Connections in creation
Analogies galore
Prepare me for the ocean
Of meaning to explore
Below the superficial
Beyond the shallow shore
Are mariana trenches
Of mystery to adore
Holy, holy, holy!
‘part from all created things
Glory, glory, glory!
From deep eternal springs
Circa 2000
We’ve a small pup
A boisterous black lab with a
Bulging belly who can bonsaiii!
Blitz, bounce, and bluff in a game of tackle
By night she is blobbing her ohhh!
So sad puppy’s bewail, for she needs to
Trot a trip to the massive field (our backyard)
To take care of business
Hours later she is bustling again
For a bobble, bouting for kicks
Bumptious and brave in game
And hasty over eating her puppy-bites
Years will pass
She will become an expert botanist
A bullfrog and butterfly warrior
And a mighty guard for burglars and mailmen
For now, I smile watching her big bright eyes
Glimmer at the sound of her new
Best friends, the benevolent givers of
Breakfast
I have learned to love hyperbole
To exaggerate purposefully
It is the language of love glowing
Bubbling, brimming, overflowing
And with a little two-word qualifier
I can take any superlative
Any galaxy
Any solar system
Any star
And fit it in my pocket
My wife is the best cook
In the universe
For me
My son is the smartest boy
In the galaxy
For me
My daughters are the sweetest little women
In the world
For me
But God is where all superlatives go to be purified
In the fire of perfection
Where all limiting qualifiers are stripped
Where all exaggerations become understatements
Where all poets speak as children
Before the un-exaggeratable
Most High
Space is a place
To be near
Presence is a grace
To touch and hear
Pitter, patter
Creak
Thud!
“MOMMY, I NEED SOME HELP!”
Tip-toe, tip-toe
Slide
Tug
“Daddy, I want some milk.”
Shuffle, twist
Tweak
Turn
“Honey, can you please be still? I’m trying to sleep.”
Read with Our God playing. To the God worth declaring.
Let it echo across the Salt Lake Valley
Let the people of the true Jesus rally
Let the timid see a glow and feel the heat
As the word of the Lord is preached
God is too great to keep Salt Lake placid
Yet God is too kind for speech like acid
Jesus Christ, full of grace and truth
Fit both to whisper and to preach
Fire in my bones for the God of glory
Blood on my hands if I don’t share the story
Beats in my heart for sheep with no shepherd
Today is the day to preach
Read with How He Loves playing. To the God of the brokenhearted in Romans 4:5.
The grace I need is deeper than the grace they have
I can’t wait around to be forgiven
I need forgiveness today
Actually, this second
Don’t meet me at my weakness, and do the rest
No, go underneath it
To the bottom
And do it all
Don’t tell me to be what I never will be in this life
And then tell me that afterward it will be OK
No, I want more than “OK”
And I want it now
I need grace after all I can do to screw up
My opportunities
My relationships
My heart
Regard me as something that I’m not
Treat me like I’m already everything
You ever wanted me to be
And then change me
I don’t want the prospect of your forgiving love
I want the reality
Today
Now
Winter depression
Sinus infection
Chill in the air
Stuck in my lair
Freezing two feet
Too hot under sheets
My lungs feeling old
Master bedroom so cold
If Spring was a sprinter
Outrunning every cold Winter
I wouldn’t be writing
This poem
Circa 2000 (replete with teenage angst)
Beauty is a lie
And a blessing for you, dear
You are a rich and radiant
Rose that glows and pricks
At the intimate mind
Your curséd blessing
Is most favored among the cursed
So I pity you
And I love you
With mine own curséd eyes
Give my baby John your beat
A holy, holy, on repeat
A rap on your consuming power
An urgent message for the hour
Bless my Lydia with your dance
And strong refrain of sweet romance
Of faithfulness and security
A pas de deux in purity
Preserve my wife with your grand piano
And a sanctifying sweet soprano
A host of angels on each side
Of the aisle for the chosen bride
Restore my life with your violin
Of forgiveness of my deepest sins
To evermore on you depend
And sing a song that never ends
Three-year birthdays mean fun balloons
Eating cereal with colored spoons
And drinking milk without a straw
You are a big boy now
You wake up early by yourself
And sneak off goldfish from the shelf
And turn on Barney with a shout
You are a big boy now
At the end of songs you shout “hooray!”
You say, “rejoice!”, this is the day
The Lord made it, let us be glad
You are a big boy now
Sometimes you disobey your dad
Correcting you, it makes me sad
But I’m proud of you
You are a big boy now
You taught your sister to hit a ball
You show concern when someone falls
Your heart is tender-sweet
You are a big boy now
So much you do now on your own
Our favorite shirts you’ve all outgrown
It’s time to buy new shoes
You are a big boy now
In the morning you begin pre-school
Tonight I’m feeling like a fool
For letting time go by so fast
You are a big boy now
I Am Aaron Shafovaloff 