new and unusual places

from the mountains where we dug the gold as if we were children playing 

from the recital when songs were offered 

up to God, who ignored them again. 

from the river that washed the valley clean 

and rode like a madman 

down to the lips of the sea, 

baptizing everyone in its terrible wake. 

from the mother's kiss on the lips of the child 

for just a moment 

before the coffin was finally closed forever. 

from those dreams where we struggle to do something, 

but fail every time. 

from the seed of Adam down through the years to Noah, 

then to Abraham, David, and Jesus, 

down though the long ages of time, 

generation after generation, 

and so finally to the hungry one 

who sleeps shivering on the doorstep. 

from the cloud to the raindrop, to the earth, to vapor, 

and thus back to the cloud. 

from the sound of more bullets slamming into the wall. 

from the lips of the leaders, a call for profit and blood. 

from the truth in the poems that whisper to our souls. 

from those fears that we will not speak of, not ever.

from the anger that sent us headlong into the deluge, 

and so our trust was broken and the hard years began. 

from the science we deny. 

from the faith we refuse. 

from the long arms of shadow that hold us like a lover. 

now we are waking to the purple sunrise. 

now we are a moment as much as we are human, 

and that which is next begins.

james lee jobe

Interdependence is a fact, it's not an opinion.

Peter Coyote

Heavy winds blew wild through the valley like terrible relatives; it was hard on the trees. Branches broke and attacked the power lines, lights went out. One branch fell and killed a neighbor. People leave flowers where it happened. Still, pollen and seed was scattered into new and unusual places, things will grow because of it. Life is like that, hard and swift, often cruel. Yet beauty happens, too. Nothing is permanent.

james lee jobe

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Many thanks, james