Promises

The chair-of-today which seats me,
Body and soul,

Is a cushion of promises,

Background pledges

That make this day possible and

Watch over me with

All the stability of a mountain pass,

All the reliability of a golden sunrise,

All the bets of heaven laid on

A Carpenter from a dusty village 
   in Galilee.

The gentle breeze 
Teasing in my window promises

That with life’s changes

A Mysterious Force will be

Propelling them on a mission,

My part will be to ride the wind.

The cicadas and tree frogs singing in the trees promise

That a song will accompany my days,

One written in Notes of Gold,

My part will be to tilt the ear of my heart to the song

Lest I miss the humming and buzzing and miss my cue

To sing along.

The blue sky stretching farther than my eyes can see

Or mind comprehend promises

That there will be more to life than I can

Ascertain on my own,

But that the Heavenly Blue One

Knows its heights and depths and

Will grace me with what I need

To know and enjoy that the sky is true and real and beautiful.

The blood pulsing through my veins promises

That the Energy that powers the universe

Fuels me too and perfectly runs the

Labyrinth of systems within and without 

That I give little thought to

On ordinary days.

The light in my husband’s eyes

As he comes in the door at the end of a

Busy work day promises

That I matter to him and that

The Singer of Love Songs* who brought us together

Will sustain our love through years of

Having and holding,

Feeling  yucky or on top of the world,

Counting our pennies or stacking our gold,

And ending each of our gift of together days,

As husband and wife enjoying life.

They are there, little itty bitty promises

Like the promise that the Cardinals in the trees

Will give birth to babies in the spring.

And medium promises, like the fact that

If you put a chicken in the oven

At 350 degrees, after an hour, it will be tasty.

And big promises, like the one that says

Those who believe the Promise Giver

Will go to heaven when they die

Where all the promises that are yet to be fulfilled

Are waiting, shining in glory for the delight

Of those who wait for promises,

And live each day as promise-believers

In a world where the Promise-Keeper

Has yet to break, forget, renege,

Fudge on, alter, or destroy

Even one little promise in

The universe of the bazillion promises

He has made.

*Zechariah 3:17 

He will rejoice over you with singing, 

he will quiet you with his love.

 "The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, 
and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.

Song of Solomon 2:12