The Number 23

A gift for Easter,
The celebration of childhood

The number, manufactured
in black and red over holes
printed on uniform

The number that meant
the greatest shooting guard
in the world was me.

Jesus played basketball
I was certain.

Celestial hardwood
angelic jerseys and
the slam dunk after
a three day blowout

Highways

The highways through Oklahoma
are bloated with dust and
the whispering sway of trees
at every turn
watch the pomegranate sun
bleeding out over the windshield
fog settling in smoky drifts
circling shades of light
sliding up and down the sleeping
in the rear-view mirror.

Every inch of road behind
stretches out,
denying history.

The Dream of Faith

I dreamed I had a brother,
with me from birth
a parent's gift to carry me home

He had golden skin,
dancing in the fires of living,
the fever of pain and death
I danced with him, to the
music that came from intuition.

But the brother grew old
And the words of bound books

Leaped off pages to cover his skin

Layering over and over, piling up.

The surface of his body

covered over, black
his body lay weak.

Now diseased,

I cradle his head, not yet resigned

Croaking remembered melodies

Conviction comes in the night,

Softly, and soon,
I will dance again and

we will not be burned.

A Blackbird on Morning Dew

A blackbird on morning dew
Brews the bubbled notes, drinks in
Cheering over sighs lilting bright
The fright of existing, born
Worn the beaten blackbird, worn

Dried over in afternoon
The grass withers with the tune
Blackbird, earnest, flapping wings
Clouded over notes he sings

Snares of the field, assemble
Night trembles through the thicket
Wicked do not dare to tread
Shred a feathered heart with thorns
Mourn the fallen starling, mourn

Christ Contemporary

Vestments and sceptres for a song of evening
Arching stonework that God could curl under
Sacred is cold over marble,
The choir robes slide on mosaic tiles -
Spiritual silence and dust permeate.
Yellowed pages on a lectern of ash.

Sip on your lines, let Jesus blood mingle down.
Lacquered pews
Bent melody
Holy fog

Malnourished cathedrals
still and empty