I am From

I am from sheets of music
Lying on the bed
Guitars propped up

I am from brothers’ clothes
The buttonhook on dad’s hand
In the backyard of summer

I am from bike jumps and bloody knees
Prayers and backrubs by my bedside
Dad’s surprise tickle attacks

I am from kleenexes
Tucked in a sleeve in case of tears
I am from a late night movie
On a school night

I am from cake rolls
Cinnamon gum in a purse
Crowds of people laughing
Cousins joking
Till stomachs hurt

I am from dirt paths
Cutting down Christmas trees
A small cabin overflowing
The clean plate club
Pink curlers and the boxcar children
Popcorn clouded skies
Endless with dreams

I am from sock fights on rainy days
Mochas and listening from blue eyes
The patience that taught me to drive
Taught me to live

I am from hands that let go
Freedom to become
Freedom to sing my own song
That love
Even so

I am from bike rides and road trips
Books on tape
Stories around a campfire
Guitars around a campfire

I am from cheers at soccer games
I am from cheering
At football
At basketball
At the Depot

I am from being amazed
At songs they write
At their humor
At their love
For a sister in tears
Or a sister on an amateur stage
Or at a project on beach
Or a sister in a fight
Even so
They love

I am from drums in the basement
Microphones and speakers
Crowds of boys in the house
I am from wanting to be cool
Like them

I am from the Christmas walk
Birthday Breakfast in bed
Cinnamon Rolls on Christmas
From homemade dinner
From buttons re-sewn
From fingers calming my back
Hot chocolate after
The snow jumps we made

I am from clothes on my back
And shoes on my feet
Dinner on the table
Every night
Lots of kids don’t have that

I am from fights and misunderstanding
And a powerful grace
Moments of re-creation
Redemption at work
A puzzle never-ending
Still being pieced

I am from a goofy face
Peering in the door crack
Holding a football blanket
Asking to sleepover
Night after night
Late night chats about mistakes
About redemption
Backrubs and peanut butter
Harmonizing to songs

I am from his hands
Showing me A, B, C, D
From power chords
And re-writing songs
His help, his intellect
His honesty
Another goofy face
Making me laugh
Making me think deep
Over coffee
Over a kid’s ice cream cone
Creative ideas
Made into real life

I am from the tree house
The boat, the music
I am from vanilla dipped in chocolate
At the drive through
Chocolate chip cookies
Baking

I am from their genuine songs
Ears and eyes
Gets louder, wiser
Freer
Over time

First Snow

Early October
New life in full swing
Books weigh
Leaves crunch
Cider warms the mug in my hands

Powerful how he enters
Dressed in white
He spills over a grey horizon
Over a lonely city

Shaken by his glory
Heads turn
Tasks unfinished
A sign to some that warmth is leaving
To others, warmth is coming

“Each year the beauty lasts less and less,”
Sighs a voice as we stare
Because in our eyes, it has fallen to soon
But, to him, this is perfect timing

So soon the swirls of white rest invisible
On streets and buildings,
But he has not gone away

I am glad he came like this
He stopped us all
And we looked out
We forgot about our coffee
We forgot about our problems
He distracted us
We saw his beauty
But we didn’t know it was him

A promise keeps
Unbroken in his hands
He will come back

And it will be like the first snow

Take Me

Summer 2006

Will you take me like this
Will you reach your hands down from your holy height
And touch my lowliness
Will you wrap me in your arms of love
And hold me until I surrender
For I am flesh and bone,
Turned into dust
Longing to be recreated