Water Carriers

Thirsty, thankful hearts
     raised, open cups held
aloft, receive the joy of song
     and words,
healed in the hearing.

We ferry the precious
bounty via voice and
tone, conduits of the balm
that is the bounty of praise,
pouring into vessels,
empty to be filled.

Parched lips receive
the draught and splash in
the glory drops, wash in
the words, bask in
the golden sound as it channels
life through the veins.

We slake the thirst and
all are watered in turn,
rivulets of your Presence
soaking like canals in the
desert, skirting the dry land.
~~~~~~~~  
This poem came out of a Writer's Retreat my friend Kimberlee Ireton and I led last year called "Abide."  We're meeting again this September in the Cascade Mountains of Washington--maybe you'd like to come?

Expecting

Like the bound bud in the almost bloomed magnolia
there is beauty ready to burst,
tight secrets on the God side
buried within this cool, bright day.
I'm waiting, watching,
counting the sleeps
until this quiet wonder world wakes up
and I stand amazed
at the life that comes
from what was surely death
or dormancy
through all those chill & darkening days.
I ask for an eager heart as well,
listening, looking at the gate
longing for an answer,
ready for a new birth in me,
the delivery of good news
the message--just for the day--
which God speaks amidst the quiet unfurling
leafworks of Spring.
c. Jody Lee Collins 2016