Dancing On the Grave

October 6, 2010
My dear sister, Annette, asked me to pen a poem to be read at her funeral. It's not that she's dying--far from it as far as I know--she just wants to be prepared. This is actually two poems in one--she's special.


Dancing On the Grave
(A Song of Rejoicing
for the Funeral of my Sister, Annette Smith
written well before she moved on)

So you think this is a victory
because my vocal chords are silenced
and laughter no longer bounces off
my tongue through the gap in my teeth
that will fall to the floor of this box.

You think this is loss
because my hands are folded flat
and not clapping to the heartbeat
no longer beating
the song beat of a different heart.

Do you believe this is the end
because my lifeless limbs
don't sway in the Wind in the dust;
and the dust will devour my flesh,
and the Wind will blow it where it will?

This is just the beginning.
My arms now move
to a whole new groove.
I am one with the Wind
and the dust don't keep me down.

This is gain.
My hands are lifted high applauding
the one beat,
the only beat,
the eternal beat.

Ha! This is a victory.
Hear my song.


Annette's Song

The Lord has brought me through.
My God has made a way.
Jesus carried me.

Your Word lead me.
Your Spirit moved me.
Your Presence guided me.

And I lived my life in You.
And You lived Your life through me.
And we lived our life as one.

Before Your throne I kneel.
Before Your power I bow.
Before Your majesty I lay myself down.

In the company of all the saints, I lift my voice to You.
In the sight of all the angels, I sing Your praise.
In Your presence, I worship.

I worship Your name.
I adore Your name.
I love Your name.

And I have a new name.
And though I have always known Your name,
it is new.

YES!
YES!
YES!

Bless You Lord.
Bless You God.
Bless You Jesus.

Jesus.
Jesus.
Jesus.

The Living Word

September 23, 2010

Lord, I live
by your word.
My life is in the spoken sentences
and paragraphs from Your mouth,
not the black and red ink on
rice paper that can be burned to ashes,
added to the pile;
but by Your voice that etches
the tablets of my heart,
by Your breath that permanently
marks my mind,
the breeze that brands my soul
as Yours
I live.

A Psalm of the Morning

July 6, 2010


You, Lord, make the earth turn
     to see the sun again;
You guide the moon in its orbit
     to give light in the darkness.
You, Lord, aged the stars and the galaxies
     to shine at the appropriate time;
You alone, Lord, know the edges
     of the universe in every direction.
It was You, Lord, that exposed Your thought
     and in a micro-nano-millisecond
     set in motion the world to come.
How great are You, Lord.
How far more intelligent
     than the greatest minds of men combined.

A Postmodern Psalm

July 1, 2009


I will not dread global warming,
          For my God is the Intelligent Designer.
I will not panic over a world pandemic,
          For my God is the Great Physician.
I will not feel threatened by atomic attack,
          For my God is my Star Wars Defense.
I will not be terrified of nuclear winter,
          For my God is my Fallout Shelter.
I will not be held hostage by terrorists,
          For my God does not negotiate.
I will not be paralyzed by global recession,
          For my God is my Financial Advisor.
I will not be intimidated by any energy crisis,
          For my God is my Everlasting Fuel.