Poor, Wayfarin’ Stranger: I Wonder as I Wander

I am a poor, wayfarin’ stranger

we all are

wondering as we wander

like Bedouins

herding our goats

We throw stones into dry caves

we hear the rattle of snakes

we find the Scroll

We are John in the desert >

baptizing

baptizing

preparing the Way

We follow the Way

down narrow streets of stone

past flat roofs where herbs grow

the marketplace

the cave

We come to Bethlehem

empty as the pots we have peered into

We look for the scroll

we find empty streets

empty mangers

empty inns

We Wait

We ponder

We wonder

Christmas Eve

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Advent Gifts

Come they told me

On bended knee

Torn skin

Crawl

Run

Limp to the manger

The barn awaits

Like Bethseda

We linger on the edge

Ready to be carried

Touch hems

Diapers

Gilded wings

 

 

 

 

And Mary Kept

Mary didn’t give it all away

She kept some for herself

A dream

A sigh

The wisp of movement inside

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Cattails and Apron Strings

Adolescent kitty

Turns over my lamp during the night

I hear a thud

 

I remember two weeks ago

When you were young

And chased your tail

 

Now you chase my apron strings

Ornaments you’ve batted from the tree

Imaginary sightings only visible to the feline pupil

 

You stare at me

You claw my hand

You bite my skin

You scratch me

 

I tell you no

Remove you from the kitchen table

Know it’s futile

Sundays at Walmart

We worship between the Karo syrup and the pink fleece

Stuff clothing into shopping carts

Dodge 2x bodies in crowded aisles

Pray in line at registers

 

It is now our Sunday church

 

Roasted Potatoes and Bikers

Rosemary and olive oil coat the red potatoes

they are tucked into the oven

My new kitten

plays with the homemade ornament on the tree

 

Bikers gather at the clubhouse

soon we will feast

 

These rough men

daddies, lovers, husbands

almost all grow beards

their Harleys lined up

backed into spaces

 

I learn to hold on

to relax

to let go

to cuddle with my new man.

 

 

Norway

We swallowed fish oil for the darkness

We boxed elegant soap

We chanted Norwegian prayers

We walked along the edge of the fjord

We were sisters of habit

and daughters of the earth

Intellectuals in child-like wonder

at the Universe