Protection

Praying for protection,

I started crying.

There’s a place a mile from here,

That does Native American drumming

Every Saturday night.

I wonder now . . . 

Did that begin

The year of death, here on the farm?

That horrible 2012, when I despaired?

Or was it even before that,

Spirits of disobedience and destruction at work?

I wept over horrible words that felt true:

Destruction

Death

Despair

Disappointment

Discouragement

Devastation

Depression

All those D-words, the fruit of the

Devil.

Thanks be to God who gives the victory

Through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Friendship

A book said, “You need to have friends.”

And I can intellectually assent.

How pleasant, to have some people 

With whom you want to unwind, 

And have a good time.

The support system to bring you meals 

When you are sick.

But now I wonder if the thing is 

Lifetime friends, 

Because they will help you see 

The truth about yourself 

And remind you of your identity.

Or maybe this is why we need communities, 

To have some of a variety of those friendships. 

The soup-bringers and the truth-tellers.

Groundhog Day

Such a Christian movie,

This classic story

Of a man granted

An unwanted eternity.

Such a realistic journey,

From confusion

To hedonism and immorality

To wanting to bed the object of his desire,

Who rejects him . . . again and again, 

Seeing how selfish he is.

In despair, he tries to kill himself,

But always wakes up again.

Confiding in Rita,

She asks, “This is how you choose to spend eternity?”

Tossing cards into a hat, 

Learning trivia about the people around?

And so he turns over a new leaf:

Saving lives, helping old women in distress,

Taking up the piano,

Ice sculpting.

And it is only then, when he finds enjoyment

In life without Rita,

In being of service and in being kind

That his endless day ends to a new day.

Dishes

The dishes piled up

Half a week and more.

And so I served my son,

And washed the dishes.

Synonym

How to offer a homeopathic remedy

To someone unversed?

It’s not a drug, 

Since there’s no chemistry involved,

Though it often acts more strongly.

It’s not a balm, 

Since there’s no oil or lotion,

Though it often offers relief, comfort, succor.

It’s not exactly a treatment,

Which sounds long-term and vaguely threatening.

I’m offering a sugar pellet. “Treatment” sounds wrong.

It is a remedy,

A treatment.

Maybe the better word will yet come.

Wright Brothers Memorial

IN COMMEMORATION 

OF THE CONQUEST OF THE AIR

BY THE BROTHERS WILBUR AND ORVILLE WRIGHT 

CONCEIVED BY GENIUS 

ACHIEVED BY DAUNTLESS RESOLUTION 

AND UNCONQUERABLE FAITH

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Caleb

Mome

dad tef

ritinbi Caleb

Caleb

Mommy

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Written by Caleb