One Life in Grace

In my living years, there came a new time,
Where winter's cold sloughs off  as a dream,
And buds and blossoms from an old branch,
When leaves unfurl, in warm light unfurl,
And the steeple bells sweetly ring their chime.

One day, a cool breeze waters my eyes pining,
A whispering air—'tis love's sweetest song —
A solemn hymn: "the spirit and the gifts are ours." (1) 
Relearning to love as if nothing were my own,
Awakening the will, to Easter's life aligning. 

Luminous days swallow this seedling soul,
And as the hours gyre the paths that I will take,
Shadows ebb and flow about my wicker frame,
Skin and breath — compass every pain and grace,
The cloth where lament and love make up the whole.

And awakening in love I see the gift of days,
Days where  love and grace heal a fitful soul,
Life — where love is given and love is given back.
A dying unto living, a journey to places never seen,
'Til broken hearts be overtaken in psalms of praise.

And though new days and years in time will fade,
This love speaks so loudly of the love of God,
And seen, and being seen, and beloved even still,
Renita, a sacrament that baptizes one life in grace,
Her holy love outshines the many years of shade.

One life,
In grace.


1. From the Hymn of Martin Luther: "A Mighty Fortress is Our God."