Israel’s at war,

Yellowstone’s rising,

five feet already,

tremendous pressure underneath,

world’s biggest volcano,

you know, gonna blow

the West away,

said golden-brown bangs

over the far-seeing

marbled eyes.

This is an economic depression,

we’re all really depressed,

teeth gnashing in our sleep,

she said,

we’re fighting two wars,

India and Pakistan

are rattling their nukes,

a tsunami here, a tsunami there,

more tornadoes, bigger hurricanes,

the whales are beaching,

the preacher’s teaching,

it’s the beginning of the end,

we’re coming to the end times,

wars and rumors of wars,

disasters and rumors of disasters,

the end is near,

this really, really is, she said,

the beginning of the end.

Was afraid her teeth

might fall out

below the thin, taut face,

so shivering and pale,

drawn but committed

to so much of the demise.

So forgive me if I asked,

it’s just that I’m kind of slow,

but I’d really like to know,

are you sure that it’s

the beginning of the end,

or could it be,

the end of the beginning?

Could it possibly be

that God is winning

with this confusing lesson plan,

and he is saying that sinning,

is partly just not winning,

in what we are supposed to know?

Pardon me,

if I’m not drawn

to a harp upon a cloud,

or the constant singing

as a voice in the middle

of a forever warbling crowd.

But if He says there’s more,

that each of us was made

uniquely for this more,

I finally become excited

because it’s the end

of our beginning,

the end of our world

as we know it

forever struggling with

ugly attitudes and selfishness,

the god want-to-be’s

so horribly planted

to create our miseries,

and we finally accept

our stewardship,

the grace for what we

 were meant to be,

you and me,

and he and she,

then it really is the end,

a joy of song

from within the soul,

forever vibrating

the passion of God.

It’s the end of the beginning,

the end of the beginning,

we’ve only just begun,

to smell apple sauce and roses,

and touch upon eternity,

and her teeth

have still stayed

in her head.  

Copyright 2009