Blade of Grass

I am a blade of grass

in a cement world.

Yearning for enough space and light

through the cracks of

hurry

and greed

and media.

To breathe and grow

And remember things eternal.

 

I am insignificant to most.

A crack in the pavement.

Something to be fixed

Buried again by asphalt and indifference.

Only to be resurrected once more.

Determined to grow heavenward

Patiently

Persistently.

Gently reminding the passerby

of the destiny of things.

This cement for decay;

I for life everlasting.

 

 

Amy

Amy was my cousin. Our family was/is very close. We miss her dearly.

AMY

Words don’t come easy when they’re this late
They get a little heavier with their weight
Death does that I suppose
But for what their worth, here it goes

I will start by saying that I love you
I never really said it, because I thought you knew
But I wonder now cause, well, you are not here
And so maybe I’m to blame, or so I fear

It hurts like hell, to think of you
To think of the pain that you went through
To think that our love was not enough
Or that it could not overcome the rough stuff

I struggle with that, because our love was deep
So much so that we all still weep
I struggle because I thought you knew
That our love was strong enough to carry you through

It was, and is, and always will be
The pain comes in the fact that you could not see
In that moment that our love was real and true
And powerful enough to heal what was broke in you

Love heals, but I guess you know that better than I
I reckon you see things more clearly after you die
I trust you see what you could not before
Our love, His love, and much, much more

And if you could grant me one final prayer
Help us see what you see there
The truth that death does not get the final say
That though tears are real, they get wiped away

That though pain stings and breaks our soul
That God takes broken things and re –makes them whole
That though we miss you now while you’re gone
After death’s dark night is God’s new dawn.

I will see you on that morning.

– Dan

Things Worth Saying

Things Worth Saying

I cannot ignore that I’ve been wrong before

But I must wonder if my blunders

Limit what I speak to being weak

It seems these days that we do not say

Much of anything, that can bring

Hope.

or Truth

or Light

This is our plight, failure to fight

To plead, to speak, to stand for what is right

Am I out of touch saying so much?

Is it wrong to believe, or dare to conceive…

That things are true.

To speak with confidence that there are things worth saying

To share truth with people that’s well worth weighing

Am I allowed the courage to preach that God is real

Speak to souls that He can heal

Give them truth that they can feel

Dare to risk that things are true

Bet my life on them and all I do

And stand to tell the world too.

Words

WORDS

Words a Billion, all’s the same
Speech without Silence is a loosing game
Words without substance a crying shame
Noise the problem, Noise to blame

Words a million, nothing changing
Same old words, rearranging
Same old static without meaning
Billions listening, searching, gleaning

Thousands of words none worth keeping
Thousands sown but none worth reaping
All the poets crying, weeping
At the words, we’ve been cheapening

Hundreds of words I’ve heard before
The repetition beginning to bore
The words most speak I just ignore
Cause I cannot take it anymore

What just occurred to me is how absurd
The noise my ears have endured
A prophet spoke up last night in the sea of words
But I am not sure if anyone heard

His Word

All the words that we’ve squandered
Makes me stop and begin to ponder
Where did all the prophet’s wander
And their words of which I’m fonder

Millions listening, searching, gleaning
For that One Word filled with meaning
As the masses keep on talking
Oblivious to the truth I’m stalking

Words a billion, you can have them son
I’ve played with them all and had my fun
I’ve had my time and now I’m done
Cause I’ve found my Word, and I just need One

Billions of words I’ve heard
In this world that’s broken, blurred
But only one has cured and stirred
The human heart, and endured

One Word, resurrected from the violence
Bathed in love and truth and silence
That’s the word I hear and speak
Of the billions, the One we seek

The Wild’s Whisper

Some would say I was on my way

To becoming a city hipster

Cellphone calls and Upscale Malls

Drowning the Wild’s Whisper

 

I cannot lie, its hard to deny

That my skin was growing thin

For I had my fill of the winter chill

And like to sin by staying in

 

Now the city streets and tasty eats

Don’t make a man the devil

But walking cement trails often fail

To remind us world’s not level

 

City scrapers and exhaust vapors

Witness Eden’s fall

Cause the city’s view isn’t the hue

That God dreamed up at all

 

You forget these things when comfort brings

The world to your front door

Computer screens and movie scenes

Can leave a man no reason to explore

 

But pixel lights and screensaver sights

Were beginning to appall

Because the winter chill now had a thrill

That whispered when it called

 

For in my soul there was a hole

That only the wild could fill

So I made my pack and placed on my back

And set out for the Holy Hills

 

There is a truth out there for those that care

That only the wanders know

It’s the wisdom of the trees carried by the breeze

Spoken in the places most never go

 

And I was on my way with plans to stay

To the places I once well knew

And the air was crisper with the Wild’s whisper

And salvation was closer too

 

 

And just around where there was no sound

Except the chorus of nature’s song

At an elevation atop creation

After the trail was long gone

 

Where the air was frost and I was lost

And the night was dark and risky

I found my goal and set down my soul

And poured a glass of whiskey

 

