Each year I forget about the bulbs
lying dormant in the earth,
the ones I planted years and years ago,
a secret stash of buried treasure.
Suddenly one morning there’s a frenzy
of yellow daffodils—botanic fireworks.

Purple hyacinths follow
arriving fully formed from under
the winter ground;
I’ve never even ...

You are my best friend,
and I hate to leave you,
which one day I shall have to do
unless you leave me first.

These are the eventualities of life:
the long solo walk
the journey we can only take alone
the yearning for a hand to hold ours
the darkness with no candle
to light our way.

In spite of this, my ho...

“The Lord works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.”  Psalm 103:6

Righteousness can be defined as being set apart, in particular, set apart by or for God.  Sometimes justice demands set-apartness.  When the scales have been tipped in favor of one group of people over another, then s...

Words come tumbling, jumbling out,
a collection of random letters
spoken into the unhearing ear;
and, while I try to keep my wordcount
to a reasonable roar, there are more,
there are more and more and more. 

   Will you hear me; will you listen
   though I speak without precision?
   Will you sort through...

A week ago, I sent my cousins back to their respective homes in Florida, South Carolina, Arkansas and Oregon.  It was a bittersweet parting after five glorious days together.  We did a little sight-seeing, hot-tubbing, playing cards and dominoes.  We shopped for groceries together and took walks in ...

I have a strong desire to help people, particularly those that I see making self-destructive choices…choices that not only take them into places that make their own lives harder, but also impact others as well, including me.  I’ve had incidents when I can so clearly see someone is being hampered by ...

Their heads are so large and heavy.
   It’s a wonder that their slender
stems can hold them up, even when
   buffeted by a strong spring breeze.
But like the lilies of the field,
   the irises are maintained by the
perfect design of their creator
   who is in the business of
doing death-defying tricks.

Why...

After days of praying and soul-searching, I have decided to fast from doom-scrolling on my phone.  I love to see what my daughter and daughter-in-law have posted on their Instagram accounts, but I can follow checking them out with scrolling down through endless offerings.  It is a total time-suck, a...

Two of the most impactful fasts of past Lents were my television fast, and fasting from giving unsolicited advice.  But my all-time favorite fast was not my own.  It was the season when my daughter gave up mirrors for Lent.  Actually, she assiduously avoided looking at herself in ANY reflective surf...

The dirt’s packed hard.  I take my trowel
and loosen the soil, digging a hole
deep enough for the tiniest seed.  The earth
feels dusty in my hands; it lodges under
my nails as I pack it down on top of this
embryonic plant.

I need no supplement for the soil.
The ash of thousands of lives gone up in smoke
h...