Sometimes
when I think of Jesus
my heart swells into a tear,
a solitary
drop
of the purest intimacy-
to where
does it flow?
to whom
does it not?

Coyotes
howling in the night-
they understand me.
They speak
the language
that has no grammar.

Souls congregate
in a darkness
punctuated by
lonesome howling.
Jesus walks among them-
softly.

Presence
can ignite a fire.

Our world is a negotiation
with premises, unrelenting-
but a Silence
sat down next to me
and took my hand
and I broke apart.

I couldn’t help it.
I showed everyone my cards.
A one, a jack, a three, a seven
and a queen.  Some red,
some black.
Has it come to this?

The dealer follows the rules,
but everyone at the table
keeps the Christ
card tucked up their sleeve.
Knowing that-
I put all my chips
into the middle of the table.

Take them.

At this rate
I’ll be broke by dawn-
gleaming,
hollowed out,
a coyote in the darkness.

This is what we all wanted.
This is where the rules take us.
Towards revelation.
When the cards have all been played,
we reach up our sleeves and
play the first card we were ever dealt,
finding that
the pot is luminous
and can no longer be divided.