Today is Alive

today. february 13. ten thousand flickered heart...

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:10:00 -0500

today.
february 13.

ten thousand flickered heart beats
lined in a row like little stars.

soundtrack: Homework by Big Deal

today. february 11. we have flown too closely to the sun...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:39:47 -0500

today.
february 11.

we have flown too closely
to the sun and its burn,
giving of love
with nothing in return.
and the fall to the sea
was desperately spread;
like a child i flailed,
hardly catching my breath.

if the stars show themselves
but i’m kept under clouds,
if the memory haunts
like the dying, their doubt,
i’ve a sea of redemption
to sail until i am free;
i’ve a hundred blank pages
to lay down at your feet.

soundtrack: Love In The Afterlife by Mark Mathis

today. february 9. and the neighbors were up, we could...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:33:00 -0500

today.
february 9.

and the neighbors were up,
we could hear through the floors
all the clamor and cries
like the day would never come.
but we whispered with lips
pressed upon the white paint
of a sky filled with light,
and the prayer was faint,
but the heavens are close
with their ears in our hearts
and before day had risen,
the night had grown calm
like an army of soldiers
had fallen in awe.
we were frightened of pins
and their hold on our wings,
but the planes made of paper
are too frail to be free,
and like pillars they crumbled
though our hair was still long;
we had worshiped the idol
of wanting to be strong.

soundtrack: You As You Were by Shearwater

today. february 8. soundtrack: Wraith Pinned to the Mist and...

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:04:55 -0500

today.
february 8.

soundtrack: Wraith Pinned to the Mist and Other Games by of Montreal

today. february 7. with the light pressed upon the window...

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:05:05 -0500

today.
february 7.

with the light pressed upon the window panes
they would shake the night off of their bones—
heart made of flesh, a heart made of stone
—they prayed but found the words not their own.

soundtrack: Chicago (Live @ KCRW) by Sufjan Stevens

today. february 3. but their feet were quiet in humble...

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 02:42:39 -0500

today.
february 3.

but their feet were quiet
in humble nakedness on the soil,
and as the servant became the king
so then the lowly became royal.
hearts like water basins
filled to full and overflowing,
and the hope became the promise
just as the dawn became the morning.

soundtrack: Waterfall by United Pursuit Band

today. february 1. Like a drought, my eyes burned through...

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 03:13:00 -0500

today.
february 1.

Like a drought, my eyes burned through the night,
a barren desert land of what you wish you could forget,
But it wasn’t until the moment they hung Perry Smith
that I climbed into the bathroom stall and wept.

soundtrack: Kala by Yann Tiersen

today. january 30. soundtrack: Realize It’s Not The...

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 01:13:00 -0500

today.
january 30.

soundtrack: Realize It’s Not The Sun by Hooray For Earth

today. january 28. soundtrack: Iota by Oh Fortuna

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 08:33:51 -0500

today.
january 28.

soundtrack: Iota by Oh Fortuna

today. january 26. chase the one who will never love...

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 22:26:20 -0500

today.
january 26.

chase the one who will never love you;
release the one that you love the most,
and run from the hunters and their traps.

soundtrack: Machinery of the Heavens by Patrick Watson

today. january 24. she lays her head on the hard wood...

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:38:10 -0500

today.
january 24.

she lays her head on the hard wood floor,
sinking between the splintered cracks
into a weightless corridor of sleep—
their voices, all above and around,
carrying like the flicker of a fading light,
a canopy of warmth and friendship
to cover from the cold of the night.

soundtrack: Forest Devil by Night Beds

today. january 23. soundtrack: Too Insistent...

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 23:17:20 -0500

today.
january 23.

soundtrack: Too Insistent (Trentemøller Remix) by The Dø

Photo

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 22:02:25 -0500

today. january 21. soundtrack: Dodecahedron by Beth Jean...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 15:28:25 -0500

today.
january 21.

soundtrack: Dodecahedron by Beth Jean Houghton

today. january 20. dancing through the promised land with...

