car, image by Selim Geçer, on Pixabay
Living Water
Another tropical storm from the gulf
bullies through Carolina. Dreary deluge,
windless, fall leaves dangle, plunge
to lawns and confetti the deck.
In the screened porch, my glasses fog.
I finger my makeshift
wooden-beaded rosary
with a tiny, wooded cross
sandwiched between ten beads.
First ten, “Abba, Father, thank you.”
Touch the cross, “Our Father, who art in heaven . . .”
Next ten, “Lord Jesus, thank you.”
Touch the cross, “Our Father . . .”
Last ten, “Holy Spirit, thank you.”
Touch the cross, “Our Father . . .”
Downpour drowns distant caws.
The bird bath overflows
like Jesus’ fount.
__________________
He Releases
“He... release[s] those who through the fear of death
were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”
—Hebrews 2:15
Motor grumbles. Repair shops closed.
Stuck in first gear. Brakes squeak.
Windshield scratchy. Seats fray.
Battery discharges. Oil pan prolapses.
Ball joints grind. Bumper dangles.
Grill clogged. Undercarriage rusts.
Headlights dim. Wipers shabby. Exterior
dented, faded, scraped. Roof paint flaking.
DNA sheds retreads, linkages break.
Starter slower each morning
Spark plugs’ neurotransmissions worn.
The windshield—decades of
rain, sleet, shine, pollen—filmy
but I blink and vision beyond
the last crash, or pistons fused
in their cylinders and engine frozen:
my wreck shall rise from its junkyard and
coast in the city over streets of gold bricks,
walls founded with sapphires, emeralds,
amethysts . . . and bask top down
in light from the Morning Star.
__________________
P.C. Venable, a retired addiction and mental health clinician, has written sacred
and secular verse for decades. He has been published in Prairie Messenger,
Windhover, The Anglican Theological Review, Ancient Paths, Spirit Fire Review,
Time of Singing, The Christian Century, and others. He is a member of the Winston
Salem Writers. His eBook Jesus Through A Poet’s Lens is available at Mobi: