Monday, June 28, 2010

why we need not fear

do not fear
tomorrow may not come
still
there will be
those hands
that made tomorrow today
hope present
eternitynowhere

do not fear
the Word
is bigger than
the soundbite
whose bark is bigger than
the slogan
that’s starker than
mystery and history

why such fighting and quarreling,
so little listening?
the shrunken soul
afraid to grow
lacks the capacity
to admit incapacity

be still soul
God is not petty
and i am not
able

to sleep tonight

do not fear
the Giver
does not require thanks
so much as desire thanks

desire
thanks
two unqualified qualities,
both necessary excess-
they reflect The Essential Superfluity

abandon
abandon all despair
upon entering where

the joyful Artist
made us
from a palette of thick color
he knows how to use a black hole
as taut cloth;
the laughing Artist stained his shirt
and left it unwashed

last night
God got naked;
tomorrow
he put on his painted shirt again

do not fear
give thanks
give
desire
thank
hope
fly and land
and wait for the family





why we need not fear
a poem by troy cady
on the morning of my leaving

2 comments:

Kirsten Wilson said...

Troy, I like this very much. I especially like the flow (and the truth) of this section:

the shrunken soul
afraid to grow
lacks the capacity
to admit incapacity

be still soul
God is not petty
and i am not
able

to sleep tonight

I have read your poem a few times now, and my heart catches on that section each time. I also very much love the image of the laughing Artist and his painted shirt. Love it. Very much.

Praying that your soul does not shrink. That you are able to hold onto thanks and desire and hope (and the Artist with his painted shirt) as you fly and land and wait.

Troy said...

Kirsten,

I am so glad something in this poem spoke to you. It does my heart good to hear that. Thank you so much for your encouraging words. Thank you even more for your prayers. Much needed, friend; much needed.

With appreciation,
Troy