Gathering

Gathering (first draft 6/30/23)

When you think of all of the places and events
that cause humans to gather you might  think of
swimming pools
movie theaters
religious centers
concerts
sports
zoos
aquariums

theaters

protests

but seemingly no one

thinks of the home

the quiet

the meal

the laughter

humans articulating in privacy

the way bones articulate behind skin

and we never hear about that 

we just see the ballerina leap and land like a leaf.

Articulation

Articulation (1st draft on 6/30/23)

When two bones articulate
like two puzzle pieces

I think of a husband and wife 

and how they push and pull on one another,

sometimes they compress, distract, or even collide

but how all of those ligaments 

and muscles contracting at just the right time

keep them together.

When centrification occurs

it's a harmonious dance, graceful motion,

quiet movement that is hardly noticed.

Regrets

Regrets (1st draft 6/26/23)

Regrets can't be held like whey in a bowl

but they can linger, vapor-like, a deep smell

that you sometimes get used to

or momentarily forget about.

But can anyone truly forget anything?

Just the other day I remembered-

it's already left me again, but it's

there, curled up napping my behind my eyes.

Leah, used to take the whey

and pour it down the drain-

all that good protein joined up 

with all of the other refuse

or our apartment complex.

But she's learned now,

that even things that seem like they are a waste

can be useful.

She uses the whey to make pies and thicken recipes.

The Edge

Why don't people fall

off the edge along with all the water.?

Why doesn't it all just drift off into outer space?

Too many movies. Too many superheros

made of chemicals, spliced DNA strands

and edited genes gallivanting through

the wild west of outer space.

Too many inhabited planets that are inhabiting our minds

thanks to Burroughs, Bradbury, Card, Disney, 

Newton, Copernicus, Einstein, Galileo, and others.

Too many obsessions over manipulated images

from telescopes that some claim

to see back in time and then I listen

to the professor say, "this is where the artist

tried to capture this feature"-

trying to visualize radiometric data 

to meet public expectations 

is not photographic evidence.

Too many globes in classrooms.

All of this is in the subterranean landscape of our minds; 

it is the plumbing, wiring, ventilation, and sewage system

that pulses through our imaginations 

so much so when we stand on the beach

and see the horizon

we proudly proclaim "I can see the curve of the earth,"

denying our senses

all while we are completely fixed and stationary.

Now, After the Unattended Consequences of Trying to Prove my Friend Wrong

Now, After the Unattended Consequences of Trying to Prove my Friend Wrong (draft #1 06/16/2023)


When my friend told me about the Van Allen radiation belts
I didn't believe him. Proving him wrong would be a snap
but then it wasn't.

Then I remembered when my sister, who was a science teacher,
told me she had taught about outer space
for years but something seemed off
especially the sections about the moon landing.
I thought she was weird.

I started by looking at the shadows
and somehow I was nudged outside the cave
into daylight, and my eyes hurt at first.

The sun seems closer now.
I can no longer avoid the cool light of the moon.

When Yehusha ascended
or when the Scripture writers use words like up
or down I know what they mean now.
Up means up. Down means down. Ascended means ascended.
I take the words at their intended meaning.
My brain no longer has to do back flips or somersaults
or create intricate mazes in and around words.

The tower in Nimrod's Babel was about height.

When Joshua commanded the sun
and moon to hold still-
they did.

When David tells me there is water above the firmament,
I believe him.

The scripture writers assumed the world to be still and motionless
and I know what they wrote is true.
The scripture writers assumed the earth was a plane
with contours.
The scripture writers assumed that the world was enclosed
and Yahuah was seated above.
I'm small like a grasshopper.
When I read Job, I take Yahuah at his Word.