"Your Loss"
The lost are stuck beyond repair
Still yet I go to you
To see if your morning glory's caught any rain
Solemnly you hold it to the sky
Like a moon cup gathering the tears of God
Your dreams were really scattered weren't they
Like a fine wheelbarrow turned over and dragged away
You struggle without knowing if it will get any better
"It's just misunderstood", I mutter and hand it back to you
I'm feeling low myself
If you want to scatter corn to the chickens here is some
I love you and I want you to come home
Days now are lonely without you
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

Where you lay in your despair
Clutching at the blankets that held you
Crying for your nakedness and misery
For that which took your crown away
I'll find you some juicy wild grapes to suckle
And nod your head deep into her bosom
Where you won't have to be afraid anymore
Oh lost the way back home
It was shaken and lost underfoot
And this earth is not as it once was years ago
You look for your family and it is all gone
Like the pages of a storybook you were forgotten
And even if you wanted to reach out you can't
You can't without breaking the law
So you hide in your house with your spouse
And the darkness seems darker than ever before
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

The dark towers of the hidden castle
The one that looks over the cliffs of despair
Where the walls are cloaked in blue velvet
And the Windows are open and blowing their curtains
Brass and copper urns are full of violets and pansies
And some are full of coins and bracelets
Some are full of little crochets of ivory lace
Pearled into collars and baby bibs and little handkerchiefs
They hang from the ladies' long skirts and brush the floor
Where your hair is floor length and brushed a hundred times
The floor is tiled with marble and the basins are filled with pearls
Pink and cream pearls like women crying tears of joy
When they see their children and husbands coming home from war
Where they will lay forever in our arms
And wars are a fine thing when nobody dies
And absence makes the heart ever fonder
I hope you take me into your castle
And kiss me and show me where the waterfalls are pouring down
And the pets have curled hair and there are crystals hanging in the light
And all things are full of light
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

"The Children"
If love is the light by which we live
Then that candle is ever burning
Though the tunnels through which the enemy approaches
Are thick and clogged with mystery
Despair not little children for that which kills
Is unhappy deep within its heart
It paces and hunts without mercy
And in that it is unforgiven
All your singing and dancing is heard by God
And gratefully received by heaven
The gifts you bring will bless you all
Oh children with sweetest faces
All children buying and selling these goods
And children snuggling together
There is safety in congregating together
If we are not alone, we are not lost
This world is full of light and dark
And quickly escalates in either direction
Its beings are forever hungering
For the materials which make them happy
And in this ever-seeking of happiness
Much great harm is done to many
But there are moments filled with sweetness
Like honey-soaked sesame cakes
When these moments come everyone dances and sings
Gratefully received by heaven
Oh fear not little ones there is something that Guides
And that energy will indeed protect us
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

"The Witch"
The Witch is the daughter of the great I Am
She has kindled and earned His friendship through time
Like an earnest fire glowing on the outskirts of town
She is a whipped whelp and lives in wariness and fear
Afraid for that which gives and takes from her
She fills the rosary bed with things that fill her heart
Peaceful and prosperous she feels lost and betrayed
By that which she has dearly loved and tried to please
If you see her turn away she is saying a prayer
On the decline, she knows many things
If the civilization is turned to rubble she will probably survive
Because the meanness of her life has taught her so much
Hers is a path of suffering
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

"The Witch"
The old witch's hut is hung with toadstools
And grey musk that sweeps its dusky forehead
Her cat is fat and happy with stories and fishbones
And the market boy brings her fish and root vegetables
Which she transforms into thick witch's broths and feeds them
They sit by the fire under the light of the unwary moon
Groups of visitors discussing invaders in low ominous voices
And goings on in the north lands where nothing conquers but cold
Where the ice and hardness of the landscape are dotted by trees
To that into which you must soon be going
The cat knows all the directions one can go in
Like a sphinx in a basket of eggs he waits for a visitor
He knows so much that he's pregnant with secrets
He watches while she weaves her soft yarns into stories
And now he wanders off for days to hunt
Without her cat the witch is lonely but busy
She is working on something she cannot deny
Time has rent or changed that which plaits her hair
And quite beautiful hangs her crooked nose in the light of the moon
When she bends crooked and humped under the urn that pours water
And hangs her stringy long hair to be rinsed underneath it
The rivers that flow nearby are of many names
She draws her water therefrom
Needing a new project to pour herself into
She makes of herself books of spells that make everyone dance
They come and take their books and go into the village
This is how she earns her keep
The old witch's hut
In Jesus' Name,
Amen

"The Carnival Of Horses"
The Carnival of Horses
Where the carnivorous red horses are devouring man flesh
Their red barrel chests heaving up and down
Drunk on human flesh they devour their victims
And lazily wait heavily for their next victim to fall in
They are red from blood and their fat white teeth are stained
Murderous horses they cannot be trusted with men
The Carnival of Horses
Where the pink and baby blue horses are chomping the bit
Around and around they dance to the music of the stars at night
Their heads rise and fall their mouths are open and panting
Feet pounding the golden floor as they dance up and down
Nodding and bowing like crashing waves
There are pink roses in their hair hung from streamers
The soft locks of hair fall into their foreheads
Children come up to their haunches with wide eyes
And climb on their backs and hold on
While they tell them the stories of the night
Why some are lost and some are found
Why crickets must die in the autumn
Why chickens are born to be slaughtered
Why children cry when their toys are taken
Why ships roll in and pulse through the night
Why lost things are sometimes never found
Why they are doomed to pound the earth forever
Why they cannot reenter the kingdom of heaven
Why they must grow up and lose their innocence
These horses know that we all must die
They know of that which stalks us in the night
Perhaps that is why they are so fiercely dancing
Like nothing could put out the fir beneath them
And further on the black jarred night
The golden globes of light hang under the sky
And trace the paths of strangers seeking a thrill
Where the ferris wheel looms darkly in the night
All ablazoned with lights like the doom of all things
Or the great wheel of father time eaking out our lives
Where graffiti marks the dissonance of youth
And pickpockets snatch the watches from unwary purses
Lost in unfamiliar languages unknown to the general assembly
And unaware to those who govern the land
The hungry are taking what they need by force
And raiding the villager's stalls and filling their bellies
Then they get on the horses and ride into the night
Raiding and feasting and going through their incarnations
Little children growing and falling back down again
The horses don't care who rises or falls
They are beating into the earth their triumphant horse destiny
The Carnival of Horses
And further on the outskirts of this outpost
The blue and black horses are solemnly carrying the Indians
Down and down into places where street vendors fear to tread
These people fear not the darkness of night
They flinch not when they are whipped severely across their cheeks
They pray not when the fall of man is descended upon us all
They fear not and seek only solitude and peace and rest
Ever wandering, wandering they ride through sunflower meadows
Where the blue paint on their black horses cracks in the sunlight
Fearless and conquered they have no hopes to dash
And pray if they are ever moved to wrath for they cannot be
And long and lonely is their night vigil
These horses come out at night when the devil is on their backs
These are my warrior horses These will I send you
Into the night when dark is on the face of us all
To carry the children back into nonbeing
And the thieves and the hungry back into their beds
Where they can lay softly and feel safe at night
And listen at night to the falling of streetcars
Rising and falling under the lowlit witch moon
Horses are meant to carry children to their destinies
And they will until tide and time's begun
And the race is bound for another shore
In Jesus' Name,
Amen