Love between two as it should be

Written in the Tanka form

5-7-5-7-7

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You flow into me

Without changing the essence

Of whom I’ve become;

But I am more than I am

Because you merge into me

We are swift to know-

As we coalesce as one-

This strength of knowing;

The wonders of two lives fixed

Together without doubting

I will cherish you

Beyond what I seek for self,

Hope everlasting

In the arms of compassion

(Within a fragrant aether)

And as you mingle

Your soul and thinking with mine,

Our lives are heightened

By the blending of goodness

In our confluence of trust

Involved in concert;

A blending of life forces

Becomes our mandate

As we press together towards

What we will become in love

Your heart-strings are mine,

And I will not betray them

With anserine vox

Swashing a form of logic

Or the serpents beguiling

And in those moments

When two forces become one,

This love enfolded,

And the Christ who defines us,

Will be our flowing brushstrokes

Richard Lloyd Cederberg

1/09

The first snow of

the season lay two

floors below, and as

he glanced out into

the night sky he caught

sight of a star twinkling

off in the distance.

He momentarily closed

his eyes and like a desperate

quarterback threw a Hail Mary

pass out into the night, hoping

for its completion — a plea —

from his lips to God’s ears.

Dry November leaves blanketed the walkway.

She shuffled through, the way children often do —

the last of the morning stragglers, trying to get

to class before the final bell.

She hesitated for several seconds,

then reluctantly climbed the stairs —

her expression one of defiance.

As I reached out, tears filled her eyes —

thin, wiry arms held me tightly —

her hard exterior now broken.

Glancing up at a gray, pre-winter sky,

I fought back tears of my own —

mouthed an inaudible prayer to an all knowing God

then watched as she entered the building —

tough expression back in place as she readied herself

for the painful games of adolescence.

I WRITE TO YOU

I don’t understand….

On the lachrymose memories
of the path,
the dark shadows of a night
flow uninterrupted.

I don’t know you still.
Something remained
like the golden freezing drops
that woke in the eyes of the
twin leaves, someday,
after a heart wrenching rain.

Now only the salt remains,
melting slowly,
on my quivering lips.
The smoky light,
and of course,
a sea.

Turbulent, restless,
piercing the shore
of my soul….

A sea….