Out of Tune

God' song is playing softly
Those who love are in tune
Givers sing the melody
Peacemakers keep the rhythm

A loud cacophony is blaring
War and hate shriek sharp notes
Greed misses every beat
Apathy hums with tone deafness

Yet the song of life continues
Undeterred by the racket
Some give their lives for others
The music will not stop

And one day the beautiful
symphony of God's love
will be the only song left

"Yet's do a puh-zzul."
Her voice
Her way of talking
Carried me back in time
to Kaley
age 2 or 3:
"Yook! I found a piyyoh, Mommy!"

I tried to keep my voice normal, "Okay, but I have to go pretty soon, so only one puzzle."

"Who wih watch me den?"

My eyes watered as I compared this beautiful child to my own beautiful child. Who would watch her? The frazzled shelter childcare workers?  Her own tired, broken mother?  What trauma had she been through to land her in such a place?

Kaley so safe and secure with her Daddy ..."Yets eat a man-goh,  Daddy! I yike man-goh!"

Did this little girl have good memories with her Daddy? Did he hurt her instead? Did he hurt her Mommy?

"Well, I can stay a little longer - let's do that puzzle!" I smiled at her and loved her...and prayed for her happiness and future.

A Letter That Means Everything

Today I met with a former student of mine.
She gave me an anthology and a letter.

The letter made me feel so good.

In her second paragraph, she wrote,

If my writing does show any of those qualities, I want to thank you for it.  Your writing class really taught me a lot and got me started on my "writing career."  I learned so much from your enthusiasm for beautiful words and meaningful stories. Plus, you were the most fun teacher I've ever had.  

Wow.

Just wow.

My Man

My man wears holey shirts.
My man hates Walmart.
My man is a creator, not a consumer.
My man just invented the craziest contraption.

I love my man.

Sudan

"Do you want to know me? Do you want to know me?"
Sweet children singing in sweet voices
on an internet that brings there here.

I do want to know them
But not really
Because they live there
and it is much darker than here

There is so dark I might drown in it
there the violence is unimaginable
the fear is too much
the evil is a dark fog that hangs over the continent

I want to help
But I don't know how
I am supposed to forgive and not hate
the leader who initiates so much suffering
But it is hard.

I am supposed to love the children
without choking on despair
But it is hard.

The Geckos

The gecko ate a cricket.
It twisted and chewed and chomped at the insect that was almost as large as it was.
The insect was half in and half out of it's mouth and then I just couldn't watch anymore.

Meanwhile, another gecko sat regally on our tree, puffing it's red neck out and in.

Mama Dove

She sat on the branch
Foreman of the construction of her nest
Her mate brought back twigs and stuff
He climbed on her back to reach the nest.

She sat on her nest
and sat
and sat
and sat.

Her baby birds hatched
They grew
She fluffed and walked about on the branch
They fluffed and walked about, too.

Today
The babies were gone
But she was there
Sitting
I don't know why
Maybe she just got used to it there.