broad, delicate time—unearthed,
we are in a jagged paradise.
Christ, independently protected,
keeps to his own fold.
A child whose mind is spiritually nimble,
whose mother guards his predecessor.
Yet something makes the young children different.
Ask. You will find that one needs no temporal strength.
The other is under safety, looking forward.
It is Christ, ahead of all time, who looks back.
When Madness Ceases... the calm of light
will burden you like rain,
and one storm will drive another asunder.
Night is tremendous on the veins.
Moment after moment is not worth complaint.
Dustin Pickering is the founder of Transcendent Zero Press, a Houston-based poetry publisher responsible for Harbinger Asylum, which was nominated for best poetry journal in the 2013 National Poetry Awards. He is published in the Texas Poetry Calendar 2016, The Muse for Women Anthology, Lost Coast Review, and many others. In 2013, his work was featured in Houston's most popular reading series, Public Poetry.
