The machine

I didn’t have a machine write this

Who can Right this?

I wrote this

I wrote this on a machine: 

but it was not filtered through the machine

Rage against the machine/the institution/the system, 

Are we separate or a part of it? 

Like snow

I want to let you go, like snow

Let you melt and flurry, be compactable or slurry, whatever you need to be 

I want this friendship, long and enduring 

Though I grieve the distance 

Can I accept these conditions?

Let them be,

Like snow 

A story of Evergreen

"Jackson, can I tell you about a Christmas miracle?" asked Auntie Bev.  

"Yes, yes, please! I do like stories" He responded, clasping his hands and rocking back and forth on his bottom. His brother Ollie was laying the floor next to him, stacking blocks. His little brother Theo was mostly putting the blocks in this mouth. 

"Before either of you were born, your parents celebrated their first Christmas together. They kept your mother's tradition of spending the weekend after Thanksgiving decorating for Christmas. They made the pilgrimage to a tree lot with their friends and brought home the perfect tree to their St. Paul apartment.

Now this was a sturdy tree, and right away they placed it in the tree stand with water so the needs wouldn't dry out and fall and make a mess on the floor. They decorated the tree with love and care, ate fresh baked ginger bread cookies and enjoyed classics like John Legend's Christmas."

"So what was the miracle?" Jackson asked, confusion knitting his brow. "That's what we do every year!" Ollie nodded and yawned. Theo drooled. 

"Well of course. But this year, there was a special inheritance from Great-Grandma Spangler; an industrial humidifier. This gift released gallons of mist into apartment's dry December air, and with that rainforest humidity, the tips of the spruce started sprouting lime green growth! 

Growth from a dead ol tree? Well yes sir, that is what happened. And that's the Christmas miracle! Because God can bring life in places we think are dead, and He is always working to show us how much He loves this world" replied Auntie Bev. 

"Oh, okay. But now I have an idea...let's eat cooooookies!" Jackson squealed, and he hopped up on his little feet and ran to the kitchen, Ollie racing him all the way, followed by Theo, and when Auntie Bev finally caught up with them, they enjoyed a scrumptious treat. 

The empire and your body

When you put your body in front of the empire, 

You may loose

Your wife may hold your dying breathless body

So she's covered in your blood 

From three shots, the shattered windshield pieces 

Creating a red and sparkling mosaic 

So she kneels down, in the yard,

Her clothes staining the snow 

And the terror of this moment has cleaved you from her 

And her from you

Marrow and breath; there is nothing left. 

This cleaving is not new, many have been privileged before you 

To meet the Empire's bullets fired in self-defense

Necks knelt on in self-defense

Unarmed teenagers shot in self-defense

Children with toys shot in self-defense

Women in their bed shot in self-defense 

The empire will defend themselves with your body 

The empire will always defend themselves.

Hopes for bloodless months

And I want to hope it won’t be blood 

As my body rumples with softness and tearing, clenched and tense 

After finishing the last course of antibiotics from our last try, lost 

Aren’t you tired of trying, weary of counting syllables and diminutive sounds, the charting, the appointments 

Articulated prescriptions, fatigue blanches the balance. When will my body be well? 

Absolutely. I don’t know. 

Hope Triplet

Evil scans
For hope to steal, come

Renew life

The world gasps

For hope like air, come

Lord Jesus

My life cries

For hope like bread, come  

Savior, fill 

Our hearts thirst

For hope like water

Come, afresh

---- 

Joy shines in darkness, 

His presence renews my joy,

my soul is drawn to Him. 

When I feel the weight of evil 

and see the enemy's hatred and rage; 

His joy remains my strength

-Bruce S. 

Advent 2025

My Faith is weak
A candle nearly snuffed out
I need a living flame,
A body to encourage me.

Oh, come, Savior
This Advent I need
And from that need a child of hope is born in me
Again;

The Everlasting One
That I know that I know
I have sought this before /here you come again /rescuing with your love