Category Archives: Devotional Poetry

Scheduled Attempts at Delight

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

In December, the people turn their attentionto joy.We don’t do it well, of course:the baubles are tacky, the sales crowded,we line up in a fifty-minute queueto see exactly what we already knew was going to happen,happen just as we knew … Continue reading →

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Safecracker

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

happinesscan be cultivatedperhapsboil the kettle for a cup of teaor go for a walkor write a twelve-part novel on the love life of the urban sasquatchand happiness could easily growin facthappiness is a little like crabgrassit doesn’t take all that … Continue reading →

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The Starting Line of Kindness

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

The starting line of kindness can be anywhere.It can begin with good intentions, or boredom, or practical notions.An overheard word at the bus stop, a dropped grocery bag,A strange creature limping, a moment’s silence at the hospital room –All are … Continue reading →

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The Classroom of the Gods

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

The gods, like children,do not take all that naturally to instruction –like children, they are only too aware of their own immortality,and surrender it only under duress.While staring, past the glass,at a mountain of leavesthat waits invitingly in the alley … Continue reading →

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Shrove Tuesday

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

In 2022, on Shrove Tuesday,forty miles of Russian tanks drove into Kiev,as a global climate report announced that more parts of the planetwould soon be hot, underwater, rife with mosquitos, or extinct.The pandemic had been going for two years. It … Continue reading →

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Dedication

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

Written on your heart are the words“This heart is dedicated to _________”After that comes playing the piano,or Maude, or the sacred mantra of your children’s names.Some names have been crossed out, and you can barely make outthe letters beneath all … Continue reading →

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Pandemic Merlin

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

Somewhere, probably,in the Cornish caves,Merlin reflects that the worst has already happened,and is yet to be.The grail has been lost, and found,and will be lost again,the table sundered, communion givenand ripped apart. As a journeyer both waysupon the bifurcated seconds,Merlin … Continue reading →

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When You Can’t Even

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

Here is something you can do. Place your shoulder.Or back. Or belly. Leg, arm. The firmness of your foot.Some part of you.Against the ground, gently.Or the linoleum floor. Or the sofa. Or sit.You might close your eyes. Then, rock. Gently.Rock … Continue reading →

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For Those Who Have Been Wronged

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

They don’t always get it right,you know. The counsellor can’t read his own handwriting,the judge’s breakfast weighs on his decisions,the banking software forgets to carry the one. Boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife:all of these, words around a hope,the hope itself fastenedto … Continue reading →

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“It’s for the children isn’t it – Christmas”

Posted on May 12, 2022 by bobjanisdillon

So it has been said to me, over the course of my winters,by several older men, with sad eyes, kind manners, and, often, livesrough around the edges. And they’re right.Better than right: they live their creed,there when the lights need … Continue reading →

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