Day 30: 30 Poems, 30 Days

These pillars, three,
May of virtue stand
Apart from colonnades
Of temples dead
Yet serve the land
With
Grace unbridled
              Faith unhindered
                    Mercy unfathomed

 

For generations raise
The celestial arches
Of hallowed tidings
Extracted from the
Mystical extrapolations
To
Truth untainted
              Heart unfolded
                          Love unbounded

 

Together hold
These minds to oneness
Though darkness
Cloud and dissipate
Resist with might
For
Devotion unaltered
                 Honor unthwarted
                                Unity unbroken

                     -mja
                      for my sons 

 

Day 29: 30 Poems, 30 Days

If one should land on your hand
Be still enough
To capture the moment
In the photo of your mind
And cherish it
Until it pushes off
And then,
Let the flitter and the pitter
Patter of your heart
Train the soul's eye
To lead you
Where you could not
Otherwise go. 

                   -mja

Day 28: 30 Poems, 30 Days

On the comforter,
Spraweled and silent
From a tough day
Crawling
And testing
How things sound
When tapped against
Other things,
He regains
His angelic
In repose. 

Soft hands
Unscarred by travail

Soft feet
Uncalloused by travel

Soft eyes
Untainted by the tincture
Of this world
And now resting
At last.

                             -mja 

Day 27: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Beneath the grind
And the clack
Of the soil
I pant
And grunt.

Light the mystery
Of love's lone tear
Mingled
With me
In this
Dark dirt.

Breeze as breath
Squeeze and
Jostle bones
And tendons 
Tenderly 
Hushing trembled
Whimpers.

                        -mja 

Day 26: 30 Poems, 30 Days

We wouldn't recognize heaven if we saw it for ourselves.
Our vision is clouded by shadows of pretend in magazine covers
Or music videos, advertisements, tweetings and likes.

But if you peel back the clouds and gaze upon the stars
You might be overtaken by a glimpse of paradise's back alleys
And fall back mightily into this world's lush shag carpet.
So, too, the streets fo gold may pale those under the mesa,
Backroads of farmland, or two-tracks of forests.
Sing sweetly, then, to bring back the humble awe
Of greatness revealed in these darkly mirrored pools,
Resting in memories yet to be created.

                        -mja 

Day 25: 30 Poems, 30 Days

I only have a moment
To get this poem done.
It won't win any contests.
It never will be sung. 

But when the final word is wrote,
Or written...I forget,
I'll start to write the next one,
And make it better yet.

So if by chance, you read this
Have mercy on my soul
I only had nine minutes
Until the midnight bell would toll.

                          -mja 

Day 24: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Maybe bears have it right
They slumber as night
For the winter of our discontent 

Yet spring brings around
Problems still abound
That seasonal nap could not portent

So summer burns bright
On such things turns a light
Yet sweltering heat cannot burn

And coolness may come
With autumn's brisk hum
But peace four seasons alone cannot earn

                 -mja

Family Movie Night

Day 23: 30 Poems, 30 Days

On the green of the battlefield
Blood, paint, and sweat
Commingle with the morning's rain
And bellows of the lookers on 

The trajectory of each volley
Each exchange gives rise and fall
To their communal gasp and sigh

Band moms, popular girls
Coach dads and drama dudes
All their angst focused pointedly
At a brown, leather oblong

Like the flightless bird
We know can take wing
And slip free of gravity
To graze the sun's glory

                           -mja 

Day 22: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Her short sundress and
Glamorous sunglasses
Clamored in contrast
To the longboard
She had kicked vertical
Now resting aright
Her hip.

The chaotic
Cross traffic
Clearing at last
She sprints
And throwing
The wheeled plank down
Slides aboard
Speeding past
A blonde blur.

                   -mja 

Day 22: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Her short sundress and
Glamorous sunglasses
Clamored in contrast
To the longboard
She had kicked vertical
Now resting aright
Her hip.

The chaotic
Cross traffic
Clearing at last
She sprints
And throwing
The wheeled plank down
Slides aboard
Speeding past
A blonde blur.

                   -mja 

Day 21: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Unfiltered light
And the silence of truly being alone,
Long before the blip and whirl
Of modernity
Began anchoring me
To any true sense of reality, 
Transported me
To a region of of my
Imagination
Where rhyme met reason
And mysteries unfolded.

                                 -mja 

Day 20: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Most
times
life
is
a
nestled-in
sleeb-breathing
toddler.

That is,if you tilt your head slightly to the side and squint in just the perfect light of day.

                              -mja 

Day 19: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Sometimes
life
is
a
giggling
toddler
for
just
one
moment

               -mja 

Day 18: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Sometimes
life
is
a
screaming
toddler
all
day
long.
<sigh> 

                      -mja 

Day 17: 30 Poems, 30 Days

How nimble of mind
In some things we find 
Our brain is unmushed
By hard science,
Yet other times past
Such fortune can't last 
And your noggin is hushed
As defiant.

When those times appear
Remember, my dear,
You can't always win
Best in show,
So rest in the Thought
Your wit will not rot
Please don't give in;
Don't let go.

                             -mja

Day 16: 30 Poems, 30 Days

His tightrope
Her second floor view of the graveyard across the street
Anyone's pretty town
Their final charge
His wheelbarrow 
A lamb
An elegy
Grrrrr 

These and more, I covet.

