Week One-A Prayer

I wish I could collect
     the light, landing its shadows
     on this page as it creeps
     ever brighter through the gray.

Pour it out to wash my heart,
     salve the wound of this
     present heaviness, the sighs
     that never end.

Hold it lightly aloft, praying
     no sharp wind or
     quiet, steady breeze
     snuff it out, for we
     need it so

Father, carry us,
     ferry us through storms,
     silent and proud as we
     shine hope in the right
     direction--people-ward
     up ward.

Send us, spread us
     like the daily sure rising
     of your sun, that moves ever
     on into the distant dark.

I've Been Asking

Jesus, 

because He said I could

(ask)

about a Five Year Plan--

lke a plannable annuity

with a guaranteed return on

my investment.

as if...

as if a sure answer for my tomorrows would bring

me peace today.

He whispers instead what's doable--

the Five Hour Plan-a chunk 

of time allotted to say, oh, baking

a pie--

manageable, like a tried and true recipe

gather ingredients

check oven

double check recipe

mix, roll, bake

voila! a pie, sure as

shootin'.

Yes, I asked Jesus about

what's ahead...on down 

the road...

over the hill

and of course (you guessed it)

He handed me a peach.

The Practice of Prayer While Making Soup

{on not watching the Golden Globes}

Facing the stove, I busy my hands

with this thrice-cooked fowl, weaving water
herbs and onions to conjure up a warming 

repast for our souls.
Skin holds meat, meat holds
bone (or is it the other way around?) and
as the chunks slip and slide into the bubbling
pot before me, I wonder, wordless,
at the speed with which we revere
and revile our fellow human beings.

In the other room a happy tumult erupts.
A television voice announces it's a beautiful
day in LaLaLand. The steady sun shines
on folks arriving via car and carpet as
crowds cheer.
Some of them will be handed the world.
Perhaps they deserve it.
The cynical may scoff at these bright gifts
offered to those who chase and make
'silly dreams.'
Why all the to do over such a shallow
show, this vanity diminished by the weight
of the headlines, today's news, my own life?

Perhaps it is precisely dreams we need.
Oh, indeed, we need our dreams.

c. Jody Lee Collins 2016

~~~~~~~~~

photo credit--from L. Richardson website "Interior Wisdom"