Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy.  Lord, have mercy.

you looked so pretty tonight
that I might tell you what I like

but I am afraid
because I don’t
understand love
or the way you look at me
(despite the dim light)

you looked so pretty tonight
that I might nod goodnight
to come here and
say what I cannot write

At the market today, flowers were the best part. A mile I walked down the street to see them. Ninety-three degrees, the scientist said. I feel he was right. Twice I sneezed as I always do upon entering hot sunlight. Bless me, I prayed. I went to buy bananas.
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this is the thing
that I could
not explain
or find a name
as suitable label
to help change
how I say
that I love you
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hallelujah
sings the boy
while i
fight back
tears and the man
who
d es
t r
oy e

d
any hope i had
of
singing
hallelujah

as
a

boy

Ring the champions bell, I think to myself through a storm that is swelling. I am a restless mind from a promise’s slow telling. I want to hear it. The clear, the sharp, the articulate yowling. Tickle my lungs. I imagine yellow hue painted thick on a triumphant blue.  I want to hear the bell, because I want to know if I will recognize the tune.
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a man walks past.
my page turns
in his wake.
gone before he can
own the moment,
and i think to myself.

i continue to read.
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Loving people well means allowing ourselves to be wounded deeply by them. Some of the people who have deeply wounded me are, in fact, the very ones I love the most. And it’s reciprocal. These words are theirs as well. Everyone holds both a shield and a sword.
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I walked the streets tonight.
Pulled by strings I cannot name.
I am a haunted soul,
one hundred years old,
maddened by voices. So many voices.
(but none that console)

I am seeing it now.
This is my problem.

I wished for world peace too
upon that penny you held up
that didn’t seem to make sense
to me or any one else at the time
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