Humility
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Behind and Beyond
We say,"Don't rely on appearance alone,"because great things movebehind and beyond appearances. When you begin to peer behind and beyond,you become a priest,a theologian,a liturgist,an artist,and a poet. Be ready. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights… Continue reading
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I Could Have Used You Today
I could have used you today. I needed you: a stillpoint, a saner pivot, a rock to cling to while the currents pushed and pulled, someone to click download, arms to cry in, acceptance of the mess I am. I needed another perspective, a… Continue reading
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Playing with God
When I write poemsI play with God.We race our bikes on gravel roads,stop to grieve for flattened caterpillars,marvel at Queen Anne's Lace,curl back the corners of bursting milkweed pods,watch their thousand filaments float on to raise new families, to inspire new… Continue reading
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Awake
Soul slap.Spirit snap.Mind whack.And you're awake. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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Say, “Yes!”
Does it bring you life?Say, "Yes!" Does it break you open?Say, "Yes!" Does it pour you out?Say, "Yes!" Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading
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The Simplest Prayer
What is the simplest, most elemental prayer?Some say, "Help!"Others say, "Thanks!"Or perhaps it is "Wow!"uttered in moments of unanticipated wonder(or for the inarticulate and our animal cousins: "!"). I say,for all living, breathing beings,the quintessential prayer is this: <sigh> whether… Continue reading
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Dinner in Eden
The fruitnewly, neatly peeled and sliced,fanned across the plate,waits for them. "Why not?" she asks."What possible difference could it make?" Silence. "That's the crux, isn't it?We don't know–We can't know until we know." She inhales:"It smells heavenly–both sharp and sweet–like… Continue reading
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Life Is Not Fair
1My father would halt meby looking over his half-glassesand precisely intoning:"Life is not fair,"a statement falling somewherebetween actuality and pathological avoidance. 2Already aware of the unfairnness of life,I wasn't looking for him to repair it,simply to acknowledge it–not the lack… Continue reading
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I Am a Poet
I finally said it yesterday:"I am a poet." I said it without discounting or qualifying,without minimizing, fencing or shrinking:I'm a poet.I write poetry. What are you that you can't yet say aloud?painter? author? woodworker?gardener? chef? photographer?scholar? theologian? meditator?yogi? mystic? athlete? child… Continue reading