younger eyes

rows of green trees.
sunny and clean,
sea-scented,
air.

my innocence was ignorance –
clothes that needed changing.
now that i’ve strained to see,
i don’t know that the setting sun
can ever be the same.

not that it was
lacking purity;
rather,
slightly ill-informed.
young eyes,
actors in a dress rehearsal.

waiting for the future
patience must be optimistic
because the good that was present
might surely have been
the very good that is knocking at the door.

rows of green trees,
please don’t suck away
sunny and clean,
sea-scented
air.

11:14 PM

and how can it be
that the seasons with waters smooth
are where i’m finding it
hardest to sail?

peace vs. comfort

Dear Lord,

a spirit at peace;
a stomach in knots.
may You put this mind to rest,
and give ease its thoughts.

a short prayer

Spirit, beckon me,
when my body feels to weigh me down.

in april

I know You are present
I just don’t necessarily feel it.

Why must our minds try to confine You to a space so small?
Heart overflowing
and hands so large.

… surely we can learn what it is to function,
when following can’t be derived from a feeling.

stockholm to københavn

how is the sky allowed to be this blue?
train tracks run far
and the gradient is rich
the sunshine to my back
would easily blind me
if I were to approach it more directly.

trees
white and green
hold the saturation
of something too grandiose for our minds to retain.

full pockets

i’ve been carrying a lot in my pockets these days. it’s not uncommon for the entirety of the pocket space of my levi’s to be entirely occupied. no vacancies.

i keep things around, because you never know when they might come in handy. but what does it mean of something when you no longer need to have it immediately present? of what consequence is an object when it’s ok to leave it back home, perhaps on a table, or a shelf?

for stockholm

You’re a city
and I’m looking at you –
finding you beautiful.

But it must be said,
you’re a city,
not a human being.
And that is why we can never be.

Sometimes it’s difficult to forsee
the consequences of patience.
But dear Stockholm,
you’re showing me how to wait.

snow is cold, friendship is warm

sometimes i wonder what sort of heart i am building.

new places, new people
getting to a place of near understanding
only to leave.
any sort of community that could have been –
covered with a blanket of snow
on to something new.

… snow is good,
but it is also cold.

it’s not that there’s anything to run from
yet a schedule tells me it’s time to go.
i don’t know how much more i can handle.
yet somehow
new places will arrive
and we will find ourselves welcomed;
people become friends.

…finding friendship can be a challenge,
but once found it is warm.

Dear Lord, might you bring some insulation from this biting cold?

5:17 PM

O, for someone just to take me, saying,
“Here, I understand you!
Don’t worry about explaining yourself
or what you are doing.
I know where you’re at.”

and it’s true
You are already present
patiently adjacent, uttering words
i haven’t yet paused to hear.

if i could only stop
long enough to hear You singing over me,
surely i would find
priorities changing.

…i just need a bit of help to begin.