                               -mja 

Day 15: 30 Posts, 30 Days

The soul's own epiphany
Hide's beneath her mystery
Waiting for the heart's lub-dub
To heed its call, climb love's rub

What window through the eye is seen
And sunshine cascades in between
As waterfalls of joy and hopes
First pulls tight, then breaks doubt's ropes

                               -mja

Day 14: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Your velvety and smooth tendrils
Stretch ever on before me.
Attention, disattention; distance;
Though threatening;
Cannot break them.
They yeild at last
To my tender touch.

This moment, so compelling,
So completing, is transient at best,
Giving way to another 
That catches my eye.
The slice of her ample, golden, 
And naked mass
Flees my fickle desire.

Hungry for more and more samples
And no less wanting
For the next
And the next after that 
Who's cruel attracton
Leaves me, too,
In shreds.

                                 -mja
                                   For J.N.who may think again before issuing a challenge, 

Day 12: 30 Poems, 30 Days

I really should be writing this quite a bit earlier in the day

I really should be exercising more
                                      losing more weight
                                         eating right-er
                                            getting more sleep

                                                       and just plain being healthier

I really should be praying more
                                             reading the Bible more
                                     memorizing more passages
                              getting to church more often

I really should be spending more time with my children
                                            more time thinking about how to love my wife better
                                               washing the dishes, right now
                                                    or taking out the trash

I really should be watching less television
                          playing fewer games
          reading more books
                   writing novels and volumes of poetry

I really should be

I really should be making fewer lists.

                                           -mja 

Day 11: 30 Poems 30 Days [Patriot Day Edition]

How brief the morning coolness was
Crisp, beautiful, and bright
Buildings gleamed in sunshine
Earth's beauty bathed in light

Yet an instant few could see
Brought fire raining down
On streets of old Manhattan
Beside sweet Liberty's crown

The message itself confusing
Sound "Terror" or "Attack"
Was neither and the both,
I think, and tethered with no slack

And fell the twins and brass of might 
All vapor, grime and dust
Obscured the tears of Children
While one plowed Earth's hard crust

Ten years, two wars and echoings
Of leaders dead and soldiers lame
Such loss may wake the heavens
With hate done in one god's name 

Now from the rubble comes the dawn
Now from it's ashes sternly rise
Such glory held high by memory
Such loss and glory hope comprise 

                                   -mja

Day 10: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Easy wind
Gentle breeze
The likes of which 
Sent me to my knees

Heavy heart
Hands entwined
Penitent
The weary mind

Whispered words
Silent sighs
Pushes back
Turbulent skies

The One who loves
No fear will bring
And dry all tears
Merciful King 

Arms are raised
Humble praise

                   -mja

Day 9: 30 Poems, 30 Days

Devine Relish

The last
Five minutes
Of the game

Holy reverberation
Of a choir
In the cathedral 

Two final bites
Of breakfast sandwich
Transfigured into four

Final summers
With highschool
Graduates 

A lingering
Goodbye kiss
The morning after

 

Trying to ENJOY working on the car...

Day 8: 30 Poems, 30 Days

This dark and placid pond

Home for two white swans

Is a miracle, it seems

The stuff of dreams

That waters so still

And reflection-filled

Could support the weight of their affection

                   -mja

Day 7: 30 Poems, 30 Days

This cage
Is much more
Comfortable
Than those before
It's supple floors
And luminescent bars
Are less a distraction
Than entertainment
A lowly attack
On the conscious mind
Lulling me to a
January neverland
With hints of
Fantastic familiarity
I never knew I had

                -mja

Day 6: 30 Days, 30 Poems

Walking is an amazing feat
Rising and falling
To meet the capitulation
Of the Earth's humble crust
With it's ardent heaves and pitches
Yaw and crevasses

Each verdant footstep
A fateful compression of
Sinew, muscle, and bone
Giving way to flight
Only to be deftly repeated 

How soil and pavement
Granite and marble
Must tremor
Beneath the weight

                 -mja 

Day 5: 30 Poems 30 Days

What has occurred to me is that
You govern these things forever.
Will you, too, wait so long for the day

When the derelect
You love so much
Will think anew?

As in all the yesteryears
You still have this heart
Will you take it farther?

                                   -mja

Day 4: 30 Poems 30 Days

a haiku (or two)

the sugar-coated
dandies you gave me today
won't see tomorrow

the quiet of a
baby's sleeping, breathing sound
becomes quite contagious

Day 3: 30 Poems 30 Days

Beneath the whisper
A slience
Away from the
Scream and whine
Clack and clatter
Din and hiss

The pause of a
Heartbeat
Between each
Lub and dub
Pit and pat
Thump and thump

Each breath
A reminder of grace
Through all
Space and time
Love and sorrow
Death and life

                  -mja 

Day 2: 30 Poems 30 Days

Earth's easy rotation
Is an orchestral resolve
Every moment
Timidly edging toward
Eternity
Each day a resurgence
Of newness, at the
Outer arc its orbit
Pushes these tensioneers
Into collapse
Gasping at the radiance
Of stellar sattelites
Now clearly seen
Now obscured by clouds
Now obscured by design yet
Ever-present, fixed. 

--mja

Day 1: 30 Poems 30 Days

I.
Looking back at the path
we've walked for miles
there is no one else
I'd rahter share the
trials and tribulations
of such a hard ascent.

II.
The splendor along the way
has not been lost
to the tears and blood
worn deep within the trail,
and the joy of
your hand in my hand
your heart in my heart
moves us ever forward.

III.
This summit and the next
--with its own beguiling, cloudy
shroud of uncertainty--
...this summit is a
glory all its own
and our time here
just as precious
as any
we've met thus far.

--mja
for my bride on our 18th wedding anniversary