Two shorter poems I have been working on for Ash Wednesday and the beginning of our Lenten journey.

Rumpelstiltskin

Hard we work
To make of life's gold
A more manageable straw.
Worn and weary,
We transform the glory of our given days
Into something we can hold
Time
Value.
Oh to stop --
Just stop --
And speak only the unknown name
Of holy,
Holy,
Holy,
And rest in life's grace.

Toward the cross

Somewhere inside
Perhaps just to the left of the heart
And pressing on a lung
There is a gathering of brokenness
Like shattered glass;
Sharp
Cutting at the core
Grinding out each costly breath
And making feeling fearful.
Perhaps in the sunlight
It would reflect
Even shine
The deep red of church glass
If I can tear from my breast
Shard by shard
The pain;
A slow process at best.
And surely I will miss a crystal or two
To remind me
That breathing expends
And feeling enslaves.
Life and death depend one on the other;
They intertwine
And unite
Like lovers
Yearning for each other
Until inhale and exhale
Exalt
Into a final glory beyond.