A Cloud By Day

Some of you have asked for the poem I read in our worship service a couple of weeks ago, so I'm posting it to the website. Enjoy!

A CLOUD BY DAY

A cloud by day, a fire by night.
And still I wander.

The mana comes with the dew
And we offer sweet prayers
Of Thanksgiving.

By afternoon time
We have forgotten.
And can be heard arising
From our camp the
Bitter lament.

Oh, that I might return
To the order, the routine
The ritual and comfort, the
Predictable expectation
Of slavery.

So nice to be told
Who I am and who I am
Expected to be.
Thought is a chore
And freedom becomes
Increasingly
An irresponsible vision
Dying with each
Passing moment.
I can no longer
Afford the luxury.

In my dreams though
Lights dance
Amorphously
Images of people I have
Known and loved
Words spoken in kindness
And intimacies – so
Sweetly and softly made.
The dreams flicker away
As the fire fades
And once more appears
A cloud by day.