One Foot In The Dust

Tirelessly seek forgiveness
Restlessly confess
Repentance is not restful

And so, as the Psalmist's warriors
who hardly perceive we are so
We await, exhausted even
even as we are poured out
as we march
toward our rest

Without ceasing
as others we've forgiven

what sun has made you
weep in your exile
your destitution

Though you may see well
the hidden things
belong to God

Who made his Servant
spend out His life
in this penitence

Struggle for purchase
and strive for breath
yet do not flourish
for with the sun
withering and waste
are the lot for them

should no hope be from Him.

Paradise

On the long sand
midst the joshua or ocotillo
or cholla or saguaro
a single blossom is
precious

A seed, hard as the stone 
on which it falls
is life
in the water that only appears
never to fall

You cannot walk to the field
and grab life
for yourself

Say it is dead
but is it struggling
when, if you look hard
it flourishes
in spite of you?

Catastrophic

Things break
Or they're already broken
Most times
You can't just empty out your pockets
Most times
You hope to find
on the clearance rack
a pair of cargo pants
instead