Journey to the Alter

 

Boots too tight

Walking stick too tall

Can’t linger

Time won’t stand still

A young gentle woman sees that my shoes don’t fit

So she buys me some that make me feel like I’m walking on air

A young man sees my walking stick won’t do

He carves a new one for me designed just for my hand

Can’t linger

Time won’t stand still

I meet an old man who teaches me how to take care of myself

He puts a book in my hand and tells me

Words aren’t just words

Each one has a meaning

Use them wisely

Can’t linger

Time won’t stand still

A sweet young lady with a blue ribbon in her hair greets me with a rose

I take it and kiss her

Now she walks with me

Adoration

 

Aileen believes the world is ending because social media told her so

Shoot, the world’s been ending ever since Jesus told us it would end

Hush up was Aileen’s response to me

You need to know how bad things are out there

When I leave her house, I go to adoration and just sit

The world could be falling apart right now, people banging on the door

Threatening everything you could do to mankind

It don’t matter, cause in this room with my eyes on Jesus, there is peace, a glimpse into heaven

 

Apparition

 At thirteen while preparing for Confirmation,

I was given the name Maria

Mary is what I meant, but Maria, Maria Goretti

Stayed as my Confirmation saint

Never heard of her

A year later, I watched a documentary on Fatima

Mary, please don't give this timid soul a message to give to the world

She agreed

But, what if it did happen?

What would I do?

Go to a priest, our family friend who thought I was flakey

Camp out in an adoration chapel, too fearful to face the world

See my psychiatrist, so she can adjust my medication

Maria Goretti, remember her?

She forgave her attacker

In return, he campaigned for her canonization

Could I forgive as Maria?

Or fall down the rabbit hole of depression

Martin Luther King

 Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King

Growing up in Atlanta Dr King loomed large in our minds. Yet perhaps a bit larger in mine. My grandparents were civil rights activists and marched in Albany, GA with him. I am grateful to come from people who understood we are all created equally in the eyes of God. May we live by these powerful words. 

Lullaby

 Come to me my dear child

You who are weary

With cold clinging to your bones

Come to your mother who loves you 

And I shall sing you a lullaby

Epiphany

 For one more night we light the tree

The wise men's journey has come to an end

Fr John marks our door with chalk

As we pray for a blessing

Indeed last year we were blessed despite illness, bread lines, and closed signs

At the word, amen a candle was lit

Ever faithful Hail Mary was prayed

Deep breaths before we sing 

We Three Kings

I ponder on the nativity

Could I trust the way Mary trusted ?

Filth and cold awaiting a new born

Flight into Egypt

My pillowy world has turned me into a halfhearted woman of prayer

Recently, a voice whispers to me, "wake up, the cold is coming. It will fall like rain, and I am the only shelter."

The Warmest Place

 On that cold Christmas Eve we stood in the cold

Our eyes fixed upon the nativity scene

Mama prayed for Father to come home

No doubt my brother Tommy prayed for a bike

I prayed that my mother finds her smile

We havent seen it for so long

Baby Jesus must have been listening

Because I heard Mama laugh as she watched a little boy climb in the manger crib

The warmest place on earth