Why do I live here?

Nursery Rhyme 5 2010

Rain, Rain, go away.
Come again some other day.
And as for your brother, Snow,
Tell him, Stay Clear the month of May!

Why do we live here,
Do you suppose?
Long, sultry summers?
Mosquitoes?

Army Worms, Zebra Mussels
thrill our senses...

Hell-if-I-know,
I'm avoiding the census
and skipping town for
somewhere better,
where they don't have mosquitoes,
somewhere warm, less wetter.

-par
5 2010

Speck of Heaven (Happy Birthday Evan)

Speck of Heaven

Evan, Evan, Speck of Heaven,
Third son, last born child,
Sixteen years have come and gone
Since the world you entered mild.

And the world is milder with you in it,
A lovelier, better place.
Evan, Evan under heaven, your presence
Proof of Grace.

Son, my son, my precious son,
May the years to follow be
Like specks of heaven, every one,
The way you’ve been to me.

-par
5.6.2010

Prayer

PRAYER

What if it never works?
What if things stay the same?
What if the voice that kills and lies
Leaves the other voice weak and lame?

What’ll become of me?
What’ll become of them?
What’ll become of Hope and Love and
Peace and Goodness then?

Who’ll be left in charge?
Who will protect the innocent?
Who, among us, will rise above,
Fearless and beneficent?

What will the earth look like?
Cold and spinning satellite.
What noise will the wind become?
Screaming and shrill through the night…

I say, Let it work.
I say, Let it fail.
I say, in the end, the choice is small,
I either win, or I cry and wail.

And prayer is not black magic.
Prayer isn’t making deals.
So, I don’t know what exactly prayer is,
But I know what it ain’t; and it feels

Like talking.
Not begging.

-par
5 2010