How many times can something be broken before it can no longer be touched or seen? A clay flower pot strikes the ground and breaks into different-shaped shards. In gathering up the pieces, inevitably there are some pieces that cannot be found, either because they are hidden from our sight or too small to see. …
The Oranges and The Chocolate
The Oranges:
You tell your story to me –
I tell mine to you;
Not all at once,
But in broken pieces –
Breaking open,
Breaking down,
Breaking out!
Memories…
Joyful!
Angry?
Or vacant…
Even new ones formed!
Stories of painful scars;
But ones that can and do heal –
Empty spaces
That make room
For love and compassion,
The Chocolate:
We come together
In Brokenness,
To be-come Whole –
Not by gathering up the pieces
ALONE,
Or to re-piece or
Re-pair the past – No!;…
THE JOURNEY MISSION
When I was helping with the preparation for those interested in Catholicism, we used what we called a “journey stick” as a symbol for the group. The stick itself was actually the wood skeleton of a saguaro cactus. It was important because it symbolized the journey of each of us as we gathered together.…
The Soul Steward
You stand and wait behind our busy small history
Feigning restful and seemingly wistful stagnation;
You generously crop imagined frames of reference
As we ardently persist in our insistent positions!
From a distance we call you “rigid…craggy… majestic… unyielding”
Yet really you flow in tides we’ve barely waded;
Hidden mechanics of violent creativity,
Jutting and crunching drifts of epoch proportion.…
WADING TO BE HEALED
When I was a child, I was not so much scared of the water, but I was not a good swimmer. I can still remember my aunt trying to teach me to swim, and recall the story told (although I myself do not remember the incident) of when I was young, perhaps 5, while surf-fishing at Grand Isle, I almost drowned. …