Poems for Care and Charisma

a round up of poetry from my Notes app

I’m celebrating a year of the Braid with poetry that’s been wandering through my notes app this summer. Thank you for being here!

What if we Handed out Care like Candy?

Thanks for sharing that you were nervous at church today. My kid 
leaned over and whispered to me he feels the same way  /  I’m still 
thinking about your news, I’m so sorry  /  “I can’t wait to get home to
my kid,” she tells me as she scans my groceries. “I know, I’ve been 
working a lot and miss my kids too.”  /  I’m glad you were born  /  
I’ve been thinking about your family a lot these last few days  /  I’m 
so thankful for you / You are really nice, Mom / You helped me be 
calm  /  Thank you for stepping up / You did a great job / I was so 
blessed by your story this morning / Thank you for being involved / 
You were missed / Oh my goodness, YAY! I’m so very happy for you all! /
Throw them by the handful / Leave a trail wherever you go / Unwrap 
each word and let the sweet sit on your tongue— 
the sugar rush through your veins.

Suspend Time

I.
At a concert,
where two strangers clasp hands over a railing
singing lyrics at the top of their lungs
with a band that hasn’t toured for 20 years.

At the show,
move out of the way for the person
who can’t get to the front fast enough
to join the energy of the crowd for the last song.

II. 
In a circle
of chairs with friends and strangers
the campfire glow reflecting on faces
sparks floating toward the canopy of stars.

Outside the circle
where teams of children hide and seek in the dark
their laughter our surround sound 
with the chorus of frogs and crickets.

III.
In the woods
on a walking bridge over the stream
see the cottonwood suspended in midair
dotting the landscape like snow.

In the sacred*
with voices echoing off the rafters, the stage, or the open air.
Absorb the glow, the stillness, the beauty, 
and suspend time.

To the Mom in the NICU

I had to leave my twin babies behind.
My body recovering
while theirs needed more time to grow.
I walked torn and stitched 
from the car to their hospital room
and back again at the end of the day.
I scrubbed the outside world off my hands
so I could hold them. Their tiny bodies
nestled in my arm from fingertips to elbow.
I left them behind to float like an apparition
through the tasks of my daily life.
Thinking to the cashier at the grocery store 
and the customers eyeing my vacant belly,
Do you know what I carried?
What lives outside me now?
They don’t see the two lives lived inside and out.
But I need you to know, I see you.
You can tell me.

Fill ‘Er Up!

This summer I read the words,
“[She] occupied the space she was made for**,”
and I think, Shouldn’t we all search out
every nook and cranny of the person 
we were made to be?
So look in the deep dark corner way far under the bed,
catch a glimpse out of the corner of your eye,
follow that glimmering path wherever it may lead—
the stage, the podium, the arena
cheering in the crowd,
the main event.
Let’s grip our toes on the edge 
of the balance beam of life
and occupy every inch 
of the people we are becoming.
At the end of the rainbow, you might just find 
the person you were made to be—
wholly and completely 
you.

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*sacred- regarded as too important to be changed or interfered with

**The Adversary by Michael Crummey

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Which one was your favorite?