open wound

clouds torn
the skin of the earth
rent like so much parchment

and we
the blood of the earth
will we fly off its face
and seep through the open wound
into the night sky?

window

a window in the clouds to see

the blue of day

and light of sky

highlight the green of hills

white of clouds

light of life

let the sun through

the hand of God shines

through rain laden clouds

paint

behind my painted eyes

my soul

wipe the tears away

the paint comes off

you can see into my soul

Seeds

When I was born, I was very small. A tiny thing.

God and His angels came to my bedside to present me with birthday gifts.

The angels lined up, giving me

angel kisses

words of love

guardianship

wisdom

kindess

many things

God came last with a handful of packages, bags of different sizes, and each with a name.

"These I give to you," He said, "Use them wisely.

"Some satchets have but one life, and some will never be empty

"but it is up to you to use them."

And so my birthing day was done

Happy parents held me close, friends gathered round in celebration.

Meanwhile, the still small me pondered God's gift.

I looked through the packets, examining every one.

Some had but one seed in them. Some were stuffed full. Some had seeds of different colors and shapes.

I turned to find a shelf of shovels, gloves, watering cans, and a book labeled "How to Garden"

So I took up a shovel and dug several small, sloppy holes

and planted one seed from each satchet

and labeled each little pile of dirt

Kindness

Patience

Virginity

Love

Faithfulness

Health

and many others.

From the ones with many seeds, i thought carefully and chose which was the prettiest.

And so I watered and weeded and waited for each to grow.

Some grew very quickly.
Happiness grew into a great bush with many berries on it.

Health waxed and waned, but I often could do nothing for it.

Yet the one that interested me most of all the packages was Love.

Love had the most varied seeds, and the most beautiful,

yet I was hesitant to plant some of them, for they were too pretty.

As I grew, so did the plants. I learned how to tend them, and when the fruit was best to pick.

I learned to keep them well and hale.

I learned when to plant more seeds.

I learned slowly, a little at a time.

The satchet labelled Love still intrigued me the most.

The last Love seed I planted for a long while was one blood red.

That day I think I heard the angels singing...

And soon I found but a few, and the most beautiful, Love seeds remaining.

The two I loved to look at most were the two most alike

One, which seemed almost to have a face on it, and the most beautiful color

And the other, almost identical yet different enough, and so intrigueing.

I treasured these for a long while

Yet as I grew and became an adult,

loneliness pulled at my heart.

I longed to plant those seeds, for I felt that the loneliness would ease

but I did not.

I didn't think it was time yet.

Until I met someone wonderful.

Someone intrigueing.

Someone whose face reminded me of that seed.

I wondered if it was time to plant that seed.

I asked my Father, and He said,
"It is yours to plant, child.

"Know that I will be with you

"No matter what."

And so I pondered and pondered

and said to myself,

It might be time to plant this seed called Love.