Life Like Winter

Clouds slip so slippery through skies with winds whispering
Hellos and a good bye, a hi and some see you laters.
And though the sun advances toward sunset, the east remains blue,
while to the west, gray rules the day due to an advancing winter,
Cascading down the Appalachian Mountains, gaining momentum
and moisture, and planning to huff and puff and blow
The dead dogwood tree in the back down on the neighbor's fence.
Nothing a chainsaw can't handle, except fingertips resent it.

chase

Sometimes my phone is ringing
But God leave a message
I'm busy sleeping

But You won't!

There's a message on the mirror in eyeliner
But I don't have my glasses on yet,
I just open the cabinet.
I search for something that might cure this diseased
Clay jar of a body that covers me,
But the more medicine I seek,
The more I miss what You would have me see.
And when I do see the black letters on the mirror,
I realize that before I see myself,
I have to look through You.

Sometimes my ears are ringing,
So God leave me alone
I'm busy screaming

But you won't!

This may be a chase
It may go on for days
But I'll never escape

I'll return with dirt and grime on my face,
And I'll return to the mirror and the scribbled word "grace,"
I can't believe how dirty I've become,
I can't believe how dirty I've come undone,
And now clean, I don't ever want to be apart again.

This sure was a chase
Yeah, it went on for days
But I didn't escape

And now I'll never run away.

Before That

The morning arrives on the heels of the night.
The leaves emerge green and the tides ebb and flow,
and yet before that You were there
and You whispered the world into existence
Oh God, You're awesome, You're amazing, You're everything
Jesus, You're savior, You're Father, You're everything
The verdict arrived on the heels of my crimes,
I was sentenced to die, I had no hope for my life,
and yet there is grace, You took my place
Upon the cross, my sins were washed away
Oh God, You're awesome, You're amazing, You're everything
Jesus, You're savior, You're Father, You're everything.

SHARPIE

we write all these things in black sharpie/thinking they might carry more meaning/their thick black lines scrawl across the page/and the countertop beneath repeats what each word says/cause it bleeds through/like a band-aid on a severe head wound./when you read, you have to believe/these fat-walled words you can from afar yet still see./my fingers are stained with ink/and no matter how much I wash this damned spot,/it won't shrink,/and like Ms. MacBeth, I'm a bit concerned,you might say I'm about ready to freak,/but forgiveness is written on the page and has/bled onto the counter beside this kitchen sink.

Fight.

Man if I had like a thousand eyes,
like a fly,
I'd try to spy on all sides at the same time.
I'd not be surprised,
and I'd lead a well-protected life.
Your very best disguise
would not/could not escape my thousand eyes,
and I'd fight you like Mike Tyson circa 1985.
I would not lie down, I'd fight,
and through God, by God, I'd survive.

(You son of the dark one,
you'd tempt us/me to swallow a gun,
metaphorically or literally, either one,
as long as a fighter fighting for the other side is done.)


So I strap on my armor,
request protection from my Father,
but if He decides to to provide,
I inform Jesus Christ that I'll
soon be happily standing in awe by His side.

Getting Older

My core muscles are made of sandwiches and Joe runs through my veins,
amok through my brain,
and my peripheral nervous system feels tingly like something might bite me on the hand
like Peter Parker before becoming Spiderman.
My oh my, this diet soda's aspartame must be leaving deposits in my brain
like as if it was a bank,
like as if it was on the corner since you lived there and was waiting for you to return
but you found a job in Baltimore so you don't.
You just occasionally make a trip home
for Spanish Rice and chicken rolls
and the sanwiches you eat at work sure were a sign
you're not 28 anymore, by God, you're 29.

Abandon Ship.

Abandon Ship.

Verse1:
I was listening to the news anchors and started sinking like a boat full of holes,
and I felt your fingers on my forearm trying to hold fast, but I knew it,
If we didn’t get out, we’d drown, so just this once, give up the ship,
So sorry Captain Lawrence, but this boat’s broken and we refuse to go down with it.
Between the two of us, we don’t have enough fingers to plug the thousand little leaks
Not to mention the cracks in the mast and rips in the sails, so we’re getting out
Let the boats down, we’re gonna abandon ship, this culture trip and we hope you don’t
But we won’t join you if you do go down with it…

Chorus:
Arms, legs, ears and throat,
all safe and sound in an escape boat,
I don’t wanna play chess with Jonah
I don’t wanna dine with Mister Geppetto

Bridge:
You and me will sail across this lake
We’ll take the long way to play it safe.

Verse2:
I turned on the radio, but like it felt like cannonballs, so I thew it overboard, and oh,
My shoulder’s so sore from carrying a musket amidst the ready aim fire and bullets,
And I felt your whisper more than heard you tell me, “If your ears are ringing, then join me,
We’ll go U.A., my love, just come on, sometimes you fight, but sometimes you have to escape.

Chorus:
Arms, legs, ears and throat
all safe and sound in an escape boat,
I don’t wanna play cards with Jonah
I don’t wanna have coffee with Geppetto

Coda:
You, me, eyes and lips,
all safe and sound on a sailing ship