Rabbit Room day seven: Hospitality

you are welcome here
and so we began
 
share a meal with me
borrow my clothes
 
let time be our friend
it’s okay if you’re tired
 
there’s no need for secrets
so let us reason together
 
join me; let’s go dancing
all the world is music
 
this is my flesh; this, my blood
let us share everything
 
let us be one spirit
let us be one body
 
let us make each other
our home and rest

Rabbit Room day six: Form Friday

the way you said yes. always that
song of skin on skin. how joy
ascends. the mouth opens wide
to taste the moment. to thank
God for this exchange of flesh.
who knows our brokenness? who
wipes our tears away? she thought
his words could be trusted. caught his
eyes and found it all too much.

Rabbit Room day five: Neighbourhood

Sometimes it takes years
To get to know your neighbours

Passing each other every few days
Between shifts at work 

Maybe your children play outside
And occasionally play together

Or you have the barbeque going
And they drop by to see what’s cooking

Maybe one day they need your help
Or maybe you need theirs

The basement has flooded
Or there’s no babysitter

The new couch has arrived
And it’s so very heavy

It gets loud at night
And there’s no party

The dogs bark at everything
But you stop and talk anyway

Then you plant flowers in their yard
And water them daily

You bake cookies with open windows
And deliver a box to their door

You make your excuses
And say hello and hello and hello

Welcome to the neighbourhood
It’s a pleasure to meet you

Rabbit Room day four: Friends

and weren’t our hearts
burning within us?

walk with me

in the garden
for 300 years

tell me your secrets

sit with me here
next to the fire

we don’t need to speak

join me at the table
try some bread
olive oil, fish, wine

get some rest
I’ll be here tomorrow

Rabbit Room day three: Family

 
This is how a family shapes you.
Simply by being there,
just always being there.
Words that settle in the skin,
maybe forgiveness;
words of death and
words of life. Bursts
of laughter and silly dances,
flashes of anger and deep regret.
The times you couldn’t
afford anything but love,
and times of plenty
you took for granted.
Decisions made without
your approval, decisions made
with your voice as part of the choir,
decision made for you
as an unspoken blessing.
Sometimes you forget what
a many-splendored thing
a family is. Sometimes
it is a gift. Sometimes
it is not. You must decide
when to get your hands dirty.
Decide who’s the potter.
Decide who’s the clay.
 
*
 
Decide who’s the clay.
Decide who’s the potter –
when to get your hands dirty.
You must decide. It is not
sometimes, it is a gift.
A family is a many splendored thing.
Sometimes you forget.
It is an unspoken blessing,
a decision made for you,
your voice part of a choir.
A decision made without
your approval. You take for granted
times of plenty, times
you couldn’t afford anything more than love.
Bursts of laughter and dancing,
flashes of anger, deep regret.
Words of life.
Words of death.
Maybe: forgiveness.
Those words settle in the skin,
always just there.
Simply being there.
This is how a family shapes you.