Miners

 
Remember when those miners
were stuck underground
and the entire world watched
and held its breath
as the entire world extracted them
one by one by one
from the depths to the cheering crowds?
Remember how that earth
dark and hard and soft in hidden places
had every reason to kill her rapists
to crush the subterranean pirates
and yet she held them
and sang to them
and then released them to the sky?
Maybe she still remembers
and longs for the time
when we remembered
just how much she held us
just how much she sang to us
just how close we were
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
 
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The sky is on fire

The sky is on fire
as is the water
as is my heart
all burning with the same embers
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
 
sunset lake
 
 (Photo credit: Betsy Devany,  www.betsydevany.wordpress.com)
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Lighthouse

 
A lighthouse
is never afraid of the darkness;
indeed, that is part of its calling
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
 
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Mosaic

 
A mosaic 
cannot be what it is
without brokenness
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
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To think that I can be me, just as I am

 
To think that I can be me, just as I am
chips and cracks and glories and all
is an incredible thought;
it’s like that singular moment
where, after wearing shackles
you freeze in nakedness, disbelieving your freedom
and then you believe
and then you run
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
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Little bird

 
Little bird
gazing at emerging stars
do you wonder at the heavens, too?
Do even you, with feathered fingers
long to touch the light?
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
 
Hummer in tree
 
(Photo credit: Betsy Devany,  www.betsydevany.wordpress.com)
 
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Be for me a homeless shelter

 
Be for me a homeless shelter
in this forgotten city
Be for me a tiny nest
in this crowded tree of life
what do I need but that you turn your face
and flick your thoughts just once
O Lord, that you remember me
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
 
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I don’t know why the butterflies came.

I don’t know why the butterflies came.
I was walking on this country road one summer day
and suddenly ten thousand pieces of confetti
descended and danced around,
each one a little blessing
until the sky beat with diaphanous wings
until my heart fluttered in my chest,
broke free, and joined them.
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
 
butterfly-cloud-tucavaca-bolivia_81113_990x742
 
(Photo credit: National  Geographic)
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I’m listening

 
“I’m listening.”
Can more powerful words
be carved from the softness of lips
Can other words
make rocks melt
or iron dream
or withered trees return to the seed
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
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When I am wronged

 
When I am wronged
help me guard against a brittle heart
the greatest enemy of compassion
 
When I am wronged
help me seek out justice
not with vengeance, but with love
 
When I am wronged
deepen my humility
for self-righteousness is not of you
 
 
© Meisaan Chan
 
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