*Praise.

[ cloud nine. times three. twenty-seven lines. ]

i want to sing to you.
i want to bring to you.
things like fruit.
so sweet. so nourishing.
teach me.
to let down my guard.
learning.
with open arms.

open the stars.

my mind needs to see.

your blessings from afar.

in love i trust.
from above.
i lust.
world.
fulfillment.
kill dollars.
and cents.

spiritual
guidance.

observe. repentance.

endure. tolerance.

reserve. common sense.

serve. acceptance.

i need to
focus.
on your grace.

*Cracker and grape juice.

[ communion. ]

i take this bread. in remembrance of what you did. make my body feel like yours. take my knees to the floor. turn my hands into graceful givers. impress my heart. burn it. give it quivers. mold me like you told me to be so bluntly in the good book of life.

i drink the cup so you stream through me. fill me. to eternity. flowing. every vein seeks your presence. all my pain. all your forgiveness. remind me daily. to be a console of your glory. i love you. when everything is set. when nothing is left. my time constantly owes you.

my life is constantly grateful. for you. so graceful. thank you.

*i am real.

[ random thoughts lead to gratuity. ]

how differently would you treat me
if you discovered i was the product of rape.
now tell me. should i really believe
that i made an abortion escape.
i don’t know the seed that planted me.
neither the soil.

but i was born.
i am living. i am
definitely real.

was it a date? a one-night stand?
the curiosity. starts to thicken.
a fling? an experiment? with a boy and a girl –
at fifteen years-old? a king – and his mistress?
was it Winnie Hollman – and Jack Nicholson?
maybe satan on hallow’s eve. it was october
when i was conceived.

enriched now to say. we must obey these days.
eliminating a baby isn’t only murder. it’s crippling
to the mother. it’s hardening to the heart. it’s parting
from the start. never saying hello. never seeing
your star glow. oh man…

i don’t know.

i must have whispered inside the tunnels within.
it’s not the end.
—end.
i’m not finished.
—finished.
the echo made it’s way.
—it’s mark. in the dark.
the light. a spark.

there’s never a right time
to say good bye. but when
we know. we gotta go.
and stray our own way.

just to make sense of this.
whether we know what it is.
people do it all the time. people
doing what’s right. why do we fight
the truth. a choice saved my life.
i am living proof.

i just want to stare at you.
and compare you to.
what i see in the mirror.
then fear would subside. but
so many questions arise. and
only one answer resides.

real is what you made me.
my life is what you gave me.

so to you
i give all my gratitude.
thank you.

Click here to have a listen.