My wife says, You look dreadful.
I look in the mirror and see the same me as always. You need to eat, she says.
My brother says Your pain is written all over your face.
I look in the mirror but can find no signs that indicate the truth of his assertion.
I walk daily looking through a glass darkly, illumination only coming after those around
me testify of what they know is true in me.
I eat and feel better.
MDC
April 2021
You have been brought to this hospital fourteen times
in the last eleven years. What’s going on with you?
The nurse clearly suspicious of my motivations.
What’s there to say? What excuses could I give that
satisfies a suspicious mind? Do I dodge the question and
tell her how demoralising it is that this statistic blows
any sporting Personal Best into oblivion?
Is a wry smile enough to ward off further enquiry? I know
from experience that it won’t garner any further sympathy.
Am I accident prone, or just plain careless? It’s not as if I
go looking for the chance to become injured or maimed.
Hot metal from a grinder getting past my safety glasses.
Bitten by an Eastern Brown in my own back yard. A branch
from a gum tree falling onto my head. I look remarkably
normal and healthy for someone so intent on self-destruction.
Do I continue living as I have hoping the trend of accidents
diminishes with age, or do I cover myself in bubble wrap
and step into armour each time I venture from the relative
safety (until recently) of my own dwelling?
The neurologist is delighted to see me. He now knows he
will learn something new about the human body - but not
enough to cure me. Not enough to stop or slow the
incessant journeys under flashing lights and sirens.
Oh, wretched man that I am!
Who will save me from this body of death!
MDC
April 2021
Praise the day, for it has dawned
And His mercy it has spawned
Praise the sparrow wheeling on its wing
Praise the joy in each flitting thing
Praise the night past, moribund
Its nocturnal choir many-tongued
Praise the sun for shining light
Praise the light that brings sight
Praise the day that has been christened
Preordained with full provision
Praise Him for His given acts
With their mysteries of parallax
Praise the strength of given faith
Strong enough to stand stress and scaith
Praise the enabling of given grace
That empowers to run your race
And praise the joy that He has given
When you are blessed and forgiven
MDC
April 2021
1
I was like a tree
In which the wind dwells.
2
Over all the earth,
The only thing that never ceases
Are the eyes of the wind.
3
Many things may dance in the wind
But it is the wind that is the major part of the pantomime.
4
A husband and a wife
Are one.
A husband and a wife and the wind
Can be one.
5
The movement of grasses like oceans
The swaying of trees like dancers
The whirl of dust and cloud like dervishes
All of which the wind is involved in
6
There are tidal patterns and magnetic lines
Circadian rhythms and lunar seasons
Domains of electricity, magnetism and gravity
All of which the wind is involved in
7
There are many beauties in this world
Inflection, innuendo, nuance,
grace in a child, mercy from an enemy
The wind gives it all.
7
It goes where no one knows,
Having come from who knows where.
It criss-crosses the earth in obtuse fashions
Carrying enigmatic ciphers whose importance is unfathomable
8
Striving after the wind is like grasping for wisdom
Yet wisdom is gained by His word whispered into the ear.
9
O wise men of Behistun,
Why do you imagine a golden child?
Do you not understand the gold, frankincense, and myrrh you present
Is given to you by the wind?
10
The wind is strong.
It may not be withstood
Yet it can be commanded to cease
By His word.
11
It is clear that the wind belongs to Him
The snorting of His nostrils, His breath, His life.
O that I would know the wind
And He would know me.
MDC August 2021
