Joy and beauty

I would dance joy
into hearts beloved
weave beauty
as I step through your days

My body
unfit and lazy as it is
turns over all its dancing wishes
to words
syllables of intent
swirling visions
those we share
those I offer as light
against life’s shadows

Caravaggio danced his own tango
didn’t he
wild humanity in holy subjects
immediate and stark
eyes he saw over his evening meal
come to life as a saint
as Jesus sitting with the tax collectors
shade and that strong light
reality streaming in from the right
from outside the shelter
where they were breaking bread

Grief runs its course
through all our lives
but a hand to hold
a candle against a cold cavern
these I have to give you
offerings of hope’s soft respite
from all our storms