A bee enjoys
purple flowers in South Euclid.
24 August 2014
South Euclid, Ohio
Category Archives: Poem
Purple flowers, South Euclid 1
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Poem
Reenter the past
Memories rise,
unexpected, unbidden:
haunted, haunting specters
from days before.
Ancient pains recur;
old wounds ache, ooze;
what was, and what was not,
pierces the heart.
Old patterns emerge,
crystallize, gain strength,
seeking to shape behavior
yet again.
Old habits appear,
shatter new resolutions
with ease,
reasserting former ways.
All occur as we
cross the threshold
of once-lived places,
reentering the past.
28 August 2014
Cleveland Heights, OH
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Poem
New creation
The facade cracks,
slowly falls away.
The truth,
only the truth,
painful, wrenching truth
remains.
Naked, vulnerable,
do we
retreat to old pretenses,
erect new falsehoods,
renew delusions?
Or do we dare
open ourselves to
resurrection,
new creation?
28 August 2014
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Filed under Cleveland Heights, Poem
Finished
In crucified agony,
breath crushed from within him,
Jesus summoned his strength to
speak one last time:
“It is finished.”
It is finished.
It is finished.
What is finished?
His life,
hope,
God’s plan,
the new community,
the way of love.
It seems that way
as his broken body
is removed.
Jesus and what he taught
and what he lived
appear over, done, eliminated
Truly finished.
So it seems to all the world.
Or could he mean something else?
Dare we wait . . .
and watch . . .
and wonder . . .
what is finished?
21 April 2014
Shire near the Hudson
Manhattan, New York
Flight 97 to Anchorage Has Been Delayed
Haunted by your absence
I stand,
Shifting weight from foot to foot.
As backpack straps dig into my shoulders,
I gaze at people scurrying by,
On their journeys from here to there.
At times my eyes fix upon a stranger,
and as the face blurs before me,
for an instant,
you, who are I know not where,
are with me.
This is an old one written in the Sea-Tac Airport sometime in 2003
Still shines
Never easy, love 
strains us,
stresses us,
stretches us,
wounds us,
cracks us,
breaks us,
chastens us,
challenges us,
shatters us,
yet in it all
and through it all,
still love shines.
11 March 2014
Manhattan, New York
There is you
Years roll on, time goes by,
there is you.
Tears do flow, tears do dry,
there is you.
Fears arise, fears subside,
there is you.
Many miles may divide,
there is you.
Sorrows fade, as does pain,
there is you.
Laughter, joy, love remain,
there is you.
And I give thanks.
For TDK
15 February 2014
Shire near the Hudson
An achy night
My fingers ache
from the cold
and for those
who cannot come in
from the cold.
My heart aches for family, friends
and people I have not met, will never meet,
who heavy loads bear:
illness and sorrow
grief, pain and worry.
My soul aches for God’s children
in this city and around the world
who endure violence,
overt or structured
this day, every day.
I ache.
And I wonder,
is there a balm?
7 January 2014
Shire Near the Hudson
Decision, definition
In my heart
and soul
and mind,
I know.
I have been here before.
I have seen this place.
I have faced this moment.
The place of decision.
The moment of definition.
In my heart
and soul
and mind,
I know.
I have been here before.
I have decided.
Frequently.
I have defined myself.
Often.
Decisions, definitions
that shape me.
In my heart
and soul
and mind,
I know.
I have been here before.
I have decided.
Poorly.
I have defined.
Badly.
And I bear the consequences.
Daily.
In my heart
and soul
and mind,
I know.
I have been here before.
And I wonder,
deeply wonder:
will I decide differently,
will I define creatively
at this time and in this place.
In my heart
and soul
and mind,
I know.
I have been here before.
8 September 2013
Shire Near the Hudson
Resolution?
It is time,
time to begin,
time to begin again,
time to begin again – again.
4 June 2011
Shire on the Hudson
Filed under Poem
Along the Graybeard Trail 