{ My People }

My people

Came the deep and soothing tones

As God Almighty uttered the words to those whose ears had been attuned to listen.

And from His mouth came the history of nations,

A story of matter formed ex nihilo--

Of flesh carved out of clay.

My people

Came the clamoring roars of a voice grieved by betrayal--

Stained by anger--impregnated with longing.

And from His thundering heartbeats came a rhythme of judgement--

A proclamation of punishment,

A warning of destruction--

Because His people had turned away

And become strangers before their God.

My people

Came the whispers of a broken body

As His limbs hung on splintering beams of shame.

And from His cracked and swollen lips came the words of a lover

And a savior--

Came the words of a healer

And a victor--

Came the words of a God whose name is Immanuel,

Who dwelt among the same people who had deafened their ears so many years before.

My people

He will come to say with the regal voice of the King known as I AM.

And on that last day His people will answer.

{ American Dream }

Tightly regimented hours of self-indulgence,

Mixed with pixilated chronologies

Of minute minutes

Seasoned with generous helpings

Of absent todays

Spent mapping out tomorrows:

That is who I am.

Wispy plans for years to come

Pervade the murky sidewalks

Of my memory lane

While I sprint towards the distant intersection

Of wanton excess.

But I never seem to reach the elusive goal that is

My future,

Because--

For some reason--

It is always

Now.

But Now is not a currency I am used to dealing with:

I am not content with the moments on my doorstep--

Cannot focus on the seconds surrounding my body--

Unable to grasp what it means to live in the here--

To live

In the Now.

Rather,

My eyes are fixed on that fluorescent light--

The one at the end of my tunnel--

Where I will burst into the paparazzi-filled arena

And experience the comfortable victory

Of the realization

Of my plans.

I can feel the pulse in my body beating to the rhythm of instant

Gratification--

Of permanent

Relaxation--

Or everlasting ease in an economy

Fixated on me,

Me only,

And me always.

And so I will strive

For a prize I know I can easily attain--

An empty victory coated in caramelized commercialism--

A bucket of disappointment at the end of

My credit card

Rainbow.

And when I have done all that--

When I have wedged myself into this

Confining

World of self-indulgence,

When I have given up on the life I thought I wanted,

When I have shredded all the blank checks

I used to write my future,

And when I have set fire to the 401K

I thought was worth having--

I know

You will not forget me.

I know

You will still be waiting.

And I know

You will still

Love me.

Because that is who

You are:

A cleansing breath of the Majestic

Amid the all-consuming narcissism

Of my American Dream.