Silence

My heartbeat outpaces the wall clock,
the coffee maker exhales,
old rain drips in the downspout,
the dog wags her tail in her sleep,
my right ear rings in the key of E.

Time

Information is piled up
like clay and dust
that used to be a wall.
…..
Revolutions won and lost
are categorized, named,
and placed into boxes,
which are placed into boxes,
which are placed into boxes.

Meaning

I struggled to go beyond
cold context and consequence,
then saw a half moon in daylight
and realized it was my shadow
that obscured the other half.
…..
Every moment
has led to this.

Faith

Faced with a burned out church,
I see only the revival to come.
…..
David carried four more stones,
but refused to wear armor.

Life

Fall.
…..
A young man in a black tee shirt,
his hands in the pockets of his jeans,
is beside a young woman in a hoodie
who is smoking a cigarette.
They stand in the side yard
looking into a small valley,
not talking, not needing to talk.
One day, neither one will remember.
…..
Five men are scattered in a field,
collecting a harvest.
…..
Church bells ring at an intersection;
I turn down the radio, open a window,
wait for the green light.
…..
A new band forms
from the ashes of an old band.
…..
In the early evening, at my desk,
I stir my coffee with a pen.
…..
Fog,
rising, settling.

Peace

To drive a 600hp musclecar
25mph on a residential street.

Truth

I stand at the water’s edge
and see the curvature of Earth.

Love

You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

-Psalm 139:5-6
…..
My diagnosis scared you
more than it scared me.
…..
Clichés are clichés for a reason,
yet they often remain
the best words we have. 
 

Selected byRaymond Huffman
Image credit:Jordan Steranka

Hugh does not prefer to talk about himself in the third person, but if he did, he'd tell you he's in a self-imposed exile on the east coast of the USA, but still loves his former home in the Sonoran Desert. He is the author of Odd Numbers And Evensongs and Auditions For The Afterlife.