When hope has turned her lovely gaze – a sonnet

lovers kiss in the rain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

April 10, 2013

 

When hope has turned her lovely gaze

t’ward soft’ning night and bright’ning days,

then eye of light upon me stays,

revealing what love lifted.

* * *

Like still night air we find our voice,

intoned and waiting to rejoice

where darkness once denied this choice;

we find what love has sifted.

* * *

As hands, rejoined, now find their place

to touch a lover’s loving face

returned in heaven’s sweet embrace,

to learn how God has gifted.

* * *

Hope has promised paradise.

Promised grace, new love enticed.

Picture: www.weheartit.com

Parking Lot Poems V

airport line

At the airport

Folks who get there the latest

always have much to say

about the line-ups,

how slow they move,

and Muslims,

behind

them.

* * *

Speeding Ticket

Sometimes the best excuse wins.

“Officer, see this hair?

If it’s not perfect

by three o’clock

I’ll never

get the

job.”

* * *

Bitch-Slap

“So, is that what you’re wearing?”

“Of course. What’s wrong with it?”

“It’s just rather…brave

to wear those stripes

with a body

that doesn’t

really…

work.”

* * *

Starbucks

He sits and faces the door.

That way, people see him.

And that’s why he’s here:

just to be seen,

with laptop

and a

smile.

* * *

fart on the elevator

From the Elevator

A strange and heavy odor

now forces through the air.

Will someone claim it?

Just disdain it?

Add to it?

It was

me.

* * *

Airport picture: www.mlive.com

Elevator picture: www.funnyordie.com

Restore

holding hands

Reaching from out to in, future through past for this tactile day.

Evading the magnetic north of separation,

still looking for merging places past submerging faces.

Tacit in self-flagellation, preferring the flesh of music,

origins reemerge and kiss what will be with lips of what was,

resuscitates love not so long lost but with luster removed.

Eternity wins out over the bully of time and

restores to earth what belongs to heaven.

Picture: www.justapieceofcraps.blogspot.com

Parking Lot Poems IV

hamburger and fries

Picture: www.thescarydiseasecancer.blogspot.com

Food Value

Such fine dietary fare,

this hamburger and fries.

If not for the milk,

‘twould be better

to eat a

cardboard

box.

* * *

Hoover

The vacuum cleaner clatters,

it’s rumbling roar outdone

by clinks, clanks and clunks

of somebody’s

favorite

silver

chain.

* * *

Territory

Who’d have thought this little dog

had so much shit inside?!

We’ve only been gone

for half an hour

and he’s dropped

a load

thrice.

* * *

Nowhere Kids

Some kids seem born to suffer

the fate of rejection.

Their peers, a mean lot,

off’ring thoughtless acts,

of cruelty-

their best

gift.

* * *

Locker Politics

He leans against her locker

and smells her golden hair.

He tries to impress

but gets instead

a shoulder,

cold and

hard.

imgres

Picture: www.that1guy19.blogspot.com

Parking Lot Poems III

Gorgeous

She’s always been a princess-

Daddy’s girl to diva.

Now she’s just lonely.

She’s gorgeous

and knows it.

Gorgeous?

Sad.

* * *

Compulsion

He lives downtown in squalor,

sharing a space with mice.

Through tequila haze

he finds his way,

but can’t find

his own

soul.

* * *

First night

Mere hours after their promise

he fumbles with her dress.

He finds instead

the inside

of her

heart.

* * *

first time parents

First cry

It had been twenty-two hours

and still nothing to show

but pain, sweat and…pain.

Four hours later,

forever,

their lives

changed.

* * *

Redundant

He’d worked there for fifteen years

and never a sick day.

Sitting in his car,

this was a day

he’d rather

forget.

Soon.

Parking Lot Poems II

imgres

Gangsta

The parking lot skateboard kings

scatter like scared pigeons

when the cops return

to apprehend

the loud and

fickle

horde.

* * *

Queen of Hearts

She’s dressed far too well for here,

this queen of hearts mall-rat.

She’s most visible

by the food court.

She’s banking

on that

fact.

* * *

Husband Shoppers

Husbands, out grocery shopping,

make piss poor companions.

If you want to have

a better time,

just go there

with your

friends.