The hike did tire so I built my fire

And sat tight to fire’s flame

And as I sat there tranced as the embers danced

(I pondered from where I came)

 

Things had gotten blurry in the city hurry

And my soul was hard to find

But as the wind swirled and flames twirled

The wild’s whisper did remind

 

And in the night I gained my sight

And got what I came for

Cause my ears heard the wild’s word

And it spoke right to my core

 

Then I saw the moon wink as I finished my drink

And all my stirrings began to cease

So I laid down my head and went to bed

And slept in perfect peace

 

At morning light the sun was bright

And it painted the horizon gold

And the whisper spoke and I awoke

And I’ll tell you what it told

 

City goals take many souls

Because they forget the wild’s call

But truth in the trees carried by the breeze

Whispers salvation for us all

Spoken Word

My feet have walked this world and know its ways

My heart beats each day, but often strays

My hands meant to be raised in praise

But they often stay

 

Idle at my side

My eyes meant to be open wide

My life surrendered by it swells with pride

Sin still breathes when it should have died

My lips confess but I think I’ve lied

Still my soul longs to abide

 

In you

All I am and all I do

Baptized in fire and made new

Sin and pride killed and through

Washed in the crimson hue

 

I walk this world but its not the same

The world’s games of fame, and blame, and shame

Do not hold a flame

To my claim

 

That Christ is risen and reigns and king

Hell defeated, Death no sting

Come, let the world bring, anything

Still, I will sing and let the gospel ring

 

Our lives our His and can’t be shaken

Cause what’s in His hands can’t be taken

We are the church in the making

Darkness fading, light in-breaking

Satan, be ware, cause we are waking

 

And our hands will be raised in praise

Our faith a fiery blaze

Lips proclaiming your love and ways

Hearts fixed on you all our days

 

See my life and hear my cry

“Jesus is Lord” til the day I die

To this alone I testify

Dancing Fools

Dancing Fools

What a strange world we’ve made
The racing and chasing for pots of gold
The lives we’ve created we now evade
With dreams of escaping or days of old

Stranger still that we do not alter
This beastly system that binds and tames
Rather we stress and strain trying not to falter
Or fall, as we play these silly games

How alluring the fools who laugh and dance
Oblivious to the scoffs and stares
Theirs a world of divine romance
Which looses chains and changes cares

the church

The Church

 

Breaking down walls and moving mountains

Barren wastelands springing up fountains

Rebelling against the ways of this world

Dreams and hope for the broken and curled

 

The bondage of apathy broken

God’s word of hope spoken

The church of Jesus Christ awoken

 

The lives we lead forsaken

Our neighbors’ burdens taken

A new future in the making

 

Slavery to the system destroyed

Poverty’s forgotten employed

Love filling the void

 

The Kingdom at hand and near

God wiping away the tear

Peace freeing us from fear

 

God’s Spirit breathed and poured out

Faith conquering our doubt

Standing on rooftops to shout

 

Let me make this appeal

God is here and He is real

 

Mountains will crumble and walls will fall

If we have ears to hear the call

To loose our lives and give our all

 

So open your eyes and keep them peeled

Fall at the cross and stay there kneeled

And God will show you the world healed

 

Let me make this appeal

The time is now and this is real

 

Pray and seek and hunger and search

Then rise and move, and be the church

Reflections

 

Reflections

My world is at peace when neighbors are mirrors
And answers come easy when talking to peers
Belief is like music tickling my ears
Community a blanket covering my fears

My reflection looks good staring at friends
But when belief equals love, it always depends
So say what you want and be who you are
Cause love’s unconditional, if you don’t wander too far

So I beg you my friend not to open your soul
Cause love gets tricky when my agenda’s the goal
And if what I see in you doesn’t seem right
The mirror gets ugly and I fear the sight

Cause if staring at you is looking at me
My soul is something I’m not ready to see

Images on Screens

Hey friends…

I do not mean to be cynical with this poem.  It has just been a long winter and I have not been outside much.  And I miss experiencing God through nature.   So, seeing images of nature during worship services has been difficult for me.  Don’t change them Alex, they are still very cool.  And for the record, communal worship services in buidlings (yes, malls) are some of the most powerful and Spirit-filled experiences of my life.  Still… poets must write.

Images on the Screen

Dark orange sunsets sink into oceans

Strangers worship in deserts with unbridled emotions

Fields of wheat dance under Montana skies

Though truth’s on the screen, reality lies

Cause I’ve stood on the mountains and heard them sing

Whitewater falls thundering praise to their King

I’ve slept in the night under heaven’s ceiling

I’ve joined in its chorus and know its feeling

I’ve walked the edge of this earth where land becomes sea

Ridden its waves and learned to be free

I’ve been lost in this song that creation well knows

But now I am lost in this building, its pews and its rows

Cause you can’t feel the wind when you’re surrounded by walls

And nature’s shouts grow faint when we worship in malls

You can’t see the sky when you’re looking at screens

And if the picture’s not us, what’s it all mean