Visions of Amherst, #1

You keep guessing--you aren't gods
You never say--you wink&nod
You never know--you might be right
up close to God in a fire fight

I'm onto to you--I'm looking up
all Power mine--to down the cup
to eat the flesh--to be not sorry
between the Kingdom and the Glory

Do the math--play the horses
Your influence extend by forces
Right foot forward--left foot back
You're locked&loaded--dealing flak

My wood's all split now--do not lie
I'm on a stroll--obscene your eye
I'm on the ground--not a peep
Nigh control my soul to keep

On patrol--I pray the Lord
On my belly--moving toward
the Age to come--the Regal yarns
across the River--beyond big barns

Loss is lost--I'm gaining ground
Let's go under&look around!
Down the bank--Ezekiel's stream
I'm wide awake in Joseph's dream [cp.]

slithering by fat well dressed grapes
I slide clean through ripped Temple drapes
to shed old layers of molt&sin
greet my Kin--drink Him in..
©2009 g.o.

527

To put this World down, like a Bundle -
And walk steady, away,
Requires Energy - possibly Agony -
'Tis the Scarlet way

Trodden with straight renunciation
By the Son of God -
Later, his faint Confederates
Justify the Road -

Flavors of that old Crucifixion -
Filaments of Bloom, Pontius Pilate sowed -
Strong Clusters, from Barabbas' Tomb -

Sacrament, Saints partook before us -
Patent, every drop,
With the Brand of the Gentile Drinker
Who indorsed the Cup -
©Emily Dickinson, c.1862
[via T.H. Johnson's edition of Ms. Dickinson's poems, ©1960, Little, Brown, & Co., p. 258]

In His Grip #3, Left-handed..*

five smooth stones came out of the creek
they all drank together there so to speak
one by one they are lifted and dropped
in a lamb skin pouch where they gently plop

hard as rock is ever slung they speed
they travel alone neither crack nor bleed
in a moment or two 'bout a blink they've sped
in flight they draw what they drew out dead

one looks up from the leathery pit
at the shepherd boy taking a hold of it
remain in dark four awaiting their turns
but only one rock the shepherd boy burns

only one rock the work requires
one rock kills an army of liars
one rock bullet a dead snake makes
one rock of faith all it ever takes

hammered bolts cross the dark bone yard
lightening swift strikes the big lie hard
the big lies down, the little lies run
the truth hits high, the world lies stunned

the little round rock is circumspect
the outstretched stretches out his own stiff neck
we take to heart his head on a post
let lightening flash the holy ghost

the big lie carried a ten foot spear
the big lie wielded the sword of fear
the big lie stood about nine feet six
the shepherd boy grips an old crucifix
©2009-12 Gary Ottoson  |  * Not Right-handed

housafire

(to T.M., 1996)

worm wood wild northa th' porches
horse flies hangin' & scattered th' horses
hoof print stars climbin' outa th' sand
moccasins movin' through a cloud shaped land

an old house hearta th' oak she sits
red barns, silos, pillars & splits
knot holes windowed on opposite sides
creakin' south winds th' night hawk rides

storm clouds cookin' out west got gray
eastward beckons one coyote
greased light'ning bolts 'cross the sky jet black
prairie fires streak through the rumblin' clap

howlin' winda whippin' on warm
the old house shakin' its shingling torn
west whistlin' gusts, a willywaw bad
black cloud boilin' for somethin' he's mad

the great majestic cherries to red
dead wood stubble ignites th' blood red shed
blue flame purely circlin' higher
you gonna be cool when the house is a fire?
who'll be cool when the house is a fire?
©1996 - 2009 g.o.

"It is not displays of worship but a righteous way of life that validates a healthy relationship with God..¶Violence, deception, and crooked business..bring destruction to the land." --William Sanford La Sor, David Allan Hubbard, Frederic William Bush, Leslie C. Allen ISBN#0802837883, p. 275. Note based on Micah 6, e.g., NetBible.

love that teacher, he's been droppin' clues
the earth is winding down, who lit the fuse?
debris is what he makes of super stars
bill plans to keep his ashes in some jars
i've walked a mile or two inside both shoes
that teacher walks on lightening flashing scars

'tell ol' bill' it travels in the air
rhymes like crimes must bust out everywhere
tomorrow pierced the side of truth today
william, we've been warned so don't delay
fold your hands & bow your head this morn
before the teacher turns 'ol bill away
©2008 g.o.