In Plain Sight

In Plain Sight
For Velma and Chuck in memory of Chris

We can’t always see it,
The light that lights the world.
It just is, and no longer dark,
But sometimes when the angle
Is just right, and the certain slant
Peaks through the shadows,
And there’s just enough mist
Or dust, or something, the ray
Reveals itself, visible in a line
Straight to heaven. And we don’t
Think angle then, but angel,
And not mere dust, but breath,
Holy and illumined, and our heart
Finds rest. Such times are not just
Nature, but miracle, given at just
The right time, like a rainbow,
Or a friend, or the answer to a prayer.
Again we find peace, passing all
Our understanding, but unmistakable
In our hearts as knowing feeling,
And thus more true and more beautiful
Even than the sunflowers standing
There in plain sight, just right.

Lord, Send Your Breath. . . for Hannah

Morning Juice

Morning Juice

Coach Atk

The grass is wet from the dew

Your helmet still wet from last night

Your hair wet from the wake-up rinse

You head out, helmets and shorts,

Stiff still, to stretch, and lose the stiff

While it’s still mostly cool, almost

As the sun sends out its glistening gleam

From the hard angle of morning, you can

Already feel the heat despite the breeze

And that wet grass is just cold heaviness

For a second, then it turns into hot heaviness

As it mixes with the sweat of conditioning

Not quite sure if the vapor you see is

Steam or fog, where the only difference

Is the source, your heat or the sun’s

Both become inseparable, bear crawling,

Up downing, left slide, right slide, hit it

The wetness is forgotten, a fact, just accepted

Replaced by another focus, competing,

Finishing faster than the fool in front of you

Who is becoming a brother somehow

Through this work we do in parallel

Only in math do such lines not intersect,

Side by side together losing You to find We

Team is formed here, victory begins here

Champions are forged here, friends made,

And life is learned here, for here we are

Another long day has begun, where it’s

Field, food, field, food, pool, field, food, bed

Repeat, just to put the ball down and play

Is it worth it, many would say no, even most,

But then, if it were easy they’d be doing it too,

What say you? Have you had your juice today?