GOD'S CHOSEN ONES

Thinly disguised dignity
richly endowed charity
beauty deprived
socially disabled
Privileged in being among the Divinely Preferred
How gift I am in serving them (mk)

PLUM/CHERRY/APPLE/PEAR TREE: SPRING

Seed, trunk, leafy branch,
bud, blossom, fruit and falling:
all seasons sacred.

Ancient and fertile
gnarled trees send out fragrant clouds.
Turn to life anew!

Tight buds, bursts of bloom,
(pink-white-each-altogether),
mark my soul with God.

Which is more precious?
The blooms . . . or the blossoming?
Blossom me, O God!

Prune and fertilize
the roots and branches of me
for springtime’s return.

Whatever the land
in which you have planted me
you tend and water
my heart’s dying seed . . .
pushing through darkness again,
again seeking light.

Like night-flow’ring vines,
or tree’d blossoms in moonlight,
darkness yields beauty.

Restore my vigor,
freedom and fullness of faith,
and I will blossom!

Who am I, O God?
Your seed and flower, fruiting
and dying return.  (Chris Mura, 3/06)

    WHICH IS IT?

It seems like such a simple thing
And yet its depth is untold
THANKS...
Is it for what you do?
Or who you are?
Or that we can be?
It's said without much thought..
Or lived in the gift of each moment
Giving life and color and vibrancy
To the ongoing gift of the present.
Does it bounce off the tip of my tongue
Or seep down in...lubricating
And filling the deepest cevices
Of my very essence?
Is it a polite courtesy or an
Ongoing prayer of graitude for
This incredible, multifaced, ever
Evolving gift called life.
Is it a word or a way of being?  (MK)

SPRING'S PROMISE

Dancing birch,
bent in grace-ful pose.
Arms outstretched toward the earth..
Awaits partner spring to
fill her hair with flowers green.
Raise up, o ballerina birch!
The primal dance begins!  (MH)

SNIPPETS

Silver stream of grace:
moonlight rising on the darkness of doubt,
wearing a rose-colored dress!

Ribbons of peace
holding together tenuous grace-
Crowning glory of God's presence.

Love, gift received,
wrapped in mystery and joy.
Finds its being,
its existence
in the giving away. (MH)