In the late 90s I volunteered one morning a week for one class in a middle school in Mattapan in Boston at a time of many youth-on-youth shootings. I asked my sixth grade class how we could make the class safe. Quickly ideas were shouted out: “armed guards, metal detectors, bars on the windows.” Then […]
Category Archives: Poems
Our Newborn Joy
A word, softly spoken Impregnates our busy lives Swelling the recollection We are already loved. A prayer for Advent Jamie Coats December 2012
Bean & Leaf
She walked into the bar and saw him immediately, the Greenman. His face was made of leaves, he wore a summer suit and a floral Liberty print tie displaying a riot of flowers tastefully tumbling down his front. She sat next to him. She was wearing a small silk pouch around her neck that matched […]
The Green Man and Pegasus
At a bar met the Green Man Who asks, “Like a word?” “I am looking for Emmanuel, Emma for short.” “Go to my barn, take some lessons, I’ve just the horse for you, Pegasus. What a winged horse, Asked for a barn right on the cliff edge So he’d be able to leap straight into […]
Also posted in For Sister Emma, Nature, Theme for 2012, Theme for the Year
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Glimpse of Light
A door slams, locking us in the dark. The handle spins uselessly in our grasp. We see a tiny cross-shaped eye hole, We catch a glimpse of light. Keep looking, light dissolves the door, We will step from darkness into light.
Also posted in Episcopal, Horror & Terror, Prayer
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How to be a Winged-Boot Fitter
This article was written for the Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices Website http://www.ecfvp.org/ In Lent 2004 I had a vision during a meditation and wrote down a story entitled “In Boots Behold God” that told of Jesus giving me a pair of winged-boots and instructing me to “go fit boots!” Since this story emerged I […]
Posted in Poems
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Hit by a Bus Haiku
I am, roadside down Hit by a bus out biking, Tears, loving my child Jamie Coats August 2009 On July 31, 2009 I was hit by a bus while bicycling to work. As I lay on the ground an apparition of my daughter appeared before me.
Also posted in Horror & Terror, Love
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Primo Levi
Primo Levi dared to face memories Most of us would bury. He looked into the face of Hell And brought it to the surface For all to see, once and for all. Wherever he looked Wherever he went He carried Satan’s image To warn us. He was brave enough to live with the Devil To […]
Also posted in For Sister Emma, Horror & Terror, Portrait Poem
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Wonder?
We all have tragedy. Will it hold us And we pass it on Tragically? Or can we let Our friends hold us So hold our own tragedy And then let it like ash Spread into the stream Returning to the cycle Of a greater love And experience wonder? Part One of the Grief & Wonder […]
Also posted in For Sister Emma, Grief & Wonder
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