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 01:29:59 -0500

today.
january 20.

dancing through the promised land
with her tabernacle legs,
she is the curtain and the arc—
the very housing of the most high.
kings try, but cannot stand
within the tremors of her presence.
she is the carrier, the offering,
the generous outpouring,
and she’ll give you more
than you deserve.
but that’s why it is grace,
and we can shake hands
at the end of the day
and congratulate each other
on knowing such a lady.
and now, a toast! cheers,
our eyes are glistening with love.

soundtrack: Navy Parade (Escape From The Black River Bluffs) by AgesandAges

today. january 19. string our limbs with beads of hope;...

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:29:31 -0500

today.
january 19.

string our limbs
with beads of hope;
they’ll wonder of the field
we’ve gathered our crop.
harvest came like
a foreign messenger
in the belly of a whale.
surprised by redemption,
their hands and feet
have been my saving grace.
i’ve run through the streets
of their open hearts
like i have run
through rows of corn,
arms full, like my heart,
my eyes, with the sun,
overflowing with plenty,
and i feel then
unfamiliar with hunger,
as though this meal
could be my last—
tomorrow would come
and i would still be filled
from rolling down hills
and sending lanterns
into starlit skies
beside illuminated
pilgrim hearts like mine.
birthed across the land
from cradled wombs
of other lovers,
we’ve somehow always
belonged to one another.

soundtrack: Penobska Oakwalk by Quilt

today. january 18. soundtrack: Up Up Up by Givers

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 13:21:52 -0500

today.
january 18.

soundtrack: Up Up Up by Givers

today. january 17. seal my heart like that of a canister...

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 14:30:00 -0500

today.
january 17.

seal my heart like that of a canister
containing the flames,
that of which were not yet made
to spread like the brushfire
of a vast and thirsty grassland,
that of which were set apart
for such a time as not this present—
this instance before my feet,
thick with tangled roots
and river reeds.

sometimes it’s too easy;
we take the path laid before us
as though the journey road
has nothing worth fighting for,
nothing worth the gift
of bearing the pain of time.
the banner was raised
like a hundred waving flags
glad and bright over my head—
a declaration with a promise,
a prophecy from the heavens
that, in shame, i take too lightly.

if the voice of the Lord
holds not my highest regard,
then what then of my intentions?
what then can capture me whole?
purge me with hyssop
and restore to me
the joy of your salvation,
the blinding illumination of your vision.

the well is not empty,
and the sky is not dim.
like an oasis, He draws me,
not to a barren land
but to a lush and watery sanctuary,
brimming with the fulfillment
of His promises foretold—
not against, but for me,
not because, but in spite of me.
the righteous lover loves relentlessly.

soundtrack: Switzerland by Daughter

today. january 16. the scattering of the seeds; the...

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:07:35 -0500

today.
january 16.

the scattering of the seeds;
the trampling ‘neath their feet—
a city on a hill cannot be hidden.

soundtrack: St. Bernard’s Lily by The Red River

today. january 7. all those drawings in the sand, the...

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 10:09:00 -0500

today.
january 7.

all those drawings in the sand,
the drawings on our hearts.
saltwater washed sun skin
and small town fishermen tales.
the things you can never learn
to leave behind, to grow apart.
we waded into the glassy water,
miles deep and miles wide
and the world was quiet then
as we climbed into the nest
of winding tree branch limbs
to watch the sun go down.
time is different here
just as it’s different there,
but the clocks of our hearts
have never changed a beat.
we left our sea glass aquarium
for a treasure buried deep
in the luminous city of towers,
listening as the song changed
from the humming of the birds
to the hum of rushing traffic hours.
city of the ocean, city of the stars,
the smog against the nighttime sky
is only canvas for the light
to paint itself upon the dark.

soundtrack: The Road by Bryan John Appleby