
Trees of Elmwood.