Sun Tanning

The President went sun tanning
in-front of a grassy knoll
but the snipers didn’t show.

It hurts to get stood up.
The President tried to make excuses:
Maybe they need moving targets
I’m no JFK
Maybe they were at a different knoll.

But what he doesn’t understand is
assassins are fickle people,
an attempt was made on Jimmy Carter’s life
but GW walks away from office
without a single shot fired in his direction.

The President will be at the theater tomorrow,
if any one was wondering,
he’ll be wearing a large top hat
near the emergency exit.

Cheap Shots

It’s that lopsided feeling
after a single thought.
Where every organ in my middle:
the stomach, the kidneys, the liver
even those secret ones
roll over to the far right.

Eyes have no mind for middle
wide open or shut tight.

It’s that feeling
that stops
me
mid-stride.

That tired out,
ugly, cheap-shot thought
that stops
me
mid-stride.

In that pause
when I sigh
and wish
I could be put under
anesthesia, so I can
wake up
after the surgeon is through.

In that pause
as I wait for my middle
to balance out,
I remember that my thought
will not negate Your word.

Beer on my Breath (a prayer)

He who keeps you
will not slumber.

Beer is still on my breath
and I know
God is my keeper.

Protects me.
Guards me.
Shades me.

Beer is still on my breath
and I know
God is Holy.

He is just.
He will not
Be mocked.

Beer is still on my breath
and I am sorry.

For forgetting You.
Doubting You.
Turning from You.

Beer is still on my breath
and the Lords stands
before me.
Behind me.
Within me.
Without me.

Beer is still on my breath
and my foot will not slip
because the great shepherd
will not slumber.

He is guarding
my coming
and going,
for now
and forever.