I. Wind and Breath
Whisper, tease my ear, words,
until I take note.
Hover over me, brood above1
the waters of my heart.
Sweep past me, seize me,
wild God. I hear you,
I feel you, but I cannot
trace your movements.2
Poets, they whisper aloud
trying to grasp elusive words.
Pass through my lips like
poet whispers, like their quick gasps
and give me life.3
II. Water
Surround and embrace me
like the sea, like music.
Pour over me like baptismal
waters and quench my thirst.4
Come alive as rivers do,
as only you.5
Symphonies carry me
away like a persuasive current.
III. Fire
Burn me, consume me
sear away what cannot stay.
Melt away what binds me,6
burn bright so I may follow.7
Rest on my head, tongue of flame,
like poet’s laurels.8
Baptize me like fire
in a kiln. Seal me and
make
my colors
dance.9
IV. Woman
I see you, holy Dancer,
with your soft eyes and
fierce toes.10
I see how you trace your body
with gentle fingers, where you
swell with new life.11
V. Dove and Cloud
Are you flighty and elusive
like a dove?
Descend, please, like
the words I cannot find,
like the color I can’t seem to blend,
like the harmony that eludes.
Stay long enough for me to
glimpse you on his shoulder,12
maybe hear what you whispered
in his ear.
Come down, and cover me
like the cloud overwhelmed
the mountain.13
Call my name; I will answer,
I will sing.
VI. Boldness
Possess my hands, my pen
and appear, speak to my accusers.14
Subdue my inner critic too.
Give me a voice to shout,
to prophesy,15
to come alive and confront like that
nameless Juliet on stage
who weeps
and woos
and wakes
us
all.
“Do not swear by the moon, for she changes constantly, then your love would also change.”16
Come, empower. I will go if you go with me.17
VII. Love
The incomparable audacity
of an artist’s hope,
to love colors or words or sounds
or movement so much
to put their soul in a frame
and put it on display.
Even without favorable reviews,
Oscars or Pulitzers or exhibits with
spotlights and soundtracks,
art teases us, and yet that hope
never disappoints.18
Light my eyes with child’s glee.
I plunge my pudgy fingers wildly
into paint. You smile,
you are delighted
with my crinkled masterpiece.19
“Look at this,” you say.
“My child made it. Isn’t it beautiful?”
1. Genesis 1:2
2, John 3:8
3. Genesis 2:7
4. Isaiah 44:3
5. John 4:10
6. Judges 15:14
7. Exodus 13:21
8. Acts 2:3
9. Matthew 3:11
10: Proverbs 9:1
11. Luke 1:35
12. Matthew 3:16
13. Exodus 24:16
14. Mark 13:11
15. Acts 2:17, Joel 2:28
16. Juliet, to Romeo; Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
17. Acts 1:8
18. Romans 5:5
19. Colossians 1:8
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