off the beaten path

bethlehembreathes:

      i used to hide inside of steeples
 waiting for God’s lightning to strike
     in the wilderness i stand waiting
                he tells me i am there too
                 because i live within you
                       i am always with you
i chase fury
he is a fire
he is still
he is silence
he is thunder
i chase safety
                       i am always with you
             he says i love you because
 i am love and there is no darkness
       in the light of truth is a straight
                           path to infinite life
                           
flèche

bethlehembreathes:

the gospel of unclenched fists

these hands

bethlehembreathes:

the heart is the philosopher’s stone
-Saul Williams

            lately my heart has been bending
          bullets with breaths and killing time
     i know that life and death
           aren’t opposites but they’re
             intricately connected composites of
              one another and that light and dark are 
        not opposites for they exist simultaneously
   and that bumper sticker religion of coexist is 
ironic because living on earth is evidence
               that coexistence has been our reality 
              since fire covered layers of earth 
            covering layers of fire 
          i’m not giving up the unearthing of truth
             as it births itself giving life to light
       fathom with me that God was never born
               God doesn’t have a beginning or end
                   God is not a seed with an origin
                       God doesn’t have a source 
         as a bullet traces it’s origins in a barrel
  the barrel from metal and the metal from the earth
i know light is the absence of darkness
and darkness is the absence of light
calm indicates the presence of chaos
as chaos is a testament to calm

calm & chaos coexisting  

bethlehembreathes:

breathing is a living mechanism

the air in my lungs isn’t feminine

nor is it masculine our רוּחַ is divine

i understand the struggle many

face in accepting their bodies as

they are because we are more than

our bodies it’s when you cease to nurture

your Spirit that you begin to reject

your body as it is fearfully and

wonderfully made not some accidental

genetic embodiment of biological

calculations you are not an accident

you are not worthless you are here for a

reason you are worth it

keep breathing and don’t stop believing

neutral affirmations

bethlehembreathes:

the calender reminds me it’s monday again

this is going to be a happy poem because

all of my other ones are neutral you read them

and feel your own emotions but this poem

i’m telling you is a happy poem so don’t be

afraid to let your face do that awkward thing

where the corners of your mouth spread and

sometimes your teeth show and your nose

crinkles a bit and the corners of your eyes

wrinkle it’s okay this is a happy poem

reminding you that it’s monday and it’s okay to

smile

se·rene

ecryre:

/səˈrēn/

adjective
calm, peaceful, and untroubled; tranquil. 

bethlehembreathes:

 break your arms around your love
            home is a burning building
     you sang about it in your sleep
      i cut my hair more times than i
  remember i should have grown it
past my knees it would have been
         more symbolic like tree rings
     every curl and kink would have
   been the teeth these words lack
chewing through faded nail polish
this resistance
silence’s friction
a metaphor 
for breathing

daughters of the soho riots

bethlehembreathes:

shadows cast long glances
     back from the pavement
that swallows your footsteps
   whole
     their words are there
echoing in the void
       remembering silence
as i pray to the breath God
    for dreams where cobwebs
don’t soak up the seafoam
     where the sand isn’t salt
               that burns my feet
    you blink
      and breathe
          remembering me the
red flower shivering in the wind
        a letter of scarlet seared on
          God’s holy breast

promenade

bethlehembreathes:

you will never find the answers
to the questions that you never

ask

bethlehembreathes:

i see an empty wine bottle in a field

and remember the distance of the

ocean from these words

lost love letters