Wednesday, May 28, 2014

California Beamin'--An Ode

I want to write something
that encapsulates
what California has meant to me,
these twenty-two years now past;
I have learned much
and forgotten even more;
have found, and lost, love
many times over
to get to the love
I now have
and hope to keep;

like Bono,
I've climbed highest mountains
and kissed honey lips;
I've had my feet baptized
in her salty waters;

friends have come and gone---
because of time,
because of distance,
because of circumstances
beyond anyone's control;
but I've been blessed
by those who chose to,
or have been able to,
stay;

I've even been blessed
to be called father,
by one, not born of my blood--
the remarkably good,
out of what became
an unavoidably painful situation;
which is indicative,
of what California
has often been to me---

the joys
and
the pains;
the triumphs
and
the tragedies;
the sweet
and
the bitter,
which is also indicative
of what life
has often been to me.

So,
it's probably safe to say
that,
as much as Chicago,
where I was born and raised;
and Greenville,
where I was spiritually formed;
and everywhere in between,
California
has been life to me,
and,
hopefully,
preparation
for the life to come
as I leave
her sunny,
yet
bittersweet embrace.

Stay gold,
California.

© 2014 Joseph Powell


Tuesday, May 20, 2014

God’s Angry Man



In the dark night of my soul,

I pray for rain
to wash clean
my dirty streets,
knowing full well,
they will
become dirty
yet again;
for,
I sin boldly
in the face
of a God
who has shown me
mercy,
and I ask forgiveness,
only to squander it
like money
at a gambler’s table;
perhaps,
it is a good thing
that I am not
worthy
of such
grace;
I choose
to be prodigal,
time
and time
again,
like a spoiled child
who is
never satisfied;
I cannot say
I know not
what I do,
for that
would be
a lie;
and,
I want to be
honest
and
I want
to be
real--
my humanness,
this walking
bundle
of contradictions
made
manifest
underneath
God’s heaven,
upon God’s
earth.
If it is I,
past,
present, and
future
imperfect--
who,
like
so many
before me,
has
been chosen
to be His
representative
here,
then
so be it,
and
to Him
be
the glory.
And
what will happen,
will happen,
because,
in accordance
to His will,
it
was meant
to be.


Amen.


© 2014 Joseph Powell

Joseph Powell @Priscilla's Poetry Night