Out of the Sacristy

This is as close as I plan on coming to "outing" myself because there are other people who have seen this. This is also the post where we all learn that I'm deeply religious, something that you will read more about. I'm losing some of the formating here, but I'll figure it out later. Unless someone is willing to tell me....

I lift my praises, Mighty God, for work already done.
For support dedicated, leaders raised,
lives transforming.
I lift my thanks, Holy God, for work beginning.
For the stretch and pull of hearts opening
and minds thinking.
I lift my hopes, Awesome God, for that which is to come.
For promises treasures, for dreams dreamt,
for chances not yet taken.
In the name of the Everlasting God of change,
Amen
Written March 2006

More about me, I guess

Two posts in two days! It's partially that this is oddly addictive and partially that just one poem doesn't seem to really represent my life. So here's another one. About me, even.

The I I want to be
Would you understand
If I ever said,
“those childish moments you laugh and ridicule,
Those instances of glee,
The glimpses where I seem not quite me
Those are what I fight for,
That to which I cling.”

Would you ever listen
while I went on,
“I know life’s horrors, dark hours,
Weeks of tears and mourn
Don’t think I haven’t lived there too
Know me rather as a frequent visitor,
One with favored paths and common trips.”

Would you then see,
The moments of glee,
The delight and wonder:
That I revel in these not to forget,
Not to negate
But as a runner, struggling to breathe,
They the images of the goal towards which I strive

Those glimpses where I seem not quite me,
Not denial, But pursuit
For I have decided
The darkness may not be
All that I know, not
The theme of my life, not
The reality I cannot escape.

Would you understand then
That these are my choice and treasure
That each smile
Is one more statement
A declaration of who I mean to be
Victory over who I will not become
I laugh, I giggle, and I go on:

Ever more the I I want to be.

Written 2/27/06

A Good Place to Start

This is probably the poem that started to convince me to do this whole blog thing, so it seemed like a good first post.

On Writing
I Write
and in this act of putting pen to paper,
of spreading ink across a void
I do that which is irreversible
My words, once written
cannot be unwritten, undone
They are from me but no longer of me
In making them into ink
I give them fleeting permanence--
bound as they are to physicality
and eternal difference.
Once written
I too must enter into dialogue with them
changing, not remaking
Once done
They stand
for my eyes and those of others
forever speaking from the moment of their separation
To the millions of moments that follow
They were mine to make--
a natural mating of my thoughts and my ink
mine to alter
mine to destroy
But their unmaking is beyond me
They become written and separate
I can not write
But I cannot unwrite

written 4/21/07

Hello

Never done this before. But I want a space to keep my writing and to let you (whoever you may be) read some of what I've written. I've been writing for years and this will be a space for me to share newer and older things. Look for my first post in the next few days.