Summer rolls out her
red carpet of heat,
glamour abandoned.
Sweat shimmers on
beautiful foreheads,
makeup melting
like wax from a candle
warmed by the flame.
The masks of theatrics
peel off like wet band-aids,
exposing old wounds
to summer's hot rays...
rays of healing
releasing fountains of feeling.
Do not be afraid
to embrace the beauty
of summer's sheerness,
unadorned by red lipstick,
unchained to the camera,
unconcerned with numbers
on a scale.
The cover-up is
no longer required.
All are welcomed.
All are accepted.
We are incandescent.
Summer casts her smile
upon us and whispers
on the breeze,
"Perfect as is."
It is hard to find
our place
in the world.
It is only through
the lens of time
that clarity
is honed.
But the years
take something
from us too.
So there is never
a place in time
where we live
in a perfect world.
And that is not
a bad thing.
Perfection
is over
rated.
You suddenly blew in
with a thunderous wind
just as the blossoms
were starting to bloom,
just as the darkness
was giving me room
to breathe and to feel
the absence of gloom,
here you come again
with your icy wind
that closes me inside
and makes me want to hide
where no one can get in.
But look, I see the days
expand and lengthen long,
oh, yes, I hear the birds
they sing a springlike song.
Your blustery winds
are fading away,
the sun with its warmth
is coming to play,
one of these days
Spring is coming to say,
"Welcome! I am here."
I don't carry a totem
in my pocket
but I have a secret place
hidden in my heart
that grounds me
tethers me to reality
gives me strength for the journey
reminds me I am not alone in this
even though I am alone in my own skin.
Beneath the shadow of God's wing
there is a place of stillness
a place of Presence
a place of knowing
a place of being
a place where no enemy
can withstand
a place where I return
to come back to myself.
I saw a black bird
today, soaring
into the heavens
with not a single
flap of wing
heart wide
open, riding
the currents
the breath of God
blowing him
high
high
higher
black wingspan
stretched across deep
blue
oh, to ride the sky
effortless
weightless
free
how would that be?
