Stages 2

A young man I was once
In many places, many ways I -- young
French class, I saw her next to me
That came to nothing
For many years it all went somewhere
And nowhere

A youth in school, on to college
The game more important than
other valuables
Chess and football, Tartuffe stands in the background
identity forming quietly, on the gym floor
over the water cooler, walking with friends

Beneath all else I was and am a child
God's child, child of the church
my God, my church -- known together
Though one so ultimate and the other so dependent
Always together
The church, or God in Christ, carried me
Safe in canoe or woods
Secure in tenement house or apartment
Protected from myself as my own self formed

Young I was once, a young man still
buried in an older body

4 December 2004