how do you
tell someone
you want to respect
that you cannot
read their minds
what an awkward place to be
when the other thinks
you have been able
to this whole while
how do you
tell someone
you want to respect
that you cannot
read their minds
what an awkward place to be
when the other thinks
you have been able
to this whole while
I wonder why it matters
if we don’t get our buttholes
and bellybuttons back
Does one really need a particle
of the shell that once was food for the worms?
Will we need barbers, doctors, and cobblers too?
What if people imagined
a world with only one return
and one promise
transpiring long ago?
Supposedly this tenet is serious
Sheepherders are looking
for moving targets
It’s not just concerning
It’s very concerning
They will hunt you down
and dismember you
It will be horrific
Even God won't be able to reassemble you on the last day.
Imagine bodies absorbed
by tree roots
and fire
Another chopped
into pieces
by car crash or grenade
Others chewed
and digested
by bears
sharks
and politicians
Wandering organs
reassembled into earth
Centuries of worms
Shitting out the flesh of saints
Then the Scriptures
will finally
be fulfilled
The last Adam returns
as promised
to the adamah
In this year of one next to another
We all chose together
But before we filled our bellies with lobster and banana tempura
I said ‘done’ in sudden silence and darkness
I was finished before the image of God, too.
I threw it all away below peels not quite good enough
Not even for worms
Again, I should have seen this coming
What the hell
I saw this coming from the beginning
But now it’s done
Done
I quit
I can’t breathe
It’s just foolish
I’ve been here before
Just not with mist and breath
My heart tightens in my chest
I could have hid longer
She deserves better
The three do too
May I sing
Again
Love
In this eleventh year,
On this night we all shared?
Eleven years today
You would have loved her
It’s too bad you only met her mom
I’m not surprised by that though
She only ever seems to care about others
She only ever seems to open arms wide
She only ever seems to lavish God’s praise
To craft another position paper in her mind
Like your ex with his fantasy family
Please tell Jesus I love him
Eleven years today
You are
the reason I write
the inspiration I snuggle
the poem of poems
the treasure of this story
words can't describe
A glimmer of hope
A sliver of salvation
A blip of baptisms
Eighty six in one day
Some random dude I don't know
Is excited
Please pray
Your little cult made this possible
Your free labor made this possible
Tomorrow, more will be saved
Eighty six more, all because of you
Some random dad I don't know
Look at you
Living the dream
Where are you?
Not, Where were you?
No one really cares about the past
What matters is this time
With the accuser
Held by a seemingly long chain
Perhaps it’s all our fault, though
Imagining ourselves under your curse
Under the reign of death
Hurling through the vacuum
Of meaninglessness toward infinity
Our fathomless distance from life
If it even cares
All we seem to care about is now
This present, this gift
This already but not yet
Along with paying our mortgage
And our taxes
You became man to warm our innards
To show us what love is
Whatever that means
While we lose our jobs
Lose our sleep
Lose our freedoms of self
Pondering this age of madness
The slave cries out
Where are you?
He doesn’t need hope
That some day you’ll both meet
And you’ll wipe away the tears
He needs you now
He needs to you here now
Not some future day
When the sea gives up its dead
For one hour of the thy faithfulness
Is more than all hours and years
every now and then
we return to paradise
with eyes wide open
just before dusk
there we both smile
there a little mole is hiding
in a pumpkin patch
among the perfect apple orchard
subtle tones of sunshine are all around
just the right shade on every side
all is wide open for viewing
its landscape even has one peach
and so we feast and nibble
laying and relaxing
you gaze at the heavens
i leer at the glistening horizon
its supple hills
with lofty pillows billowing beyond
are adorned with soft raspberries
i reach for one with an arm stretched out
you grab my hand to stay grounded
we feel the wind hover over us
chilling the skin
climbing higher and higher
there, at the peak we each find rest
then you ask
would you like to come inside now?
it's your turn
If ten people are laughing
but you are not
and you don’t understand why
they are laughing
you probably don’t get the joke
says the Aussie
triggered by the tradesman
who points out his lunacy
in matrices of fractals
breathed by God
to reveal the covenant key
which unlocks the Feast
of Booths in Succession
for Glorification on Day Seven
And so I wonder
if ten people are laughing
but the Aussie is not
and he doesn’t understand why
we are laughing
Does he get the joke?
I remember thinking
it’s about time
enough of being walked all over
finally we have reached an agreement
we have a plan
people are now paying attention
since no one wants confrontation
a letter is decided
in which there is agreement
and room for revision
that way
if nothing is commenced
after being promised
and promised
and promised again
with only the action of punting further
we have an appeal to another
who, too, can agree
that it’s about time
to stop selling ourselves short
Then steps in a carnival
of sacred heart song and dance
this will ruin everything
this will force into corners
we need more patience
we need to storm heaven wth prayer
we need to not offend
it’s his sandbox
it’s his sandbox
it’s his sandbox
we need to work with him
we need to approach him
we need to be patient
we need to respect his office
we are already on the verge
for many years
in the service of his immaculate heart
then I remembered
this is why
nothing ever changes