(from Jeremiah 1)

 Rhyme scheme per stanza: ABABCC

Syllables per Line: 7

LORD, Your hands have formed us all
Inside our mother's belly
But long before Adam's fall
You knew us intimately.
You who know us perfectly,
Steadfastly love, earnestly.

In mercy, You gave Your Word
A gift for Your chosen sheep
Richest treasure You've transferred
Father, help us so to keep.
Author, write it on our heart,
So it's truth will never depart.

Enemies have arisen,
Filled full of rage and bitter
So change those You've forgiven ,
Firm like an iron pillar
Power, make us a bronze wall
Cornerstone, never to fall.

LORD, Your Word destroys, tears
           down
Roots out sin and rules kingdoms
It also builds, sole to crown
And plants inside Your wisdom.
So, cause us our loins to gird
And surely proclaim Your Word. 

(from Zechariah 2:5)

 the descending sunlight, glittering,

     falls
on the robust branches of a
     haphazard
collection of full trees and crawls
inward, toward the thick trunks
     gathered
as a defensive barrier behind my
     house.
United they stand, deflecting the
     sounds
of interstate exiting traffic.  They
    douse
the burning sunset as darkness
    surrounds.
The state highway headlights are
    swallowed
completely, shielding the windows
    from the disturbances
possible with each and every passing
    carload
as they pursue services and
    purchases.

But what about this heart of mine
under far greater threat than my
    abode?
For this darkened world is not benign
but, like cancer, forces the soul to
    erode.
More, a plague resides also inside me,
a deadly sickness common to all
carrying my personal death decree
and a sunset certain to fall.
There is a Wall to conceal behind,
a refuge and fortress in which to hide
-- the Maker of trees, the only divine,
the One who for me has died.
He stretched out His arms indeed
upon the cruciform, leafless tree
to rescue all of those in need,
those His love would sure set free.

(from Ezekiel 36:25)

the dew of paradise
was sprinkled on
my forehead by a
roosting dove above me.
quenching the desperate
thirst in the back
of my throat with the
distinct flavor of blatant sanguineness.
washing the grime
from under my nails
(even though the dew
was a red hue).
droplets of dew
gravitating to my insteps,
bolstering them for
the arduous odyssey ahead.
(daily: the dew and dove)

(from Genesis 5:24)

he's killing us!

walking-
onward, continually
forward, no matter how the
heel, instep, or arch
on either one of us
feels like.

striding-
when we are covered in
dust and coarse sand;
or exhausted, thoroughly,
from toenail to ankle;
or punctured from
something
he stepped on with us.

pacing-
in the scorching heat
with the shadeless rays
pounding down on us,
unceasingly
with each, every, single
step, step, step, step.
then the night falls,
the cooling invading
our toes, the darkness
surrounding us,
wrapping us in the
absolute lack of light,
causing each step to
be more frightful, unsure.

hiking-
always on the same, small,
solitary, confined walkway,
the pathway (usually) void
of fellow travelers
beside us, footfall by footfall.
daily repetitious,
the same direction
always.

expediting-
step by step by step.
is he ever gonna stop
us from walking?
will we ever, finally, arrive
to wherever it is he's going?
who could be this important
for him to walk this far?
is he planning on staying
at this new place?

then,
suddenly,
the road was not.
was no more,
no longer beneath us.

gone: the dirt, the stains,
the weeds, thorns, debris,
the fiery sunlight,
the freezing moonlight,
the surrounding beasts,
the fatigue, the wounds,
the stress, the uncertainty.
the soreness:
from ankle to instep
to arch to toes, gone.
gone. not.
finally behind us.

before us: rest, bliss, peace, welcome, Him.

(from Exodus 20:7)

undeniable: the chilly wind on a Michigan February day which invades within the firmly pulled down hat and underneath the tightly wrapped scarf to pervade the face with bitter (hazardous even) cold, a cold that, even though it comes in through such a small space soon swims over the whole body to flood the person with slipping temperatures, inescapable wind unless you change your location, taking  residence where the wind doesn't blow at all, even a tiny bit.

which is why they use Your name as a curse word (You are undeniable). they train themselves to deny You, with science, hedonism, and philosophy, but Your name, ever in their vain lips, keeps returning again and again,undeniably present in their supposedly atheistic hearts (from the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks): in anger. in despair. in wonderment. in sex. in pain. in desperation. undeniable.

inescapable: unless they change permanent locations, taking permanent residence where You permanently do not reside, at all, even a tiny bit. which all too many finally, permanently, choose in the end.  permanently. 

("and you shall call His name Jesus for He will save His people from their sins")   

(from Genesis 35:29)

my dog has turned our property into a graveyard:

from the groundhog family she massacred one by one; to the rabbit with her unlucky feet; to the stray cat who aimlessly wandered onto the wrong side of the fence;

each hand buried by shovel into the overturned ground behind our home.

to this day, old village churches are surrounded by gravestones from the time of lanterns and horse-drawn carriages.

"the best this life has to offer is to die peacefully in your sleep", they say.

which probably explains this wounded world more than anything else.

(from Matt 5:4)

1.
The woman whose husband died is back at work today.

As if the flowers aren't now burrowing down into the ground to bloom, with their roots stretching upwards to grasp at the sunlight.

2.

Should people speak to her about it?

Or figure she's sick to her gut with thinking about it and would appreciate the calm numbness of simple work and mindless conversation?

Now that the Mississippi flows northward and the seas empty into the various lakes.

3. 
She's old and so was he. 

Does that make it less tragic since he had so many years? 

Or more so since they had so many years?

Now that the clouds bring light and the sun brings the rain.