the 3 mysteries of place [part 2], poetry as comedy, ...& signing my work

...in no order. So, the writing poetry as comedy thing wasn't easy. [I'm not sure I did it write]
but... here 'tis:

Poetry as comedy
one
funny thing
about poetry
[@ least mine]
is
the more
raw& honest
it is
the more fear
of sharing but I do it anyway
I am
the more people
resonate
with it
I never thought
that
what I use
to break out
of my
self made
trap
would end up as someone
else's
escape plan [map?]
I also
never realized
that
writing my
private
struggles
would be
so helpful
[even to me]
I never
realized
how poetry can
be comical
-& yet
in the midst
of the
laughter
[or after]
it can
still make me say
"yeah, I feel that!"
still teach
so much

I never realized
that I
could use
poetry
to learn
to talk.

So that's the attempt at comedy. [hopefully I'll do better at this in the future]
Now for the "3 mysteries of place part 2"...

The sacred mystery of landscapes

I don’t
Really know
When,
How,
Or where
My love of landscapes
Began
I do know
That the first rays
Of a new dawn
Began
In a park
A chance
To encounter
The Almighty
Something
That when “birthed”
At my church
I looked back
And realized
I had already been
Going to
The Labyrinth
Years ago…
Now
As I try
To learn
To both:
Be comfortable
In my skin,
And
To live
Into my skin.
I’m learning
But I’m certainly
Not “there” yet
Landscapes
Are a place where
God seems
So much
Closer,
Louder,
Larger,
Than other places.
I feel surrounded
By the
“God who is bigger than air itself”
Surrounded by
An intimate lover
I walk into a park,
Onto a trail…
And it is like entering
The God of the Cosmos
Sometimes I talk
Sometimes He talks
Sometimes we just
Silently listen
To the orchestra of nature.
The symphony of birds.
I take in
The amazing painting…
That I’m standing in.
The living paintings of Yahweh.

by Brian E. Noll

I have to get used to looking at this now. To explain, I have been giving my friend deAnn some poems for some time now. She publishes poems in Inklings, a quarterly publication that is available at the Common Grounds Coffee Bar [@ LWCC]. Yesterday was the deadline for submissions to the next issue. I have been taking photos for about a year now. Contemplative photography, as some call it. Just "borrowing images" [for an explaination go here] of God's painting the Earth. The last photo field trip, I really got cought up in being His kid. Anyway, I was asked to provide photos to be posted on the VC Photo blog, no problem. I [for whatever reason] decided to tell Kevin to use Brian E. Noll. I don't know if he will post them or not, nor do I know when. Don't care. I love Kevin, he's like a brother to me. And I can't wait to see what he writes next [his few posts have been wonderful]. And he's amazing with a camera. deAnn will [I think -don't hold me to it] use a photo I took while at my Uncle's cabin, for the cover of Inklings this next issue. So I told her to use the same name. I don't always communicate very well [especially when I'm nervous]. So between misunderstandings & divine movement in my life, I am [quite timidly, & with much trembling] using this name for my new poems to be published in there as well.

I really need to go for now, but it feels good to be laying this out here..... [pray for a fool, will ya?]

currently listening to Bruce Coburn's "Slice 'o Life" live solo discs online, here.

[Thanks Byron]