Turtle

 Sometimes I feel like a turtle
Stuck in a shell of my own seam-stressing
I wonder how to get out

And live and walk

The world feels frightening

And confusing

And God I wish I knew how to see you

Among the dross of the enemy’s mediocrity

Into a bland old world that has nothing meaningful to offer

And everyone’s cold cuz they’re looking

Looking for a way out

Jesus you explain it all

The way things are

The truth that keeps me sober

The life I must hold onto 

If I am to make any sense of it all

Why be drawn to the senseless when it makes sense with him? I’ve never found a more rational explanation

Though I’ve searched to try to understand the mystery of people running from him

I love Jesus and his ways

He is simple.

He cares.

He loves everybody!

I saw a raven

 I saw a raven the first day 

He was alone looking for food in the shade

He hopped from place to place

Finding things he could eat

And I remembered that you feed me

I saw a raven the second day

He was alone hopping still

I was in a hurry to get to class

But he was happy hopping in the mulch

And I remembered that I don’t need to worry about the future.

I saw a raven the third day

And he was surrounded by pigeons

Proud creatures with shiny full plumage

The ravens feathers looked haggard and sparse compared to them

While the pigeons strutted and bobbed confidently around each other

The lone raven looked for food and found it

And I remembered that it’s ok to not fit in

That I’m still beautiful in Gods eyes

The Rooster

The rooster screams the same old song
Shrill clanging 
But the song doesn’t change

An unending alarm, a bell that won’t stop

A hunger for someone Anyone 

to heed the sound

But the Song stays the same

Piercing screeching on it goes

Gripping with its taloned toes

To the same old fence with the same old song

Wondering who will tell him he’s wrong

Wishing he could change your mind

But the song stays the same

Farmers yell “enough already!”

Yet it’s voice continues to pierce their ears

It’s a voice no one wants to hear

And he keeps on going not knowing what’s near

As the leaves drop round and it snows

Why did God give a painful song

To a bird who’s job is to not live long

To make all around cringe and run

From a noise that cannot be undone

That mixes pain with fear and doubt

Where sorrow screams and wrath comes out

What point is grief if it does not change

And leaves destruction in its wake

No one wants it to persevere

And no one close to it can hear

even the singer wants the song to change

So Why does he sing the same old song

Why scream rooster, on and on?

Carnivores

Is he watching me?

Faintly steering his neck in the crook of my direction

Is he watching me?

Behind a thick foggy veil of silence that cloaks his steps

Is he watching me?

And the eye in my head is burning

Burning yearning to close its lashes

so I can breathe enough to live

Brave fantasies trickle into my consciousness

Of breaking free from moratorium

And his eyes slipping into his gut where they belong

He stares on.

Or is he watching them?

Greedily lapping up their innocence

While I am idly brushing their hair

Cooking their meals

Tucking them under cotton sheets 

Drapes for burial I fear

Am I digging their graves?

We live in a fortress

But the harpies still glide swiftly nearer

I fear we are their carrion. 

And if not us then who?

Can the hunger for prey 

Ever stop in carnivores?