untitled
your eyes a poem
I don’t have the diction to write
fingers only know how to trace
old bullet wounds
a tattooed name
scratched out with a dagger
I keep in my heart
now
Mom Breaks the News
I stared into Mom’s lovely
“turquoise blue” eyes for
a moment before I noticed
a single tear spilling down
her cheek. Words were
hard for her, but she told
me that Missy’s dad had
been really sick for a long
time. He died this morning.
Maybe Missy is mad
at everyone. She might
even be mad at God.
“Epiphonema: being an exclamation, a striking
comment, or a succinct summary
of what has been previously said”
– Dictionary.com
I was going to quit smoking today.
And then this, and then that, and then
there I was at the checkout, again,
asking for another
box of crush.
There was an excuse.
There is always
an excuse.
Breathe one in.
Breathe another.
It’s a chain reaction,
and the black night covering my deck
sweats itself down my back, with no
breeze to carry these white-night wisps
away.
There has to be a way. A way to leave
you. In my past. To not stop at the store
or see our memories lining my shelves. To not
beg a closed sky or waxing moon for more.
Whatever you are not changing, you are
choosing.
I was going to quit smoking today, but tonight
my lungs are full of lavender and mint. You
are as close as a breath—
as distant as the breeze
that’s not blowing.
I love this place! This hospital is the perfect place for me!
Working alongside passionate caregivers
Patients become my new best friends
As chaplain, I provide pastoral care
I am not part of the medical staff
That means I don’t poke, prod or puncture people
I can’t pass out pills, write prescriptions, or help patients to their portable potty chairs
That’s what nurses, physicians and Patient Care Techs do
In my position, I proudly provide prayers and reposition pillows
I have the pleasure of praying with patients before procedures
As patients progress in their healing,
I provide positive encouragement and affirmation
When patients pass away, I lead a pause of silence to honour them
I publicly profess my faith each day and proclaim the Good News of God’s love
When I feel powerless to fix or change things over which I have no control
I am positive that with God
all things are possible!
Driving through Tennessee,
there are tree-shaped heaps of kudzu.
It clings to mountain- and hill-side,
crawls up telephone poles and
drips from electric lines.
It eats away at the insides of trees
and uses only their bones for structure,
like the wasp that lays its eggs
inside the spider,
waiting for them to consume its flesh
and burrow their way out.
