Poetry

Moon Colors

July 8, 2006 - 12:08pm
 

the night was bending and turning and lonely
we were tossed in our sheets by our dreams
i heard a train in the distance
   pleading like a ship seeking safe passage

something is wrong and lonely between us
but the lonely wrongness is going away
   because you turned and bent and reached
      and so did i

we were sleepy and there were only shades of grey
      and our fan, ever faithful
         keeping watch over us by night

we sought each other tearfully, finally
   you were my pillow and I was your boy
   i was your comfort and you were my only one

maybe the night was an opening thing
   opening us because we were barely awake
      and our guards were down
      and nothing casts out fear like sleepy love

it is like a rampart of pressed earth
   thrown up before the ages
   and beaten by desperate hands

it is like a bulwark of moon colors and faith
   rising up in the dead of night
   to take on all comers

       

For J9, only mine

rlp

 

Poet Laureate of Covenant Baptist Church

May 10, 2006 - 8:21am

Our little church has a poet. I'll resist saying, "Though some don't know it." That would be sooo tacky. But we do have a poet. Her name is Cynthia, and she is our poet laureate. I don't suppose a lot of churches have an official poet, but we do. What I like best is that no one can remember exactly how or when she became our poet. I think she just stepped into the job gently and over time. I remember she wrote one after 9-11. And I remember some that she's read at our summer talent shows. She made me cry with a poem at Ben's retirement thingy. And some of her work appears in our prayer book from time to time. By the way, Cynthia is the woman who brought that prayer book to our church.

However it happened, she writes poems, some of them for us, and we all know it.

I've been pestering Cynthia to start a blog for a LONG time. The problem was, she had this classified government job many years ago, and when she left she had to agree to submit anything she wanted to publish to the government for approval first. I'm afraid this stipulation can make blogging a little more complicated than it is intended to be. So no blog for Cynthia. This was particularly frustrating because everything she knows about the government was declassified years ago.

But recently a very good addendum to the law allows for innocent publishing of poems and the like without having to submit them in triplicate to a secret government agency or anything. And so our friend and poet is free to post, publish, or do whatever she wants with her poems. This is good news for you and me, because it means we don't have to worry about reading one of her poems and then having to be killed for it. So relax, we're all going to be fine.

One last thing. Often when someone tells you that his friend is a poet, you expect that person to be "cutesy" good at best. You expect to read a poem or two out of politeness, and then try to think of something nice to say about them. Not this time. This woman is seriously good. I won't spend any time trying to convince you of this because you can go and read her work for yourself.

Cynthia, welcome to the world of blogging.

....It's about time.

rlp

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