The Broken Record

The broken record plays a song
I do not want to hear,
Repeating those familiar words,
Not music to my ears…
“You want much more than I can give”,
“You need too much from love”,
And “none can match your heart’s desire”,
“You’ll always be too much.”

The broken record breaks my heart
Each time it plays the tune,
When somehow I begin to hope,
It sadly sings the blues…
“Your heart wants more than I can give,”
“Your need is much too great,”
“I cannot be the one you want”, and
 “Longer still you’ll have to wait.”

HOPE

In the rise of the sun,
In the colors of day,
In the victories won,
In the freedom to pray ,
In the promise of life,
In the mercy of death,
In the reaching of heights,
In the searching for depth,
In the laugh of a child,
In the wonder of birth,
In the melodies mild,
In the flowering earth,
In the beauty of love,
In the power of faith,
In the heavens above,
In the joy that awaits…
May we find hope.

EVERYTHING

Taking it in, my soul expands,
For here is everything you are,
Wrapped in the gift we call 'ocean',
Enormous and immeasurable,
Diving deeper and reaching farther
Than we imagine,
Completely alive throughout
And holding secrets beyond us,
Beautiful and delicate,
Powerful and massive,
Offering art for our enjoyment,
Delivering gifts to shores that show our feet
How to walk in reverence,
And all the while speaking
In the universal languages
Of movement, balance, and reflected light
To bid us... "Come and See"...

Fragile

Your glasses on the foyer wall
Remind me you were here,
Just yesterday,
In flesh and presence,
Gracing the air around you with charge,
Instilling my home with a soul beloved.

The fragile thing you left behind
Reminds me of a tune,
Played wistfully
On the slender strings
Of a heart's forgotten instrument,
Never meant to last but for a smile...

Lamentation

Lamenting this exquisite ruse
Brings me low
To the floor of reason
Where the hard, fast lines
Look black and white
And do not allow for
The color of expression's joy.

Always it draws me to its side,
Pulls me in
To the height of pleasure
Where there's nothing beside
The lack of lines,
And the call of nature
Drinks in its silent applause.

The trick is ever upon me,
Hits me hard
With the force of recoil,
While mocking laughter
Draws back the lines
That cage fond intention,
Putting the mask in its place.

MIRROR

When I look
Into the mirror
Everything's backwards...
Like the writing on the wall
Predicting the past
In terms I can't come to
While straining to see
Invisible visions,
Positioned to face
What's lying behind
In negative space,
Forgotten in time
Before the beginning
And after the end
Of the captured reflection of me.

Through You, In You

I love You,
And through you I love;
I see You,
And through you I see;
I feel You,
And through you I feel;
Through you I have ears to hear,
For in you I live and move and have my being...

SHINE

Love is a light
That shines in the soul
To be seen, felt, learned, and lived by;
Unto others it reaches out
To touch with understanding,
Breaking down defensive walls
That separate hearts,
It penetrates darkness,
Exposing the need for oneness.

Love is a force
That moves in the soul,
Putting in place the truths we know,
Creating space for others,
Building bridges, doors, and rooms
To house the fruits of its labors' kind,
And carefully pushing us
Out of complacency
Once we can yield to its stirring.

Love is a cause
That transcends the soul
A purpose well worth fighting for,
Pulling us out of the ego's clutch
To remind us of a higher nature,
Patient, kind, forgiving, and
Enduring all as it hopes,
Trusting in lack of control,
Never failing to bind us together.

SPECTER

I don't believe in you,
Fair specter that haunts me night and noon,
Never could you be more than a wisp...
Never will the words pass from your lips...
Nor will you come close enough to touch,
Cruel apparition made of dreamer's dust.


I will not wait for you,
Known to abandon without ado,
Pretending fond attachment true
Then fading into nothing new,
Your fabled greatness substance lacks
And I'll not fear your empty grasp.


I never was cut out for you,
Oh ghost insisting that one be two,
You'll laugh at me not one more time
For I dispel you as not mine
And cease to look upon your lies
As having sway upon my life.

Transparent

Here I have found a kindred soul,
A fellow-wounded heart,
Brought back to life in healing,
Finally found while seeking,
Aware that home is not a place
Nor church a better God
Than when we see the holy face
Inside, where He belongs.

Here I have known a higher love,
A way of living life
Without the mask of common ground
Or seeming to do right,
Aware that truth can set us free
But only if we let it be
The guiding light within our hearts
That leads us to transparency.