not afraid

this feels big
but only when I lose perspective.
There are many rocks
           in
            the
              stream of life
but they all erode
                   over time

and this might feel like Goliath

6'9 and wielding
        sword,               spear             and javelin

but small stones
have a way of lodging themselves
                   right
                   between
                   the
                   eyes

take heart, I remember,
when dark forces overshadow...
when men taunt and
waves capsize all I know

there are no weapons mightier                                                       
than those that are
                                 invisible
  No armor
like the                      gates     of      heaven
wrapped around                your soul

truth Serum

Warning: Extremely sarcastic commentary ahead

Truth is
that truth cannot be found in an ice cream store

which flavor would you like, sweetheart?
candy cane or lemon tart
would you like the kind that goes down easy,
or the one that tastes real gooey?
lucky you, that most are sweet enough
to make you sick

"now, now, now
let's be respectful to the many colors here"
"perhaps that one is poison to you
but some do enjoy
black-widow-ice cream with just the right amount of whipped cream"

don't cry now child
it's okay to be confused
you just pick the one that's 'right for you'
and pray
it doesn't kill you

heart puddles

this morning I looked at you
and my heart hoped things for you
that I knew you couldn't hear
and weren't yet ready to hear

but in a moment
that

      hope grabbed my soul
and bound its
tiny wings around it
and
had i not whispered to God about it
it would have fluttered-strong
and
escaped my throat

the thing I whispered was this:

i pray that your heart
melts
into a puddle
and that the finger of God
stirs and swirls it
until it
           never is the same

And I put two creams in my coffee
and thought of how
He did that to me
and how much richer
           life became

sorry, Anne Frank

sorry, Anne Frank,
but I lied yesterday
and a mother just murdered her child
yesterday

and what's worse is how is easily                          
she just walked away
because men like perfume
and a jury is swayed
by the lust in their heart
for the damned dollar bill

(sorry, I don't mean to be profane but strong sentiments are definitely necessary here)

my neighbor has blue suitcases sitting on his curb
because it felt better
to fantasize about what he couldn't have
than man up and

cherish                                                         
what            he  
                                already  
                                            does  did

i watch innocent children
who were not raised to lie
squirm and scream and get fiery eyes
when demanded they apologize
for the gaping wound on brother's knee

no, Anne Frank
those men
surely did
intend to harm you      

and everywhere
a candid
truthful
man does stand
she or he will see that indeed
we all think mostly of ourselves

and that is
not
the
least
bit ...
good

SO
the
best
thing

we can ever do
is ask
the        only One who
        
                actuallyIS

to  

please

forgive our souls
that we Einsatzkommandos, too
may neither
never
find ourselves
so full of blood
that we invent a gas chamber

***  "It is not that we can't do good.We do. It's just that we can't keep from doing bad. ..." Max Lucado

this View

I love how Your love
makes
A shiny sweet temptation
taste        like          sand
Like    something    bland
and undesirable

I love how Your words
make another's scorn
that would normally scar
and tear and burn
feel like tasty bread
that leads us to Your water

I love how
Your
       shelter

makes the waves
And the thunder into
silly           surmountable
things
Things that only usher us
back to that
Breathtaking
P a n o r a m a of Your arms

And I love how Your affection
makes perfection of
a heart that's bro  ken
Strengthens (what the world
calls weak)
   

                                      cheek
and lifts                wounded
                        a

So bring the sting
of disapproval
      Slash this face and
                         break
                       this will
I have a Love that
             Can't
be severed
I have a strength
that suffering builds

into The mirror

peel off that flesh
be brave
look inside
360 degrees show things
men try to hide

easier to dart the eyes
to pierce another,
run,
disguise,
champagne flutes
and poker lies
reveal a coward's game

but when the ticking masquerade
has stopped
 
and the crescent moon
has sliced the jet-black sky

the

silence      of self
                sets in

and threatens to eat you alive

narcissus

you are the reason
that anger comes to life

you give wings to disillusionment
you rip out roots of hope
and you think you hurt no one

you are the anti-dote
to a dream
the bride of deceit,
standing on the edge of the reflection that you see
falling in
to infatuation
with
yourself

and the videogames
keep his bright eyes
busy
so he won't see the
needles in his spine

but Hurry!
quick
you are losing time
before his heart explodes
in the pain of knowing
what you've done

when i cry

I think perhaps you thought me beautiful at first glance

not knowing I was all apple-dropped

and chopped up inside

if you had seen my bruises, well, what then?

But you did not.

And you had already fallen

before those lovely curls unfurled

and you finally detected

the different fragrance of freshly shattered

glass in me

and you were already sinking

perhaps

before my glittery eyes

betrayed

disguises

construed

in the valleys of life

and you could not unclimb me

then

how do you feel inside

when I cry

and I’m fragile (?

And the only lovely part of me

often looks like misery

          

        when I hurt for the world

in a world of hurt

and the ache is what He uses to make

me clean?