Giving Up


Easier to give up on love,
Forget about love,
Than to wake each morning
With an ache.

I’ll start tomorrow.


~ Russ Allison Loar
© All Rights Reserved

Enthusiasms


When we made love
You may not have anticipated
I would write it down
And send copies out into the world.

You may have thought
It was no one else’s business.

You are right,
Of course,
But I just can’t help myself,
Love’s enthusiasms being what they are.


~ Russ Allison Loar
© All Rights Reserved

Enough


I saw a boy riding his bicycle
Deep in some imagination
Without any bills or job or wife
Or children or war to worry about.

He did not know he was in heaven.
He did not need to know.
Being there was enough.


~ Russ Allison Loar
© All Rights Reserved

The Vaccine Of Prayer


How much immunity from a single prayer?
How long does it last
Before needing a booster prayer?
What is the prescription?
Once, twice, three times daily?
Before, with, or after a meal?

Do the elderly need to pray more than the young,
Fighting off the demons of old age?

What about the young?
So unaware of consequence,
So smug.
Are they temporarily forgiven
Despite their lack of prayer?

The recklessness of young and old alike
Cry out for contemplation,
Contemplation that engenders prayer.

Yet praying may become a rehearsed recitation,
A wish list.

What are we really asking for?
What do we really need?




~ Russ Allison Loar
© All Rights Reserved