Lent and Lotic Thanksgiving​

Two poems by Andy Lang

Lent

Wander a dry creek bed
And contemplate your life-
The parched stones, the empty channels
Those you have abandoned,
That which you have forsaken.
Fall to your knees
And help bring the rain

Just as water, when given the time
Will wear down the stone,
Eventually absorbing its essence,
Its angularity,
The steadfastness of rock,
So does a stony heart soften and disappear
When embraced
By the liquid nature
Of love and life.

Lotic Thanksgiving

(lotic: of, relating to, or living in actively moving water)

We give thanks for those gathered
Fulfilling the promise and grace of family.
And here’s thanks for the river of memory
That brings us to confluence with those
Gone from this table, but who still share a place
And a purpose for gathering.

This is a time for celebrating all we have
And have no longer-- all we now share
With a world wider than just our own,
As that quiet river broadens,
Called downstream to a greater sea,
Boundless in love and story
And remembrance.

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Andy Lang's a "writer at large" who teaches Literature and Creative Writing at Lewis and Clark High School in Spokane, Washington. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Eastern Washington University. Andy's had work published in SpokeWrite, RiverLit, Slightly West, Spokane Writes and journals/magazines.