* * *

15 Items Only

It’s okay, they’ll understand.

I’ve got twenty-two things,

but it’s all small stuff.

Please, be patient,

I’m with my

squirrely

kids.

* * *

Customer Service

Shit, this place is humungous!

Is there a chance I’ll find

the four small items

I came to buy,

let alone

some help

here?

Photo from www.phlmetropolis.com

Parking Lot Poems

imgres

 

View from the Security Window

Upstairs, two teenagers gawk:

“Hey dude, come look at this.

Check the rack on her.”

They’re on their break,

and bored of

doing

work.

* * *

Compensating

I think he’s compensating

with that bad-ass truck.

But on the front seat?

His little friend,

a tiny

poodle

dog.

* * *

4-Way Stop

4-way stops have politics:

Speed up to get there first.

Get there together?

Then wave him on,

(unless you’re

in a

rush.)

* * *

Fast Food

Food sociology says:

Poor people eat poorly.

Rich people eat well.

Thin people eat.

Fat people

sometimes

starve.

* * *

Cell Phone Rape

Loud, self-important talkers:

do us all a favor –

toss your fucking phones

in the toilet.

We don’t need

to hear

you.

Photo from www.fdbusiness.com

 

Creatively reversing a stalemate

couple fighting

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The car door slams and with it…silence –

the deafening stillness of conversation’s end.

Tied as two instead of one from two.

 

It is the beginning of that stalemate

of back to back in unrumpled sheets.

She undresses in the bathroom.

 

Grunts, where words used to be.

Words, where dialogue used to be.

Stares where seeing used to be.

 

The carpets vacuumed a little too quickly,

the dishes stacked a little too loudly,

the radio blaring a little too obviously.

 

Four days later the icy surface cracks.

In the kitchen, his back against the wall,

with devilish grin, he loudly farts.

 

They’re laughing still.

They made love tonight.

Twice.

Psalm 1:1-3, a litany of confession

awesomestories.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo found at www.awesomestories.com

 

In humility and faith, let us confess our sins to God and neighbor.

Kyrie

©2008 by Robert A. Rife

Kyrie eleison, eleison;

Christe eleison, eleison;

Kyrie eleison, eleison.

(repeat)

 

Lord, have mercy, have mercy on us;

Christ, have mercy, have mercy on us;

Lord, have mercy, have mercy on us.

 

Psalm 1:1 Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked,

God of holiness, goodness and light,

forgive us for our wanton disregard

of all that is good, acceptable and perfect: your perfect will.

Forgive those times we willingly submit

to that which is beneath our humanity and less

than your expectation, design and desire for our lives.

…or take the path that sinners tread,

Lord of grace,

many have walked the easy and dark road of hate, sin and neglect.

Forgive the ease with which we, too, walk such roads.

…or sit in the seat of scoffers;

Holy One,

if we stay long enough in places less than

our creation, our calling, our creed,

we succumb to skepticism, unbelief and eventually

cynical denial of truth, beauty and goodness.

Guide us away from such horrifying places and open our eyes

to the glory of life-giving love encased in the tenderness of grace.

2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night.

Lord, you are all our delight and the one in whom we revel and rejoice!

3 They are like trees planted by streams of water,

which yield their fruit in its season,

and their leaves do not wither.

In all that they do, they prosper.

Let this life yield its fruit in us, O Lord;

revive all that is dead in us, restoring us to greatness in your name.

 

Singing together:

Lord, have mercy, have mercy on us;

Christ, have mercy, have mercy on us;

Lord, have mercy, have mercy on us.

 

Kyrie eleison, eleison…

Beside

Beside the chair is a table too small for books,

books too small to read long enough,

in light too bright to hide the inconsistencies;

words too many to possibly live well.

 

Beside my memory is a tabloid soul

too flirtatious for dining room company,

pureed too finely to enjoy the chunks of life

strewn about the perimeters.

 

Beside the stumps in the yard

sleep the bones of last year’s plans,

the prickly needles fallen from the curious trees,

the crunch of old promises under feet, newly shorn.

 

Beside the evening, falling from the grace of day

lie mischievous hints of tomorrow, come too soon

but late enough to collect itself anew

in the hands of another.