Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Writing Retreat, Day 4

These are two poems that i've been working on for a while. I spent some time on the retreat editing and polishing them.

deployment


this is the shape of things:
the trees are naked but for their coats
of ice, bordering the highway
like hand-carved crystal.

this is the shape of things:
hard and clear, the trees
tell me that maybe
i've already said goodbye.

this is the shape of things:
you are leaving,
i have already gone.

no atheists in foxholes


her brother, the agnostic, prays
over his food, asks for a blessing.
he sends out his requests
without naming names.
no longer certain that anyone hears, he nevertheless prays
over his food.

protestant to the backbone, she
lights candles anyway.
she thinks it can't hurt,
and it might help to see
hope
keep burning. she waits and prays
far from his hospital bed.

sometimes the lines blur,
and what matters is faith.

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