Faith comes at the strangest times:
When I read a good book,
When I am touched by another’s actions,
And, yes, when I go to church.
I pull back, though, in mistrust,
As if to say to myself:
“Don’t start that again!”
For the many times I’ve been burned,
And the many doubts I’ve had,
About the bible, the church and God.
Rocking back and forth
In a spiritual quandary,
I struggle so much,
And I hesitate
Before jumping in.
Who or what can be trusted?
(Poetic Asides
Wednesday Poetry Prompts: 135)
Smooth, flying, dreams
Sweet, happy, memory.
Closed. Gone. Past.
The images go by,
Then fall over an edge
Never to return.
Living in illusion
Causes more pain
Then it escapes.
Lies, running, away.
What reality do I
Choose? What is
Real? What pain
Is true? Accept?
(Sunday Scribblings
#270, sweet)
“Whose responsibility is
It to change the world?
And what will be my
Contribution?”
First of all, I don’t think
Anyone is going to
Change the world,
Not really. Obviously,
The world has changed
In some ways, some
People say for the better.
I think we can do more.
I think we can live longer.
But are we more loving?
Do we forgive others more?
Do we have more faith, hope?
No, I don’t think so.
And I don’t think that any
Individual or group is going
To change that. Inside,
We have always been the same,
And we will always be the same.
And I certainly don’t think
Anything I do is going to change that.
And I think it is inside
That really matters.
I don’t think science
Is of everlasting importance.
I don’t think the study of history,
Or sociology, or psychology,
Or math, or English, or
Anything else, is going to
Change anything
About the world
That really matters,
At least to me.
Solid feelings about a
Contingent future
Adds up to what?
And what about a
Future in the extreme,
At the end, perhaps
After the end?
Doesn’t our life really
Show itself to be
Nothing beyond
One chance after
Another?
Does it matter how
We feel about it,
Or what we think
About it?
Does that change
Anything?
Can we predict
The unpredictable?
Sure, there are
Patterns.
There is science.
But science cannot
Predict human
Action or interaction.
Humans are unpredictable.
And the number of
Possibilities of human
Emotion, psyche, not
To mention crazy
Forces of nature—
No, don’t listen to
The damn weatherman!
There are too many
Unknowns.
And the possibility
Of spirituality,
The force of life
Itself, where it
Comes from and
Where it goes,
That, my friend,
Nobody knows.
Luminous eyes looked down on him.
He had felt them on his back,
Accompanied by the sound of
An erratic scratching back and forth.
He stepped away from the fire,
So he could see better in the dark.
“Whatever it was, it was big.
It looked like a wolf.”
“Maybe hungry. Not wise to
Feed wild animals, though.
Perhaps it’s time to call it a night,
Go to bed and hope it goes away.”
With shaking hands, he picked up
The fire bucket and dashed out the flames.
Quickly he made his way
Into the tent. “Bad omen.”
“Tomorrow morning,
I’m outta here.
No pleasure here knowing
Some big wolf is watching.”
“I’ll be sleeping lightly tonight.”
(3WW CCXLIII
Luminous, erratic, omen)
Stumbling along the sidewalk 