Debbie Shinskie


Missing Dad

i don’t want to wear
your flannel shirt;
i don’t want to use
your tools
to fix what; i want to tear apart.
i don’t want your books
on my shelf,
your chair by my couch.
i want to go home again
to a place that’s whole
to be lost in a clean-washed hug
& to know that everything is alright.
the fragment you left behind
hurt me inside
as my puzzle becomes less whole,
i want to go home.


need

man by the side of the road
in a posture of prayer
begging me to enter
into the ugliness of my surplus
and see
what i truly need
will fit in one bag
and my heart


seeing

surface of smooth
that i wear over the fear-
do not be fooled
by the soul-light
that you see;
for i too
know a deep pain.
do not turn away,
the place that hurts
is comforted
not by words but by a look that connects;
we are not alone
& that is why
the spark glows.


The Way

the rule does not bend
i do
the call I can not ignore
resounds
& so I turn the corner


Heights

i did fly with you
on an upward draft of love
to realms of unknown