The 60-Second Sabbath

Solitude

  • Image or Word?

    At this momentI'm torn betweengrabbing my cameraand taking up my pen. Something before me–and equally within–demands representation,conscripts me as its agent. Image or word?Today the pen wins. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.  Continue reading

  • Balaam’s Ass

    This morning,saddle up your heart's donkeyand let it take youwhere you fear to go. Expect a bumpy ride–you can't even imaginewhat you'll find–wasps, thorns, snakes and black flies,selfishness and murderous thoughts,parts you'd burned and buriedbut which still crawl,scarred and in… Continue reading

  • Fabulous Apart

    To be fabulous withfirst be fabulous apart. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.  Continue reading

  • Sacred, Solitary Bliss

    Sacred, solitary bliss;everyday I dream of this;God and I in secret tryst,held suspended, lost in mist. Silent, solitary bliss;everyday I pray for this. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.    Continue reading

  • Take Me with You

    When was the last timeyou spent an hourin sacred bliss?When and where and how? Next time,take me with you. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.  Continue reading

  • Night Prayer

    I loved your still world tonight.I walked it gently.I saw cold, silent moonlight    shining off the faces of polished tombstones.I passed drifts of fallen leaves resting in their hollows.I looked up through unmoving branches,    bare and black against the sky.I saw a… Continue reading

  • Waiting for the Mud to Settle

    She sits in silence,waiting for the mud to settle,the water to clear. It takes awhilebut it happens,and at the bottom of the poolshe sees a pearl,and a small, teary-eyed monster, all out of breath,mother's cameo broach lost in '82,a broken… Continue reading

  • The Widow

    And now she is a widow walking into the dim parlor,pausing between their worn chairs,watching rain run down the window,listening to the unfamiliar silence,picking up the book she'd been reading,touching the top of the bookmark,sliding open the pages,finding the paragraph… Continue reading

  • Just for Today

    Just for todaystop trying to get somewhere.Stop wanting anything in particular. Instead,experience where you are.Experience who you are. Just for today,let the mud settle.Let the water clear. Text and image © 2011 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Bird Song

    5:30 in the morning.Darkness still quiets the city.I open the sliding glass door,allow the in-flow of cold air… …and bird song:Somewhere nearby,on a tentatively budding branch,a robin asserts spring's certainty, then pauses. No more? Yes, more,now down the block,repeating the… Continue reading