Planted
For Jenn.See how we
_____gather here
beneath your
green shade
your budding laughter
________________(did you know that you're a tree?)
see how these weary birds
_________________perch in your
_______merriment
the branches of your joy
___________________but
I see the
______roots
the knarled dreams the
_________weathered longings
carved into your
_____heart.
Be steady now,
my dear
Be firm and
__________steadfast
(you were planted, remember?)
Reach out your limbs to
___________________Forever
but don't be afraid to
_______tremble.
The Wind must shake us all
sometimes and
even willows
________weep.
thoughts on coconuts and desperation
Desperation (Oxford English Dictionarty, Second Edition 1989):
1. The action of despairing or losing all hope (of anything); the condition of having utterly lost hope; despair, hopelessness. 1. The action of despairing or losing all hope (of anything); the condition of having utterly lost hope; despair, hopelessness.
Now rare.
2. spec. Despair leading to recklessness, or recklessness arising from despair; a desperate state of mind in which, on account of the hopelessness or extremely small chance of success, one is ready to do any violent or extravagant action, regardless of risks or consequences. (Cf.
DESPERATE a. 4, 5.)
Desperation is such a loaded word. Loaded because it cuts a little too close to the bone, loaded because it's me. I am desperate; I think we all are. I love how the first definition of desperation in the Oxford English Dictionary (the action of losing all hope) is followed by the side note, "now rare". Being stuck in this North American I-don't-need-you society, words like desperation don't get very much exercise anymore. Ask me how I am doing and I will tell you that I am fine thank you very much, but what I really mean is, "I don't need your concern".
I think our hearts are like coconuts somtimes. We make them hard and thick on the outside to protect all of the liquid uncertainty we hold in the middle. Coconuts are hard to open.
So are we.The funny thing about God, is that he doesn't seem to mind our desperation. It's almost like he
wants us to cling on to him and know that we are hopeless and lost by ourselves (God is often backwards that way). He says his strength is made
perfect in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). Wow. That pretty much puts a damper on the whole independence, self-sufficient thing, doesn't it?
I never liked coconuts, anyway.
Home
These white county lines
these gravel scars
I guess they run through
my palms, too.
The dripping flesh
the pregnant fields
_________________________ripened
______________________expectation
giving birth to yesterday
I guess it flows in
my veins, too.
This yellow scent of tender grain,
manure and of sky
_________________________the pulse
____________________the lifeblood
These rivers
these steady palpitations
I guess they are
my arteries, too.
Pumping out my
_________________home
my vital signs.
I guess the throb of this
greenbrowngreen
is really just my heart.
Origami Trees
For Valerie.I climbed
origami trees with you
to be that much nearer the sun
_________(scraped knees always heal, you said)
I guess you knew
in your silent way
that paper cranes don't fly
It was there
you unfolded your poetry
______________________there
in your mists of wonder
your levitating green
____________________there
your reverent
__________desperation
__________declaration
words without
excess
_______ vibration
voiceless?
______________No.
Rejoice.
