Reach out—flex.
Cringe back—gasp!
Brush up against—
Sorry! My mistake!
What the (bleep) are you doing?
Watch yourself! Be careful!
Did you wash your hands?
Every hour?
You don’t realize how much you touch.
Oh, but only if…
We could meet again,
Hang out. Have coffee together.
Can I read you a story?
No, you might cough on me!
Let’s start over.
We can’t.
What’s done is done.
Where is your mask?
You’ve got to…
Only, perhaps,
It is too late.
Perhaps.
www.saintpaulsumc.org/sermon/new-places-for-new-people-courageous-relationships/
Click on the above link to view a sermon by Rev. Dr. Kandace Brooks in which she challenges her congregation to step out of their comfort zones and reach out to others, to ask for help or to be of help, specifically to the mentally ill, suicidal, etc.
Gliding along the currents of air,
I’m lifted by the light that shines on me.
Love permeates my being,
Like a spear piercing my side.
The nails are hammered through
My ragged wrists. I cry out,
My God, my God, why?
Have you forsaken me?
The dusk descends and they lower
My cross, loosen my body
And carry me to my tomb.
I stand on a mountaintop.
Throw yourself down!
God’s angels will save you.
Turn these stones into bread.
You are hungry. Go ahead.
Freedom! I am set free by God’s hand.
Risen at last and the tombstone
Is rolled away.
Flying in circles,
Spiraling down,
Headed straight
For the barren ground.
Screaming for my god
To save me today.
If only have mercy,
A bit of grace.
I see the red flags
Following me.
Everyone knows
My mind tends to flee.
Can you see the remnant
Of my failing try?
Can you see me fall
From up on high?
I’m headed down
To the barren ground,
To dig me a hole
And never come out.
Do you wonder how I feel?
I want to curl up in a ball.
Go to sleep and never wake up,
Except I don’t live in a vacuum.
There are family and friends,
My wife, of course,
At the top of the list.
If I left the state of things
Would be grim, full of sin,
And everything.
You look so thin!
You look so nothing,
So drab, so flat.
You look like you’re losing
All your fat!
You are mine and I am yours.
Made for each other
In heaven, by George.
We’ll go out together
Or maybe you first.
That’s the way you want it,
On earth.
I don’t know what I’d do
With myself.
Wrestle dust balls from the shelf.
There’s much to look forward to
In this life.
But I can’t remember
Any but strife.
There’s much to hope for,
Much to dream,
But all I want to do
Is scream.
We’ll make it.
Don’t you worry.
There’ll be lots of fun and flurry.
We will gather all around.
We won’t stop for any sound.
Come with me to the holy gate.
Promise I won’t be irate.
We’ll enjoy your company.
We’ll be sure to bend our knees,
Jumping off the side of the boat,
In the castle’s shallow moat.
One day I had to work late into the night. I was very tired, and I was not looking forward to the walk home, which was several miles. It was almost midnight when I left the office, and luckily I kept a flashlight in my desk for emergencies. I wouldn’t need the flashlight until I passed through the town proper, though, so I put it in my coat pocket.
As I got to the edge of downtown, I came up to the town cemetery. I heard a scream, which then was muffled into silence. At first, I was inclined to believe it was only a figment of my imagination, but even so, I felt more vulnerable every second. I thought about just ignoring it, but my conscience got the better of me, so I decided to go check it out.
As I passed through the gate, I heard another scream. My heart was captured by it, and I was drawn to it. I searched amid the tombstones for a while, thinking some unfortunate victim was trapped somewhere or in the clutches of some monster. Just when I had made up my mind to retrace my steps, two glowing eyes rose up to meet me. They were not fearsome, but coaxing. I hesitated, but then a large hand reached forward and grabbed me by the neck with a grip that was superhuman.
It dragged me back into the cemetery, where the streetlights were blocked by trees. I started to shake with fear at the thought of what this ghoul might do with me. I thought about the scream I had heard before, and if that was any example, I was in for it. He took me back to a big oak tree, where I saw something hideous. Dangling from the limbs of the tree were many thick ropes, and at the end of the ropes were men, women and children, all with grim faces. Their emaciated bodies were covered with cuts and bruises. Their feet were covered with blood, dripping as if freshly drawn.
As I feared, my fate was soon to be the same unless I could somehow escape. I tried swinging my body behind, kicking my feet and pounding on the ghoul’s hands with all my might, but to no avail. I was trapped, just like these other poor creatures, and soon I would be joining them as another decoration on this ghoul’s tree.
That’s when I remembered that I had a flashlight in my pocket. I decided anything was worth a try, so I reached down and grabbed it like a weapon. I shined it straight into the ghoul’s eyes, and he dropped me. I ran back to the gate as fast as I could. I don’t know if the ghoul followed me or not, because I never looked back. When I got to the gate, I ran through and kept running for a while, just to be on the safe side. Finally I looked back, and did not see anyone or anything behind me.
Thinking back now, I realize how stupid I was to enter that darkened cemetery. I should have run away as soon as I saw those glowing eyes, but oh, how they pierced my soul. I went straight to bed when I got home, and when I woke up, I thought back to what happened the night before, and I thought to myself, “Did I dream it, or was it true?” It was so unbelievable that I never told anyone until now as I write this entry in my journal. I know I won’t be walking into any cemeteries at night again, that’s for sure.
Two of a kind,
One that used to be,
And one that is now.
Time in a flip,
The old are young,
And the young are mature.
Then, darkness falls.
A deep depression and
A bit of dementia.
I tried to barricade
Myself in a room
In your house,
But it was your room,
Your house.
I had become an outsider.
We had grown apart.
The jolly trickster that
Was my grandfather
Had become an unhappy
Old man.
And I had hit a wall,
Fallen into a deep pit.
We butted heads
Until we made it home.
To the end, you were true.
And I would not appreciate
Your love and loyalty
For many years, long
Past your time to die.
As I sat in the car,
Listening to the 21-gun
Salute, I remembered
The stories you used to
Tell me about the war.
And I realized that time
Had taken its toll on a
Wonderful man, a man
That provided for a wife
And family and then
For another generation of
Five grandsons, all of whom
Adored you.
I know that despite
Our differences, you look
Down on me from
Heaven…and smile.
Tricks lick ticks from the tongue.
Reaching slowly for a gun.
Running swiftly for your son.
He won’t help you now.
Pray. Pray to the God of the Heavens,
That He will have mercy on your wretched,
Squeamish soul as you crawl through the
Dirt, hoping for one last breath.
Death comes to us all. Beneath our hopes
And dreams, denials and delusions, we all
Know it. Death whispers our name as we
Get ready for work, as we drive to work,
As we forget out troubles in our daily routine,
As we come home to our spouse and children,
As we lay our heads on the pillow and fade off
To sleep. Death watches us breathe. Death
Hears our yearnings, our curses, our sighs.
Death is our constant companion from “the
cradle to the grave”. Death waits.
