come at some peril to watch
The wind do what it wills
And the river contend with it
Begetting crests then waves, blues then greens, blues then greens
A million times a million times a million
Breathing in and out, back and forth all the way to the sea
Of clouds above us
Moving fast
haloed in the most unearthly light
Oh ordinary sun, willing to be
Obscured, taken for granted
Like the God who made you
And all your endless
Kin
They boarded the plane. Put their bags in overhead compartments. Scanned the list of drinks and snacks on what they thought would be a long flight. Buckled in the children. Watched the international pantomime for safety on an airplane. Assured flight attendants they were old enough for exit seats.
None of us are
Ready for the impact
The percussion, the fire, the fall
As though the story we had been always told about Icarus was a slanderous lie
He did not fly too close to the sun at all
No warning, no premonition, no string long enough to thread them free of
The labyrinth, the
Friendly fire
The moon ploughs up, silver boat on the sea of night. You see it all clear now, I suppose, about the way we become and belong to what or who we
Worship
If not love, then war
Which will
Tear a man to pieces.
Psalm 20:7 NIV
[7] Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
It is a line from a song sung by the super-heroic woman who can restore what has been lost or broken and I borrow it as I search for the little ones, so brave, so beloved
I want them all back, past undone
gordian-knotted he would say
Every family has a hot-head he would say
Oh my beautifuls,
All treasure
Any day–today
We
could skitter down the concrete spillway, slide unceremoniously into
This river, dying leaves catch in our hair
We suspect we know who burned the burlap wedding gown used to dress the
Wounded tree
no way the boy could
have mistaken the signs of our ministration
For kindling
Yet, all has been
Inexplicably paid
by The Burlap Bridegroom
Who takes the flames
Restores the river
Revives the tree
And fashions
wedding clothes
Out of light
Matthew 25:10,13 NIV
[10] “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived…[13] “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.
Wisdom says, “the only copy of Crime and Punishment is in the locked bookmobile. We will have to break in and steal it.”
And how would that look?
He says
We do things a little differently here
And I guess I didn’t see
How literally he meant it
the shady pecan, the shotgun shack
Give me
Give me
these tokens we have in our hands but cannot staunch
Such indelible grief
my little ones
all gone
What if God were just twice as smart as you? Twice as nice. Twice as precise. Would you worry then, Darling?
Worry about the things He would tell you
Before, not after, the flood
The possibility of both
Righteous anger and a casual
Ordinary
Blast of glory
Refuting all the
niggling details of narcissism
And all your little monsters
Eyeing you hungrily from their corners
Waiting to take all
The clues, the love-notes, the blazing stars
He has strewn about this place
Only hope for
Ransom.
First of all, let me reiterate that I do not expect you two to go the distance–not that prophetic considering where you are today and the inauspicious nature of this ceremony of disaster.
Most weddings are full of shi…..ps, little paper boats people fold along seams, scribble on, and push out onto whatever river they believe in. They write platitudes for the pain, use costly words all wrong.
Then the little boats float off
Leaving you there at the altar, no more substantial than cake topper avatars
Not ready for this:
Loves fierce resolve
To begin and end/end and begin
Together.
I left the paperwork on the books with the state of Texas
Left the judge in the shade of the beautiful burr oak
Walked away from the running lights
Left that old me behind
All I got left for you, kiddo
Is these words, these prayers poured out
In a language God understands
