junk (Romans 6:1b-11)

those secrets
      known only to
            us in the
         shadows of our
            hearts
   and the flickering
      monitors in the
         dim rooms?

those grudges
      we stockpile in
             our souls,
         where they fester,
   oozing bitterness
            every time
            we pick off the
         scabs?

those thoughtless words
      and mean-spirited
          phrases 
          in that
                tattered
         dictionary of
            disdain we
   keep in our back pocket
      for use at a
          moment's notice?

you gather all these
          up, (and all
      the rest of the  
      junk of our lives),
   sorting them out
      on the tables in
      the driveway,
         planting a big
         sign reading
   Yard Sale
      by the curb;

then,
turning on the
          sprinklers,
   you teach us
       to turn
          cartwheels
      in the cooling
          drops of
   life.

(c) 2014 Thom M. Shuman