Tag: faith

Adding Sails

On By robertalanrifeIn Words...always wordsLeave a comment

It could be said that

our journeys

are nothing less than

the accumulation

of barnacled hulls and salted prows,

of decks swabbed, well-waxed.

Our crew, composed of those

most impressive, help our slow, steady progress

on the coursing waves of coarser seas.

They sing the old songs.

It could be said that

our wayfaring breezes,

blushed in day-fat skies,

signal us to find their end,

pathways noble, chosen, fearless.

Our guide-stars, poised in Spring-fair heavens,

simplify our white-ribbon’d way

through cushioning waves.

It could be said that

this blue-borne sprawl before us

like weedless gardens,

paths without walls,

is a wordless song of melodies, uninterrupted

and well-key’d, meant for voices

of children and saints.

It could be said that

whatever shanties once joined

throats in the shared songs of adventure

were nothing more than the nursery

rhymes of spoil’d children,

sung by swaying lunar choirs

of the misshapen but hopeful.

Of all the things that could be said,

I will say but one:

of this or any journey,

in the outward way before us –

we are not the Captain of our ships,

we are only

adding sails.

Prayer

On By robertalanrifeIn Life of Rob, Prayers & Liturgy, Waxing PoeticLeave a comment

We press the world between pointed palms,

where the weary stretch for heaven’s notice.

Our best vision, through closed eyes – steps

weightless

on scabbed knees, waiting.

Wine-soaked, bread-fed words squeeze

themselves through parched lips to

arrange with dancing in mind. But first,

they must learn the art of walking naked, blindfolded

through haunted alleys,

danger-gripped, clammy with doubt.

We stretch out long necks, seeking only glimpses, emancipation.

But, the lecherous bully of shame spends all his time

butchering the still,

small voices of light that sneak

in through backdoors where hope still keeps

windows open.

Tragic, is it not, how shades pull tight against wayward shards

of sun, the down-payment for our breath?

Like running in snow, our legs just get heavier –

too much weight tossed about over time.

A leering fatigue replaces what’s left of inadequate strength –

thickness filling muscles too weak to move past their own demise.

Still, hope is what came, long after our tight-

cinched belt of faith lost its grip

and hungry shame gave way to

garden surrender.

Only then does our Amen make sense.

I never said

On By robertalanrifeIn Waxing Poetic3 Comments

I never said the treetops would be

enough to hide the lost points on your map.

They might just join together long enough

to sing something jaunty for the trip.

 

I never said that all conversations

would tell you enough to end your doubts.

But they might plant some

new ones that aim for the same end.

 

I never said you’d always have great birthday

parties with candles enough to roast popcorn.

But, with each new year, another candle brings

you that much closer to salting the world.

 

I never said the laws of nature would always

accommodate your need to experiment with pride.

But, neither did I say they were obvious enough

not to take you where you most want to go.

 

I never said the distances were short between

laughter and pain, burden and light.

But there will never be a better time to convince

you of your own staunch goodness.

 

I never said that you’d find the thing

you’d been looking for.

I prayed you have one more day to meet

your fears in the pursuit.

 

I never said I wouldn’t disagree.

Just that I’d always engage.

I never said I’d always remember.

Just that I’d regret the forgetting.

I never said you wouldn’t rage against the world.

But it just might hear your voice.

I never said I’d never leave you.

I said you wouldn’t always need me to stay.

I never said I’d never say such things.

For I am you.