>the true light

>1.
Where are these times,
these moments so in the clutch
of nomads: history and faith
and dark matter?

Where are we now, our souls
I mean, when we lay down
at night, flying between stars
and dust?

Who has taken us, is taking us,
through this murky
looking glass,
more deeply into our present,
more deeply into our wondering,
and deeper still into our darkened selves?
(More glorious than we can admit.)

Can we stand?
Can we stand it,
stand this hope in truth and love
and mercy?
Can we hope that much?

2.
What goes for understanding
on this outer crust?
The trees bare their leaves,
the flowers open,
the robins sit nervously
on the fence rail,
the park is full of children,
the machines make machines.

What is our shape, our color,
our wishful thinking?
I wonder.
I wonder about these things
like a stone cracks another.
Hulking shoulders or
straining sinews
cannot pull down my wondering.

And I take in the news,
which burns like paper
and disappears like vapor,
so that I might know.
I know so much less
I know.

3.
I think about my my children’s future
everyday.
Blood flows in the streets,
under the rubble,
into the sand.
Limbs go missing like
a favorite song that cannot
be remembered.
Only my children do not yet
know the song.

I hope they never know.
I hope they understand.

I think about my loved ones
who live in me.
Fire can rain down,
chariots can crush,
deceit can harness the darkness,
but I have seen a ghost,
like the wind in the trees.
I pray for my loved ones.

I pray about the future
when I think about today.

And this is the true light:
Love the poor,
Love the weak,
Love the hopeless,
Love the dying,
Love the orphan,
Love the homeless,
Love the widow,
Love your brother,
Love your enemy,
Love the other.

– June, 2008