The kiss on the cheek planted swift, turns to thorny scratch, burns long and thin, drips red on black dirt. Fragile petals live a breath away, a thin vein from death. Roses keep distant, far from drawn swords ready to impale petal-skin. Repent and attempt to pluck stems of delicate short-lived beauty, for arrangements in…
At 3:00 am, sleep skitters across the room, a shy mouse, out of reach. I lie in the dark and hear more of them in the walls, the ceiling: old decisions, choices long past, regrets, sorrows, fears, yellow-toothed and dirty, chewing wires. At this rate lights will flicker, come winter. And so I call You,…
His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace. Ephesians 2:15 Two broken entities. Colors shouting back and forth to each other: You are one. I am the other. He has already made us One. He has broken down the wall of partition. He made peace out…
A winter tomb. A cavern womb. A lodge for pain. Grief branches into limbs and sinew and marrow. Ache lingers there. Warm brown arms envelope this tomb. Breath buries into her bosom. “Release that pain!” Her prayer over me unfurls its rooted hold. Tendrils of freedom now seed that womb. There is room for Spring….
The call came in the middle of a busy night as we worked on a floppy baby with high fever, a croupy toddler whose breathing squeezed and squeaked, a pale adolescent transfusing due to leukemia bleeding. It was an anencephalic baby just born, unexpected, unwanted in a hospital across town, and she needed a place…
“Thank you, Jesus!” she cried, her husband gripping her hands as she bore down with one last great shudder, pushing their third child, their first daughter, into my lap. Her prayer blessed this routine labor, which spilled forth in blood and amnion on my feet. At that moment, I murmured by own prayer of gratitude:…
Feathers all inside of me Flapping For the flight of One winged bird’s song This song — it’s the hope Of all the world It’s many-winged flight Now covering the earth From my soul to yours And your song to my heart And the hope — it’s bright array Is forever the tune Of all…
I was afraid to walk into my pain, but I saw you standing there. Your arms opened wide, so I’d slip right inside, I could feel how much you cared. My tears fell like rain, again and again, but you gathered them all, as you felt all my pain. I know who you are, for…
There’s something lost in technology. We can open an app and find that Scripture verse we learned in Sunday School and maybe the mind is a little more informed if we google the answer we’re looking for. There’s no joy of discovery after days in the library. We’ve even lost the anticipation of a written…
I heard a wise woman say, “When they’re young they Step on your toes. But when They’re grown they Walk on your heart.” Our children see things Differently With mature eyes we tell them What’s best Childish eyes push way Our guidance They will do What they will do We show them what Right looks…
A man died today He reaped What he sowed A watching world sighs A grieving God cries His loved ones Wonder why Another man died today He reaped What he sowed A watching world Sighs His saving God Draws nigh His loved ones Know why A watching world Watches A loving God Waits Tomorrow another…
I enter these bowels again, knowing in my gut I can trust this place. Not a trap, but an invitation to return:…
How would you describe the summer of 2020? What images and words come to mind? For me, I see my fingers curling around a cobalt blue pen, my knuckles dried out from floods of hand sanitizer. I’m sitting on a bench by a local river on a sunny June afternoon. A few days before, the…
Dear Subscribers and Friends, It is with a heavy heart that I want to let you know about the loss of The Redbud Post’s editor-in-chief, JoHannah Reardon, on February 4, 2021, after an 18-month battle with cancer. JoHannah was a longtime Redbud Writers Guild member and had been the editor-in-chief of The Redbud Post since…