Definitions of forgiveness
1. The Man on the Cross bleeding love out in each dying breath
2. The little girl abused until she was five who is so afraid of hell (thanks to Dante Alighieri) who says:
Even though it still hurts
To know what Charles
Did to me
I don’t want him
To go to hell
The pain of it all
Never ebbing
From her beautiful
Face.
The trajectory of flight
And the living animal in it
The color of the leaves
And the way they
Flutter to the earth
Gravity
And it’s seemingly integral role
In mating
Our divided selves
I understand my friend ignores
All these signs of his Creator
Blithely…
My little boy walks into
The room to talk to me
Small words in utter sincerity
And the perfect miracle of his face
Divine.
How can you not see?
The gift this child is?
The soft reflection
Of eternity in his eyes
Once
There was the statue
Of a girl
Standing arms outstretched
Poised/face lifted
To reach the rain
Receiving Grace
I looked for her again
Years ago
They had taken her away
I am crying/she is missing
And all I can do is call to her
Come back
My heartbreaking daughter
Come back to the Garden
Of stones alive and flowers
Blooming now
The rain has come
You will say to me
Why are you grieving?
And I will show you the limp form
In my hands
You will ask
What is it?
And I will say
A dead salamander
You will say
They cannot live for long
And I will say
But it had a name–
I cannot say it
And you will ask
What is the big deal?
And I will tell you
Hope.
But what I will not say is that the prone and lifeless
Body of a man
Too easily resembles
This ephemeral creature
The day I spent for him
The last day I spent for him
Looking for a hat
Big enough to cover his fatal
Head injury
Fatal head injury
Never far from mind
The bodies of our dead.
There was a moment in time when I held them
My babies
Fear flooded my mind
So that the moment/the babies/the mother I was then
Is cut into amber
She breaths in and out deliberately
Wanting to shelter
These two little ones
From inevitable Monsters
I see the light
Pouring out
Over the lawn at night
The girls in their pretty
Dresses fan out in the lines
Demarcating light and darkness
Can you hear the haunting
Music?
I can
The strings of slow lament
The partygoers
Lurching toward the wrought
Iron gates
Boozy and fatigued
Wondering
who will show us the way home?
Suddenly I see us
Traipsing in,
Blankets, flotsam of ourselves
Trailing behind us
We are like children
Dazed and shellshocked
By the dust of a falling world
Still crashing down
Behind us
But we are Here Now
And as we wipe the tears and soot
From our brand-new-eyes–
We recognize
This strong family
Resemblance in a sea/a star
Filled sky full of Light.
What if I lost you?
What if you were not there?
What if one moment I saw you
And then blink
You
Were
Gone?
I ask myself these questions
With every beat of my heart
Knowing I have walked down these lonely roads before
Looking for the babygirlchild
Woman
I lost that day
no replacements found.
To me the New Testament is about Love. It should be called the love testament, the love contract, the love promise.
We are stuck in our mess! for thousands of years, centuries, decades, hours and minutes. Waiting for hope. Holding onto the idea of it. And then along comes this Guy! Different from the rest because He is safe. Safe like a shelter in the storm. Safe like a mother’s kiss. Safer than these things.
The Song of Solomon says that “love is as strong as death, but when Jesus shows up Love becomes stronger than death.
And who does He love?
You.
Imagine a box
A brightly colored box
Like a present/
Like a gift
Something inside of it
Calling you to life
Christmas morning and all your birthdays
It was the birthdays that got me
The little girl alone in the hospital with army issue socks?
Tragic.
Life is tragic.
But we can all use socks…
You taught me to love
And risk myself
be brave child,
You whispered
Open the box.
Treasure inside.
I promise.
Carrying Light 