Mark Feezell
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6. Fan the Flame
From A Thread of Scarlet (2024) “Fan the flame, the gift of God,” Or so said the apostle Paul. But staring down the messy hall, I find the saying foreign, odd. What flame is there in all this mess? What room for holy righteousness? When all around to which I tend Is always scattered, needs […] Read more…
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7. First Fruit
From A Thread of Scarlet (2024) It flowers first when all is brown, dead, dormant, gone, the faintest hints of springshine’s song. On branches barren, empty, free, the buds appear on lonely tree. And though the air slaps chilling, heartless, frozen, cruel, the stubborn streaks of pink persist. Paint: Shocking eyes from palettes dull, breathless, […] Read more…
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Why This Tree?
In my early days teaching at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, I was given a parking spot in a garage that was a ten-minute walk from my building. They told me there were no spots available in the parking lot right next to the building and said I could add my name to a […] Read more…
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1. Wandering
From Songs of Youth (1998) I heard it in the wide places: stars played out across their breezy courses, fixing paths of light! Old debris of yesterday: wander-watching where the river runs, new green washing the great plain. Tendrils rising, reaching, finding paths of light and life and love. Not I, a song; new rhyme, […] Read more…
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2. The Bumblebee
From Songs of Youth (1998) I was searching for a rock I dropped into the stream, watching squirrels run and wishing I could eat ice cream. There was a tumble, jumble bumblebee, but I didn’t see. I was counting clouds go by and wond’ring how things grow. All the time I didn’t know: There was […] Read more…
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3. Wondering
From Songs of Youth (1998) I wonder why the clouds are high and where the butter flies — can I go to where I’m thinking of, or is it just imagining? Why does the rain stick on the glass? Why is green the color for the grass? Where did the wind go when it passed? […] Read more…
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4. Summer-soon Storm
From Songs of Youth (1998) Black and brim-full of windy rain, and ice chunked out to break, and fire sparked out to burn: stating, not asking; moving, not hesitating; running, not walking; washing old debris of yesterday gully-dirt down into the sea. A storm with winter on its breath and summer at its back: summer-soon […] Read more…
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5. Apart
From Songs of Youth (1998) Missing you, you are here. Your voice is in the willowtop. Soon I will taste your lush embrace and kiss your sunny cheek again. How sweet to drink of you beyond the span of waiting here! Like the sunlight streaming, I will come for you. Like the moonlight beaming, I […] Read more…