Poetry – Put on the Armor of Light

How Can You Feel Hatred?

June 2, 2021June 11, 2021Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment

Sitting dog surrounded by flowers by a lake at sunset. Canva.com

How can you feel hatred
without being angry?

How can you be angry
without placing blame?

How can you place blame
without passing judgment?

How can you pass judgment
without being deceived?

How can you be deceived
without yielding to pride?

On the other hand . . .

How can you offer love
without also being patient?

How can you offer patience
without showing kindness?

How can you show kindness
without feeling empathy?

How can you feel empathy
without having compassion?

How can you have compassion
without being gracious?

How can you be gracious
without being humble?

How can you humble
with yielding your will
to God?

Michael James Fitzgerald

Remember

May 31, 2021June 8, 2021Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment

Flag of the United States of American hanging in front of a townhouse. Photo credit Michael James Fitzgerald, 31 May 2021.

I remember those
forgotten, nameless,
women and men
who died
in blood-soaked
uniform,
blank checks
written to
the order of
me and a
distracted country,

who lie in
earth scattered
graves,
whose unsung,
bitter monuments,
whisper freedom
to angels and stars.

To you I owe
more than
this elegy,
more than
my ordinary life
can yield.

Michael James Fitzgerald

Connection

May 20, 2021May 23, 2021Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment

A couple, man and woman, holding hands, walking on a beach,talking and smiling. Canva.com

It’s not our palms
clasped in
welcome
forgiveness,

not the sand
stretching
before us,
touching
infinity,

not your heart
spilling out
unforgettable
tremors,

it’s your
simple truth,
unbearable,
fervent,
familiar,
lashing the shore
of my very being.

Michael James Fitzgerald

“Disciple of Life”

January 8, 2021January 28, 2021Michael James Fitzgerald2 Comments

Men are born soft and supple;
dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.
Thus, whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.
The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.

Lao Tzu, from Tao Te Ching, no. 76, translated by Stephen Mitchell

Psalm of Praise

January 3, 2021January 3, 2021Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment

Reflective pond surrounded by snow covered trees. Image courtesy of Gospel Media library. See https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media?lang=eng

Great is the God
of my mother,
great is my
father’s God.
Honored and holy
be His ever
great name.

The Name
above all other
names, the
Lord of all lords,
God of gods,
the Great I AM
is His name.
Selah.

Sing His name in
the earth,
O ye saints,
sing it in the
heavens, ye angels.
Holy and praised
be His ever
great name.
Amen.

Michael James Fitzgerald

I Don’t Care

January 1, 2021January 3, 2021Michael James Fitzgerald2 Comments

Man and woman holding hands next to water at sunset. Photo credit: Canva.com.

I don’t care about your weaknesses.
I have plenty of my own.
Let’s work on them together.

I don’t care about your sharp words.
They are open wounds that need
the gentle balm of sunlight.

I don’t care about your sins.
You know all of mine.
Why remember what heaven
promises to forget?

I only care about the
piercingly authentic,
perfectly imperfect,
tenderly affirming,
unassuming,
unadorned You.

Michael James Fitzgerald

So Close

Image December 31, 2020February 1, 2021Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment

"So close you can't see it. So subtle your mind can't understand it. So simple you can't believe it. So good you can't accept it." —Loch Kelly

A Child’s Eyes

December 25, 2020December 25, 2020Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment

Cardinal on a snowy branch (Credit: Canva).

Let me see
the world
you want
me to see

a world
where I don’t
spite myself
for trifles
or judge with
check stand
eyes

where all is
innocent hope
for the
unfailing
ministry
of snow.

Michael James Fitzgerald

Decorating for Christmas

Image December 23, 2020February 1, 2021Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment

"I tried an experiment this year. The only thing I decorated was my heart. No one can cancel that." —Anonymous

Winter Lessons

December 15, 2020December 26, 2020Michael James FitzgeraldLeave a comment

I waited for you
unblinkingly
by the side
of the road.
Spring, summer,
autumn, winter.

On a snowy afternoon,
you sent me
a stranger instead
with suffering tires
and eyes that
could shatter glass.

I dug in her trunk
for an elusive jack,
ruining my best suit,
the one I’d put on
for a different
occasion.

When she
drove happily off,
I looked up
and saw your face
smiling wryly
behind
thin clouds.

Michael James Fitzgerald