A few days ago, I received wonderful news: a poetry journal has accepted two of my poems for publication. I've been sending poems out for years, and have received only a handful of acceptances, so this was a major blessing. I think I actually shouted when I read the email from the journal, and Cia, in her quiet way, also shouted when I told her the news.

Here are some poems I've written recently:

WHEN DEATH DIED 

(In Memoriam, Michael Andrew Richter, Sr.)

Attending his memorial,

they knew they might feel sad and cry,

but they were not prepared to see a sky

of love across their lives. A shawl

of peace surrounded them. The songs

they sang were sad but carried calm

inside them like a secret balm

to spread the stillness that belongs

to sunsets and to gratefulness.   

His life was long and full of love,

and they could feel that love above

them. They felt the service bless

them with the endless power of life.

His death was there, but living was

the winner, living inside love because

it brings the only joy. All strife

dies off when love spreads out its sky.

His funeral made death give up and die. 

* * * * *

THE GIFT OF DEATH 

(In Memoriam, Michael Andrew Richter, Sr.)

They were amazed that death, the enemy

of everyone, could bring them to the end

of fear, and quiet them, and slowly send

them down the road that sets you free.

Their friend was gone, but somehow death

made life seem even stronger than before,

more full of light and understanding, more

miraculous. They said they felt the breath

of never-ending love when thinking of

his death. They sensed that death had lost the fight,

that love had shined a bright, transforming light

on all of life, as if the mourning dove

was singing songs of joy. Their sorrow turned

to awe and then to quiet peace. They walked the road

toward wisdom and contentment, and the load

of sadness was set down. Inside them burned

the fearless, freeing love that they had seen in him.

Their lives and his seemed blended like a hymn.

* * * * *

RELIABILITY 

Some kindness comes again each day,

and peace spreads out its light each night.

In sorrow, thoughtfulness can light

our life, and goodness shows the way

from fear to trust. In sadness or

in gloom, some love is always near,

and even horrifying fear

will wither when the nearby door

to always-ready kindness opens

and shows how large our lives become

when steadfast stillness starts to hum.

Then even sorrows are our friends.