the thief and the healer/swing

thief and healer
(Written December 2010)


Who has disappeared? A thief, I think
A lapse in my memory, a missing link.
The last poisonous breath purged from my soul
No longer I feel someone else's control
Looking forward, never back
Brilliant colors engulfing the black
In fear I was blind, I look down to find
something so divine...his hand in mine!
He is my healer.
He is my friend.
He's the answer
on the other end.
Always listening, always there
Love eternal, heavenly care. 




Swing 
(Written for a BYU-I Poetry Contest in April 2009, won 2nd place)


a curse for this town escaped my tongue
it seems hardly worth my time
i push, i pull. i push, i pull.
Between these rusted chain links.
i've never worked so hard
to be reminded of my intertwined failures
my hands desperately clutch the rusted chains
dirt and gravel fill my shoes
With one arduous heave, the blue sky opens up
I reconsider where the heavens truly lie
is it unreachable, above me?
Or just one more push away?
i close my eyes to gather my spirits
and i outstretch my arm in the cool, crisp air
giving up--leaving my fate
in the wind, that gives me an extra boost
for the roles are opposite
for he that swings and he that pushes
and that same wind, i cannot see
assists me when i've done all i can

JG Wentworth - Its My Money & I Need It Now Commercial

Quotes

"When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience. But never again use another person's body or emotions as a scratching post for your own unfulfilled yearnings."

"Where did you get the idea you aren't allowed to petition the universe with prayer? You are part of this universe, Liz. You're a constituent--you have every entitlement to participate in the actions of the universe, and to let your feelings be known. So put your opinion out there. Make your case. Believe me--it will at least be taken into consideration...

The health of the planet is affected by the health of every individual on it."

--Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat Pray Love

prayer

 Prayer is not just throwing a bunch of arbitrarily arranged words at God. First of all, no matter how beautifully arranged the words are, they'll still seem like crap to a perfect being. So that's not important. It's all about a sincere, faithful honest search and desire. If we believe he'll answer us, then we will recognize the answer when it comes.

-Thomas E. Hatton II

the universe

 What
is it about
the universe
about
us stretching out? We within our brains within it think
we must unspin the laws that spin it. We think
why because
we think
because.
Because
we think,
we think
the universe
is about
us.
-May Swenson

Moses

 The most valuable, most enduring lesson we can learn from Moses comes not from his successes but from his failures. It is not about standing up to rulers and demanding justice. It is not about being charitable to the poor or respecting our neighbor's property...

It is about facing our past with gratitude and our future with confidence, even as we carry with us the memories of dreams that never came true. There are other, more attainable dreams waiting for us. We must be willing to get rid of the life we planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

--Harold S. Kushner