A little nightstand
Made of plastic boxes
Filled with blocks and toys
A simple lamp teeters atop
A wooden puffin stands guard
A flying pony, colorful indeed, keeps watch
And under a well-worn headband
Neatly stacked
A Bible for Toddlers
An Illustrated Book of Saints
A pink and white plastic rosary
Coiled up
Ready to spring
Howard Hain
(July/19/2018)
Manage distractions / Celebrate intrusions
Graciously receive / Generously give
From the inner room only the Good gets through
The Sovereignty of Good
Lock your doors / Welcome others in
The bodies of those who listen fit the keyhole
The voices of those worth hearing sound the same
Howard Hain
(July/18/2018)
Don’t expect anything to happen tomorrow.
Don’t not expect anything to happen tomorrow.
Live in God’s promise.
Don’t wonder about tomorrow.
Don’t not wonder about tomorrow.
Live in God’s promise.
Don’t think about tomorrow.
Don’t not think about tomorrow.
Live in God’s promise.
Don’t live in or for tomorrow.
Don’t not live in or for tomorrow.
Live in God’s promise.
Live in conversion—that leads to salvation— “believe in the one he sent.”
Jesus is The Promise.
The One God sent.
God’s promise.
He is conversion.
He is salvation.
He is “the resurrection and the life.”
Live in Jesus.
—Howard Hain
(April/2017)
Open Ended Questions.
Darts Of Love.
The Cat Is Getting Old.
The Confidence To Say Things You Don’t Understand.
I suffer myself
My self weighs me down
Grinding chaff into flour
The bread of life
Unleavened
Fluffed by faith
Placed on the tongue
Between mother’s breasts
A drop of milk
A downpour of mercy
Washed below
Bottom of self
Inverted
Begins to rise
—Howard Hain
(May/2018)
The hidden crucifixion
Not the one high on the hill
Not the one gazed upon at The Met
The one quietly gathering steam
While photos show such domestic peace
Surprise surprise
Jack-in-the-box
Happy Meal
Christ screams
The duvet is torn
The sheer overlay crumpled up
Thrown on the floor
Apartment for rent?
Property taxes need to be paid
A quick coat of paint
Put up the sign
Place it in the window
Someone looking is bound to walk by
—Howard Hain
(July/2018)
Howie Hain 