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.
Hit by a Bus Haiku
Posted in Horror & Terror, Love, Poems
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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 expose him
To protect us.
We did not recognize him.
Let us forget.
Bury it.
Hide it.
Anything but remember.
We did not hold his hand
Give him the love
The love of humanity.
Alone
He said goodbye.
Jamie Coats August 1987
On April 11, 1987 42 years after being rescued from Auschwitz Primo Levi fell to his death in the stair-well of the Turin apartment building where he was born and lived.
In August 1987 I met Primo Levi’s sister at a dinner party. She did not mention her brother but I left the party feeling grief-stricken. I read a number of his works and wrote this poem.
On April 11, 2010 my sister Emma was admitted to the John Radcliffe Hospital trauma unit following a fall. I think she would have have understood this poem.
Posted in For Sister Emma, Horror & Terror, Poems, 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 Trilogy: Wonder? Wonder, Wonderful
Jamie Coats February 2011
Posted in For Sister Emma, Grief & Wonder, Poems
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Wonder, Wonder, Bounding Tiger
Awoke to find a tiger
By my bedside.
“Resolve to pray your day
I’m from your sister.
I am here to give you courage
No fear you need to have.”
“At night you sleep well?” she asks
“I fear what lies under my bed,” comes my reply.
She nuzzles me, says,
“My eyes catch demon lines
In the swirling dark underneath.
I catch and hold them tight.
By morn I know their names
They no longer need to know mine.
They turn to ash,
Added stripes on my back.
Come! Bound through meadow
Come! Bound to the stream.
Plunge to the middle,
The sun will sparkle on the water.
Let their tragedy wash out to sea.
Wonder at the cycle of nature.
On the river bank there are
Sisters and brothers,
A whole church of friends
Whose prayers call for the
Beauty of the land.
Once parched, now green.
Weeping restores life.
Now rest by the stream.”
I lie against her rich soft fur
She grooms herself.
She talks of her feisty cubs,
Her fierce love for them.
Up she gets and I experience life’s
Wonder, wonder, bounding tiger.
Theme for 2011
Part Two of the Grief & Wonder Trilogy: Wonder? Wonder, Wonderful
Jamie Coats February 2011
Posted in For Sister Emma, Grief & Wonder, Nature, Poems, Theme for 2011, Theme for the Year
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Wonderful
There is nothing more wonderful
Than to have ones way
Blocked by an angel,
Holding a gift from God
A practice when received
Let’s us feel God’s love.
Blind
We bump into the angel.
“Get out of my way”
But the angel does not move
If we fight we lose like Jacob
If we turn the angel moves around.
Fear comes to attack
But sees a man confronted by an angel
Receiving a gift from God.
Fear can not confront
As the angel is in the way
And its wings wrap the man in love.
He lets the angel
Place his broken heart
In a nest of feathered love
Where broken pieces come
To lie and heal
To rest in wonder,
And the Angel says,
“Know in your church of friends
You can place your hurt heart on the altar
And know there will be no hole in your chest
But a space filled with the heart
That God gave Jesus.”
Part Three of the Grief & Wonder Trilogy: Wonder? Wonder, Wonderful
Jamie Coats March 2011
Posted in Grief & Wonder, Poems
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Rules of the Heart
- Breathe in God’s Love.
- Stop, part your time to make space for God.
- Say out loud “I love you” to the names of friends & foes.
- Humbly ask for God’s help & the help of all around.
- Know nothing; listen deeply for God’s joy in all.
- Shake & shudder to let go of physical attachments, feel God’s spirit flow.
- Die well; accept each day to sleep in God’s peace
Jamie Coats October 2005
The Nest
Nests are homes
Made of scraps;
Discarded pieces
Of other lives
Woven into love.
Jamie Coats June 2004
Wild Flowers & Butterflies
The love of God
Is like a butterfly
That reminds us
That we are as
Beautiful as flowers
And in our darkest heart
Is the love giving
Nectar of life.
Jamie Coats January 2008
My Daily Prayer
“Ride out!
With gentle voice.
In name of Christ,
celebrate a whole life
with no dichotomy,
a riot of visual imagery,
to open eyes, to spiritualize.”
Jamie Coats January 7th 2004
Polish the Tortoise
Polish the tortoise
Amble in love.
Emerge out of the blue
On four legs and tail too,
Step slowly as forgiver,
Father, fitter, lover,
By balance my day foretold
On my back the world,
Daily a doable walk
In search of the lettuce stalk,
Oft idle, to rest, to turn
To stop, to learn:
From hare who forgiveness begs
Ears between his legs,
From healing in hearing
The jackal in the garden
Immediately pull in
Safe in my skin
And talk from inside
‘Til safe to confide
My inner eagle eye
Sees from on high
A compass like creature
Pointing to a green future
Resting in love’s embrace
In sleep there’s no race
At night bathe in calm
Or sleep in her arms
To awake anew
Again out of the blue
Polish the tortoise
Amble in love
Theme for 2010
Jamie Coats February 2010
Posted in Nature, Poems, Theme for 2010, Theme for the Year
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