My mind grows quiet as I rest
in your broad arms.
No jumping cows
come sailing by
though old nursery rhymes return
and wrap themselves
around us all –
dogs, cats, and kids
and even me as you slowly
rock us to sleep
watched over by
your friends, the stars.
JDG
What season is this that follows
Fall? Did Winter
last but a day?
How do these pink,
untimely blooms add to Winter’s mix?
December’s cold
and spicy brew
has lost its bite
and we are left with but a dash
of seasoning
and longing for
a zesty punch.
JDG
Today before the rain began
no thought or breeze
or calling birds
disturbed the air.
No sun or moon shone bright or pale
as the pond held
in gentleness
its images,
a photograph in black and white,
the day captured
in soft starkness:
morning’s still life.
JDG
Toby‘s heart is wide and open.
He doesn’t need
to know your race
or creed or class.
Your politics don’t interest him.
Like the wise ones
of many faiths
he rejoices
when doors open and the hungry
are fed because
for him and them
love matters most.
JDG
In its own time, in its own way,
resolution
comes. We can push
and plead and pull,
all to no avail. Nothing shifts
or tips or falls
smartly into
place. Blocked and spent,
with hands thrown up and towel thrown in,
we turn aside,
and in it slides,
sideways, with a grin.
JDG
Sometimes ancient energies come
and settle in,
claim squatters’ rights,
assume control.
The old balance of power shifts.
Anarchy rules.
Reason and will
no longer hold.
Then just as quickly as they came,
they also leave
and we begin
resettling.
JDG
“Have a good day,” the lady chirps,
not noticing
my furrowed brow,
my straight-lined lips.
“What can she be thinking?” I ask,
when it’s quite clear
the cats have lost
their last meow,
the dogs their bark. Even the crows
are strangely mute
flying across
an empty sky.
JDG
So many roads converge ahead.
The signs point in
all directions.
Every which way
you turn, there’s one for the taking.
There’s a low road
and a high road,
one well-traveled,
one that makes all the difference.
I guess my road
will have to be
one not taken.
JDG
I sat sullen and surly,
reciting a rosary of resentments
when You,
who never stop at anything,
who act outrageously and without restraint,
when You,
who conjured up ants and elephants,
made Sarah laugh and teased Abraham,
when You,
who insist on sending unlikely messengers,
engage in midnight wrestling matches,
and built your church on three-time deniers,
when in You burst,
flinging at me a letter,
knowing full well how much I loved
that old show, “The Millionaire”.
In You burst,
interrupting my counting and recounting
and holding accountable
all those who let me down,
did not come through,
hurt and betrayed me.
In You burst with that letter,
knowing how secretly I have longed
to receive money through the mail,
unearned, undeserved, and unexpected,
like Your crazy, wild, unrestrained
and wholly preposterous
love.
JDG, December1994
The moon in early morning light
pales beside its
former self once
ensconced in star-
bedazzled sky. Even before
the sun takes its
sovereign place, moon’s
light dims. So goes
the round of moon and sun. Each one
yields dominion
to the other;
both light the way.
JDG
