retracing

Life is still a freight train lately. But as I glanced through my poems the other day, I found an old one. I am so far away from this place now. The person who wrote this is a stranger to me now. I don't like how dark it starts, but the end is worth it, even if it is a bit "sappy". [hopefully you'll feel the same]

Diminished

Diminished,
I am
Diminished,
I
Stay.
Diminishing,
Some
Do not realize
How they help me
To become
More diminished
A word
May be all it takes
Maybe
It’s even unspoken,
Just a look will do
A lot
Of my diminishment
Is screamed
Inside
My own head
“you cannot be diminished”
It would say
Using a new word
The decrepit
Old way
“you cannot become worse
-because you are already
The worst”
Jesus
Did not die
Just
To watch this unfold
No
He died,
To fold it back up
Put it in His pocket
And walk away with it
To
Once
And for all
Whisper
“Yes, you are diminished
But your life expectancy,
Is much longer
Than that word’s is”
What will happen to Me
Will begin to wage & win the war against
Diminishment
Diminishment
Will now be transformed into
Healing,
Hope will be the prescription
God the Father
Becomes the Doctor…
Jesus,
Becomes the pharmacist
His blood
The drug we wish we could have made
[but are ohh so glad we have]

...well, as some of you have found out by now, I am not currently in the newest issue of INKLINGS. By choice [mine]. While it's nice to be in there... it is equally nice to read an issue that is wholly new to me. To have a completely new issue to "peruse". I planned this for a while [like Oct. 2008]. It is hard not to offer something, but kind of weird to be in there too. To read my words published in a hard copy, lying around church. [& who knows where else] I don't believe it's permanent, I am still writing after all. Hopefully the new issue will be online, at some point, for those of you who "don't live in the neighborhood", as the saying goes. Sorry to "plug the church I go to", but it is a blessing to be involved in a church that loves the arts. [guess I just want to "share the wealth"]
Oh... & I'm sorry my posts are erratic.