"Red Votives"

(Composed after a trip to the San Juan
Capistrano Mission, October 2011)

A ruby red glow guides me
Down the dark corridor,
As I approach the altar,
The chapel of St Peregrine.

Prayers have been offered,
Tears shed for the sick,
The weary, the suffering.

I bow the knee and make my petition,
An intercession for those I know,
For those for whom these
Many votives have been lit,

For the relatives and friends,
Struggling to cope, to understand,
Seeking answers, seeking hope.

My soul yearns for their relief,
For peace and joy to uplift their spirits.
A fire in my breast urges me onward,
But I rise after a time, for the tourists

Are speaking in raised voices,
A healthy, young couple on holiday
Arguing about their camera settings.

"Lost"

(Ash Wednesday 2011)

The push and pull
Tugging, yanking, jerking
Fibers of the soul.

The longing, the desire
Enticing, deceiving
As in a smoky haze.

Blurred photograph,
Faded newspaper clipping
Juxtaposed to

Scarlet roses, diamonds
The sweetest taste of
Chocolate on the tongue.

Inch by inch stepping
Deeper into the wood
The path is wholly lost.

"Wandering through the rain"

(Composed January 3, 2011).

Wandering through the rain
Desperately seeking to find
The way, the path
Seems to have sunk
Beneath my feet, hidden
In the haze.  Sunlight or
Moonlight behind cloud,
I know not whether it is night
Or day.  The dim, grey ambiguity
Disguises what was once clear.

Lost in limbo, the liminal,
Unsettled, uneasy, uneven,
Tottering on the tippy top,
Shaking, swaying side to side,
Unable to stabilize, steady, secure

Eyes in the mud.

No mere flub or flounder,
But failing, falling
Flat.

Yet redemption even here
In the ground is found,
Washing clean.
Black is recognized as black,
White shines purest once more,
And men no longer look as trees.