All poems

The world is full of miserable places. One way of living comfortably is not to think about them or, when you do, to send money.
-Mountains Beyond Mountains

I don't want to think about
the suffering of millions
from tuberculosis

How do you practice
what you preach?
How many times
and for how long?

In the heart of your heart
there is a kernel
of betrayal

I cannot, by worrying
add a cubit to my stature
but standing tall, versus slouching
gives me a good 2 inches

When your body speaks
do you listen?

Remember that you are dust
and to dust you shall return

Rich belonging
requires action from the many
and the one

The three seconds
between the right cheek
and the left
are where the kingdom is built

Scripture power
keeps me safe
I’m told
from sin,
temptation,
fiery darts

The Anointed one
doesn’t seem to care
that if you keep lending
without expecting the money back
you’ll run out of money.

when you’re getting tossed
to and fro
you hold on
to whatever you can find

misdirection
is a tool
in my parental toolbox
that’s getting a lot of use

We’ve patented
the keys
to the universe

God give me a church that is faithful
to the faithless
a church that is kind
to the angry

highly connected
social networks
don’t scale

You are part of my life on an AT-WILL basis,
and this association may be terminated at any time

everything
is complex
if you look close enough
likewise,
simple
if you zoom all the way out

Where does an emotion go
when it's done with you?

See, if God had ten people
and then, lost one of them
dropped behind a couch, or somewhere

It's bedtime
because I say it is
and because routine
and predictability
are important components
of stable home life
for a child of three

Adam's hair
is clean
Eve is
suitably bedraggled
created as she was
from the man's rib,

The church made a hole for itself in my heart
and told me that’s where I’d find God
and, often I did

Jesus wants me for a petty tyrant
to rule and reign
in Israel's house

As a child I felt God as a warmth
A love, a comfort

That bearded man of blazing white
who helped me feel so safe at night
has failed to expand
with my expanding

What if you were told
-- by God himself --
that this boy
was doing the best he can?

Stand in holy places, they say
and be not moved.
These places, not those places
you know the ones I mean.

The wise man built his house upon a rock
with jack-hammers and hammer-drills
poured concrete and steel i-beams
a surer foundation you’ve never seen