the leaves have mostly fallen
making a mulchy carpet for the garden city
but the few that cling to their branches by night
cast only eerie shadows
the streetlamps' attempts at golden light
are thwarted by this shroud
and made to look like distant haloed beacons
of a morning that might never come.
not for him
he does not know Love
his breath is tainted with wine and whiskey
but it comes out grey and fades into the fog
the fog that characterizes not only the air
but his heart, his mind, his spirit
his eyes
there is no joy in them
for he does not know Love
"love," he says, "is only bad.
It only brings bad. It is hurt.
It is pain. It is bitter.
Don't listen to it.
I see it in your eyes, but don't listen to it!
it will put you in the street like me!"
But he does not know Love
he has many years of laughter
making tracks on his face
but those deep cracks in the corners
are now only channels for tears
he will sleep here in the dirt tonight
sleep off the drink and start again tomorrow
and he will still not know Love
there are countless others
mangled reflections of men
all over this manicured city
they sleep in shopping carts
outside the department stores
where "normal people" pass every day
confusing them with the dogs that keep them warm
and none of them know Love
nor have I told them.
This is a poem for the homeless in Vina del Mar, Chile. Please join me in praying that the Lord will reveal his Truth and Love to them, that I will become a pure vessel for the Spirit to them, and yet praising God that when I fail, He will find another way to reveal Himself.
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3 comments:
Thank you for your vulnerability; thank you for mentioning the blaringly obvious truth that you (and all the rest of us) often fail. I'm praying for God to give you (and me too) more courage and compassion to love the homeless in your city.
lovely and sad.
somehow I think we all know love in the end, or the middle, or the beginning. In my deep stomach I believe that love gives us life and takes life away and sustains life. I believe we all know love. but I also believe we all need to show our love that others might be more aware of all the ways that they experience it in thier lives and also so that we might be aware of it in our lives.
I Love you.
ok also I've been waiting to have a cool word verification... and i do.. on the last one- how utterly perfect. it is polecha. Which makes me think of polenta. or pololo. mmmm whatever I just think its nice.
hey. i'm confronted with the same dilemma almost every day. that poem could be written about philly. and I so often choose to ignore the aching that is going on. thanks for bringing it back into the light, and not hiding from it. I miss you friend. I'll be in TX briefly this weekend for a wedding. Will be there longer in august...can't wait to see you. we should skype soon. have a wonderful day.
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