The Wind Blows Freely

In the days before the prevalence of air-conditioning, we depended on fans to keep cool. I remember the small, oscillating one sitting atop the dresser in my childhood bedroom often seemed confused turning its head first this way then that—as if it couldn’t decide which way the wind blows. On those hot mid-summer evenings in […]

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and Wile E. Coyote

I don’t recall when you assigned me the role of the Son but I do remember when you sent the Spirit from on high— our kid sister’s Barbie dive-bombing me during our Sunday bath. Wingless and without proclamation, this “dove” attacked more than alighted upon my head. This was after you baptized me in your […]

On Fire

Push back the furniture Clear a space in the sanctuary Lay me out straight a faggot for Christ Walk around me seven times Offer your silent prayers Beat your breast if necessary Then wait It will happen or it won’t Pillar or tongue or live coal from the altar Or nothing The Spirit proceeds unpredictably […]

Leaving the womb may have been my first mistake

I throw wide my limbs in the late summer sun grabbing at every last inch of warmth before the cold sets in. For this effort, add my name to that list of explorers who set out in search of a new land, an open country where they could plant a flag, stake a claim. Like […]

What We Know

A few weeks before my family vacationed at a camp ground on the shore of Lake Michigan, I picked out a new bicycle—sweet cherry red and slightly too big for me, but I would “grow into it,” my mother said. So, after setting up our tents and stacking the wood by the pit, I mounted […]

Sunfish

I slip out of the vest of my skin into this five gallon bucket letting my mind’s eye meet his round eye dark with fear And I know him in the quiet arc of our selves crossing in the depths of that small sea Later when the sun sits low in the sky I will […]

Second Coming

I suppress a smile when the pre-teens pass with their pegged pants and perfectly parted hair— a reincarnation of my youth. They think themselves unique, trend-setters turning history’s trajectory. If they had stopped to ask for directions I would have explained that everything’s already happened all witnessed before the first before— the whorl of every […]

A Confession

Tumblers tempt me— their smooth skin, how they fit so perfectly in your hand, the way sunshine sparkles in their eyes. When empty, you long to fill them. When full, to draw them to your lips and quench. I can’t help searching second-hand stores for them those discarded beauties seeking new partners to cradle them, […]

X Marks the Spot

In the front room of my second floor apartment there is a turret overlooking the busy street below. Through the curved glass, I survey a world in motion—a sea of skateboarders and runners and stroller-pushers and bicyclists. In summer, the sidewalk is a second home for many. A few weeks ago, in the early hours, […]

Holy Spirits

I have holes I’m leaking bits of me everywhere It’s surprising anything’s left I mind the gaps seek stoppers What I wouldn’t give for a cement mixer and trowel But even cement cracks What then? Perhaps I can find one hole to love Praise it for the way it lets light in how it bravely […]