by Lance Key
GROWTH
My early morning quiet time
with You strengthens me.
Grounds my part of a fragile marriage,
eroding from a lack of nutrients.
My bible open,
refreshing verses cultivate
gentleness instead of anger.
Her half grins grow full
like the red letters nurture my heart.
We work year twenty-three
like we toil our plant bed.
Meticulously pick the overgrown grass.
Allow the wine-colored Purple Hearts
and the gold-red hues of the Nandina
to soak up the water-rich soil.
The evening walks
and nightly prayer time
tend to us,
knowing
Jesus regenerates the neglect.
LANCE KEY
Lance Key is an educator and former coach from Corsicana, Texas. During his twenty-seven years in education, he has spent nineteen years teaching English Language Arts and twenty-two years coaching middle school and high school athletics. He holds a B.A. in English from Howard Payne University and an M.Ed. in Educational Administration from the University of North Texas. His interest in poetry began during a creative writing class in his final year at Howard Payne and has remained a creative outlet ever since. Lance and his wife of twenty-two years, Wendy, have a daughter, London.
X: @Keyster1619 | Instagram: @keyster32