The following is my Final Project for the class, "Vocation and Orientation"
at the Iliff School of Theology, Fall Quarter 2012.
Bustling Ruin Land (2004)
Palms puncture the skyline
slow fireworks, frozen
and I'm wondering why I'm here.
Yeah, I've done my time
mowing lawns in the desert,
and I like to recline with a beer
in this bustling ruin land.
Taillights on the freeway
ain't leading to heaven,
but we settle for good pay and the news.
Did you see the story?
More hurricanes twirling,
and those waves on the shore ain't blue
'gainst that bustling ruin land.
Earnest good intentions change
and we're left stucco-bound and tame.
Ho! all who are thirsty,
come here for water.
Buy food without money and eat.
Why do you spend money
for what is not bread
and squander your earnings in these
bustling ruin lands?
The Wilderness Underneath (2007)
Home has been a desert
covered up with streets and trees,
but we've always felt the wilderness underneath.
They gather like the river here:
dirt until the days it rains,
water held behind the dam, miles away.
All my life I have wanted out
of cinderblock backyards fencing in the drought.
And even though the air is dry,
the ground is feeling softer now.
The language of a barren time forgotten
as we raise our glasses high.
In the gift of common words
separations break away,
and we hold the bread of brotherhood
on tongues of grace.
And even though the air is dry,
the ground is feeling softer now.
The language of a barren time forgotten
as we raise our glasses high.
Psalms 131, 132, 133: Refrains (2010)
I have set my soul in silence and peace.
In Zion will I dwell, for I delight in her.
How pleasant, how pleasant to live in unity.
Ecclesiasticus 50: 22
And now bless the God of all,
who everywhere works great wonders,
who fosters our growth from birth,
and deals with us according to mercy.
Amen.
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