Scenic Route

I don't really take people seriously
when they talk about building walls
A wall exists
or it doesn't
or it takes a long time to build it
The in-between
is time-management
and convincing people
they will never ever want
what is on the other side of it
which is, if we are being honest
 impossible
But when people get on that live wire
and talk about tearing down bridges
(I would much rather tear down walls)
the hairs on the back of my neck
stand erect and I am like
I need a blueprint
Tell me exactly what will happen next
Tell me what you plan to build instead
because destruction happens in an instant
and I am only okay with that
if what is underneath
is better because it is tried and true
or if what is new is fool-proof

Hi. I. Think. I. Love. You.

Death put a promise ring on me
the day I was born
We have been intimately involved
ever since
making dates and imagining ways
death could take me out
moon-lit walks in ill-lit parks
late night drinks at local dives
hundreds of poems that do not rhyme
Death has proposed to me
nearly every single day
since he made himself known
Suggesting I take his hand
into my own
and as romantic as it seems
I keep saying
No
When we do marry
when we become one
a congregation of family and friends
will escort me down the aisle
and though they will not understand
what forever means
they will cry at our union
and be happy for me

By Another Name

Tonight I spoke of gravity
and apathy
but I omitted the way
your hair falls down your shoulders

The kids were nervous and using
$10 words
and at least one of them
asked us to come to Jesus

I smiled so hard the whole time
It'd been so long
since I'd been to church, I forgot
how much youth hurts
    when your heart is sweet
    and you don't understand
    the only enemy
    is gravity and apathy

I guess I call grace by another name