The waters flow over that which was hidden
Things protected to protect the world from harm
And you and I are alone in the stillness of night
Closing in all around me like pink satin slippers
Closing in all around my feet after a bath in the bathtub
Or some dandelions blown on a hill overlooking the sea
On a clear cold day when I felt all alone
As though no one could ever hear me
Not anywhere could they hear me and never would
And how I felt so alone
I wanted to find you but I knew not where to look for you
And I felt so alone among everyone else
Long decades I wandered seeking you
Without answer, without hope.  It wasn't Until I was trapped
That I found you like a breath of air on a hot day
I found your photograph among so many others one day
And that was how you found me.  Oh I was lost until then
Now long days spent here are spent sweetly with you
And For That I'm deeply grateful to God
Now the books untold can fill the sea
For you're everything to me
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

Little duck waddling down to the water
Fat and happy little duck
You come to the water's edge smiling
Just as you are about to start kicking
A big green alligator with horns on his nose
And big black eyebrows plunges out of the water
It is yelling about nothing and coming for you
What a fright! you scream and run away
You never go that way again
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

Humans, some good, and some evil
Many are a mix between the two
All life and harming and a great struggle
Between the high and the low
Between cruelty and kindness
Between science and faith
Between heaven and hell
Between God and nonexistence
Between the original and the oppressor
Between the choices for good and those for bad
Between the struggle to survive and the struggle to give
Between not having enough and giving what you have
Between that which we take in and that which we suffer
Between struggle and satisfaction
Between having a full belly versus seeing the truth
Between the physical and the nonliving
Between the abuser and the abused
Between the baby and that which harms
Between the predator and the prey
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

I was hoeing the earth when the sun rose
It hadn't risen in years
I looked over the horizon without hope
When the sun just started coming up the hill
Like light in a tomb where hope had died
Where the people were just going through the motions
I hope you succeed in your dream
And overcome that which is overcoming you
I hope you take on that which is unconquerable
And I hope you give it a run for its money
I hope you never have to retreat
Just steady going on and on
Hacking your way through the undergrowth
Until you get to the future
I believe in you
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

"January"
The meadow expanse in winter
When light is pale and the grass is frozen
When the trees brush dryly against the sky
Like the fingers of the aged and weathered
The struggling earth under the lemon-wan sun
When the hedges are the only green thing
People struggling to stay warm in this time
They wear coats and boots and hurry about
Animals wander around seeking food
But often finding none without help
Inside it's warm
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

"Jungle"
The hot muggy air
When the gnats are biting
And the leaves of the banana trees are wide
Falling over the white house walls
Where a lazy fan is twirling on a screened porch
There are chickens running in and out of the undergrowth
And the canopy of the trees lets in sunlight softly
Faraway the rush of falling water
Over some rocks and into pools of coolness
Where the fish play in swirls of light
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

"Sea"
The fruit trees hung heayy with spiky sweet fruit
And the warm smoky waves lapping at the grey beach
Where sailboats are pressed into the land
And there is a path leading through the pink sea roses
There are clean white curtains blowing in the salty wind
And picnic tables covered in cantaloupe and pineapple
I take your hand and we walk down the beach
Into the water where you put your arms around me
And grab my hair and kiss me
A wave knocks us into the sea
We fall underwater and when we come up
We are laughing together
In Jesus' Name,
Amen