Weary

Gravity multiplies
My limbs' weight trebled
I am pinned to my chair
Captive
To exhaustion

I only work one day a week...

Chai Latte

Basking.
Curled like a cat
Kate purrs with contentment
In the late autumm sun.

Hands cupping a mug
Of guilt-free skinny
She feels the warmth
Seep through to her soul.

A sanctuary of stillness
Carved out of the rocky hillside of her life
A hermits cell
An unspoken prayer.

You may seek God in abbeys
Cathedrals and windswept Celtic isles
But in their absence
A corner of a coffee house will do.

School Visit

When a 6 year old decides to tell you a story:

Once upon a time
there was a man called...
called...
JESUS
(well, I am talking to the vicar after all)
and he lived in Bethlehem.
This isn't a Bible story -
it's one I made up.
(Am making up actually)
And one day he went up the hill
to see a shepherd.
(Jesus and shepherds seem to go together.)
So Jesus said to the shepherd,
"Come into town and see some people."
So the shepherd did and left all his sheep behind.
When the shepherd went back the sheep weren't there.
There was a fox instead.
So the shepherd told Jesus,
and Jesus realized he had made a mistake
and went to talk to his Father.
He asked his Father to help with the sheep and the fox.
The Father told Jesus to dress in a costume like a bad man.
(The vicar is looking a bit muddled now - I'd better end strong.)
The fox was scared away.
Then Jesus took off the costume,
the sheep came back,
and everyone lived happily ever after.

Dark Night

All I have I offer:
my doubts
my questions
my anger.
Every bit of them are yours.

I commit with all I have and all I am
to struggle,
        wrestle,
              fight,
                 resist,
                   and lament.

My only promise is not to walk away.

Do you accept...
will you accept
me as I am?

A Quiet Woman's Plea...

At last I've learned to stand
  do not tell me to kneel.

At last I've known my value
  do not lambast my pride.

At last I've mustered the courage to act
  do not counsel caution.

At last I've learned to stand
  please
  please
  please do not tell me to kneel.

So often churches teach their congregations to humble themselves before God, yet for some God's challenge is to greater boldness and confidence.

Paternalism

I suffocate beneath
its purple velvet folds.
A blanket of benevolence:
I am trapped by its weight.

Limbs struggle
and wrestle.
Weary futility.
My energy sapped
by this malign munificence.

I do not need your pity,
                       your protection
                                  your provision.

Your patronizing platitudes - I'll be patient no more!

Remove the cloth and free me
See me.
A woman strong and steely.

But you will not have me so...

 I suffocate beneath
its purple velvet folds;
the material muffling my screams...