Lechem Ha-chaim

The Man from "Bread Town"

5,000 full
but did the soul
know what he just said?

A hunger hole
inside their soul
could they fill it up with bread?

Eyes on the loaf
or eyes on it's Baker?

Come on your knees
to Jesus, the bread maker.

I've been quite discontent lately. Today's sermon really showed me how much I'm missing the point. It also got me thinking about the Jewish toast "L 'Chaim". Most cultures toast "To Love", "Cheers", "Salud" or something of that nature. Jews toast "To Life" because life itself is a gift. (Bethlehem means "house of bread")

Armies in the Fire

by Robert Louis Stevenson

The lamps now glitter down the street;
Faintly sound the falling feet;
And the blue even slowly falls
About the garden trees and walls.

Now in the falling of the gloom
The red fire paints the empty room:
And warmly on the roof it looks,
And flickers on the back of books.

Armies march by tower and spire
Of cities blazing, in the fire;--
Till as I gaze with staring eyes,
The armies fall, the lustre dies.

Then once again the glow returns;
Again the phantom city burns;
And down the red-hot valley, lo!
The phantom armies marching go!

Blinking embers, tell me true
Where are those armies marching to,
And what the burning city is
That crumbles in your furnaces!

Robert Louis Stevenson

midnight

a light peeked past a door half cracked
a hunchbacked foorboard whispered down the hall
my eyes tight shut my face relaxed
my ears reach towards his tardy call

the inside of my eyelids play their tricks
the inside of my ears invent that sound
"He isn't coming home" the Clock ticks
but Patience folds her arms and holds her ground

A key-struck lock ignite my soul
while sock clad steps allay my fear
the opened bedroom door provokes the coal
that lays simmering in darkness till he's here.

Happy poetry month pt 2

Juke Box Love Song
by Langston Hughes
from The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes


I could take the Harlem night
and wrap around you,
Take the neon lights and make a crown,
Take the Lenox Avenue busses,
Taxis, subways,
And for your love song tone their rumble down.
Take Harlem's heartbeat,
Make a drumbeat,
Put it on a record, let it whirl,
And while we listen to it play,
Dance with you till day--
Dance with you, my sweet brown Harlem girl.

Happy poetry month

In honor of poetry month (now that it is half over) I'm going to try and share some short poems that I think are great.

Forebearance
by Ralph Waldo Emerson


Hast thou named all the birds without a gun;
Loved the wood-rose, and left it on its stalk;
At rich men's tables eaten bread and pulse;
Unarmed, faced danger with a heart of trust;
And loved so well a high behavior
In man or maid, that thou from speech refrained,
Nobility more nobly to repay?
O be my friend, and teach me to be thine!

It's good for the soul

yuck, I hate this job.


1 John 1:8-10
8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.


James 5:16
Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.


apologies with heaving sob
brine washed cheeks
- unpleasant job

friendship rended
now mended
overdue task now tended

joy to come?
renewal started?
softening of the once hard hearted?

at peace with God
at peace with you
confessing sins - so hard to do!

Scene from a second story window

shop away the sadness
that eats away your soul
gorge yourself on madness
- still you will not be full

your body is a ghost
that pleasures cannot heal
you died at birth
to live a life that's striving hard to feel

you're never more than happy
your delight will never "max"
the goodwill that' you've earned
is subjected to tax

but chin up child
heaven awaits
and wholeness
and Holiness
inside its gates

firefly christian

Firefly Christian
won't you shine your little light?
won't you twinkle in the darkness
won't you brighten up our night?

it's so hard to see your signals
flashing on and flashing off
I'm attracted to your light
like a candle and a moth

but the darkness is more lonely
when the dying light is lost
when you hide a way your glowstick
and forget to count the cost

then the darkness overwhelms me
though you flicker as before
I'll cling tighter to my twilight
I don't need you anymore.

are you midnight? are you shadow?
are you friend or are you foe?
chose your master choose your light source
and then let your candle glow.

Camping

Wrote this last year while camping ... just found it in a drawer

cricket screaming
fire dreaming

log poking
camfire smoking

burger boasting
'mellow roasting

dirt drinking
"DEET" reaking

sunstained cheeks
camping geeks

old guitar
hymnal vamping

nothing beats
church camp-out camping!