began life with religion
earnest to get my bus ticket
to heaven

be faithful
more acceptable
to god

each year
noticing how it all fades
the dissolved beliefs
fears
guilt

holiness now
resides in breath
skin sensation
heaven here
this awareness

or hell

the sky
a cathedral dome

Dan Hines 2026
Photo by Igor Karimov

he sits with dogs
in shelters
i watch his videos

dogs in fear
abused
shut down
gently coaxes their senses
they respond

in a retreat
i guided
she came in wounded
fear
a woman longing to heal

the group was present
she emerged

now i know
i sit with people
in a shelter
of friends

Dan Hines 2026
Photo by Siebe Vanderhaeghen

Grace

grace

a word
inadequate
yes

needed
yes

how else
to ever express
sublime shock
we are here
it all exists?

defying destruct…

i've noticed

the bigger a decision
the less rational
the process

tiny choices
weigh pros & cons
analyze data

what to cook?
well, what's in the fridge?

yet deciding on

a calling
an intimate partner
my religion
where i live

tap into deeper sub-currents
intuition

a risky leap

Dan Hines 2025
photo by Donald Giannatti

beneath the grime
sooty layers
oxidation 

is texture of stone
masterpiece
sculpted by nature

my essence
core
your priceless self

has god's chisel marks
a fierce artist

all healing is art restoration

peel away residue
renew
detox
reveal the original glory
beneath
always there

Dan Hines 2024
Photo by Hrant Khachatryan

as a priest
i've often spoken
from the prayer book

'cleanse the thoughts
of our hearts'

it's true

my heart has thoughts
an energy
a voice

my heart thoughts
are a form of power
create the world
they name

to have intent

be aware
careful in how
what i think

is a worthy prayer

Dan Hines 2024
Photo by Cathal Mac an Bheatha

web
apt name
for an internet
surrounding

woven strands
fibre-optic cables
pulsing patterns of electrons
layered in complex code
sticky with ads
attract me
addict me
over and again
to remain
connected

am i the unhappy fly?
stuck with you in this
longing for when
there was no web

Dan Hines 2024
Photo by Richie Bettencourt

darkness reaches further
into the day
encloses each morning
winter deepens

community needs
light
sun
to huddle
see the other
get work done
relieve fear

my solitude trusts
darkness
eases into surrender
to void

silent desert
surrounding each lit oasis
pushing back
the inevitable

Dan Hines 2024
Photo by Joshua Earle

a conspiracy theory
my friend detailed
at dinner
involves all

nothing i hear
is true
i'm in a web of lies
so are you

he does trust
a prophetic voice
the sole truth

i listened
realized
i lack
his faith
evil is so pervasive
organized
infused into everything

i sense so much good

Dan Hines 2024
Photo by J Meza Photography

a bridge
concrete
steel
solid
became a ruin

hurricane mitch
1998
merciless
released fury on honduras

a deluge
moved the river
carved new banks

so it is as
covid
grief
cancer
trauma

life storms

surge
pour on me

around me

render all i've relied on
useless

when the river moves

Dan Hines 2023
Photo credit: Japanese International Cooperation Agency

afire

my small corner
of this vastness

acrid smoke
dissolved in tears
strained gasps

summer faded
odd pink sun
just visible
in dense grey sky

my fear burns colder
than fire
yet also destroys
consumes

so much kindness
much loss

i find clear air
i breathe deep
in your hearing me

Dan Hines 2023
Photo by Malachi Brooks

spiritual but not religious

as a priest
i could retire on
this phrase
if a few bucks were given
each time i heard it

yep
i get it

except
i am stuck with

religion

something like it

uninterested in defining
a difference
when the need
is simple

to belong
to love
be connected

Dan Hines 2023
photo by Noah Holm

before & after

events now labelled by
covid time

i wonder
did this happen
pre or post
pandemic?

rebuilding after
this tsunami
alters time

i resist
illness as sign post
fear marker

aware how
virus infects memory
mind
soul
identity

long after the body
is healed

Dan Hines 2023
photo by NOAA

incarnation

lofty theology lingo
spirit becomes flesh

i was raised
to think about it
only at christmas

mystery of a cosmic babe
in a manger
god among us

yet i wonder

how it's my risk
your courage
to embody the divine

our beautiful physical
real
sacred

blood
bones
all glory

Dan Hines 2023
Photo by Ben White

navigators of old
knew their boat
was moving

yet in practice
awareness
they were not

the boat was the center

needle of a compass
that is the universe

it was the islands
that were moving

my body also
needs to be still
find focus

an eye in a storm of events
emotions
passing by

Dan Hines 2023
photo by Johannes Plenio

the first day
of a new year

i've cleared breakers
heard in darkness
about to beach my boat

each year of life
a voyage to
discover a new island
make a home
again

i've left many behind
each island
leading to another

i can never stay

risky oceanic impulse
to sail 
find
año nuevo

Dan Hines  Jan. 1, 2024
photo by Cris Tagupa

sometimes
friends who almost died
tell me
there is no fear at that edge

sometimes
resting on my yoga mat
i dissolve
melt into peace

sometimes
cooking with good friends
a glass of wine
body alive to gratitude
relaxed

all the time
this knowing is there
waiting for me
to remember

Dan Hines 2026
Photo by Richard Bell

i preached my first sermon
when i was 14

on a sunday night
ellen
prayer warrior
placed her aged hands
on my head

said
she had a word
from god

i'd be a holiness preacher

each day since
i try to realize that calling

discover
new ways to express

live

how
holiness is wholeness

Dan Hines, May 2024
photo by Tehzeeb Kazmi

when i act slowly
i move smoothly
when i move smoothly
i act fast

his summary of years
as a ranger
what he learned
in the army

there is a space
still
smooth
slow

between willful pushing
and missing the chance

where i'm in flow
each decision
with purpose
true to what is needed

Dan Hines 2024
photo by Ross Tinney

consumed in flames

old wooden bridge
of my hometown

some landmarks are indelible
the furniture in a memory house

i'm river swimming
gazing up
red paint
creosote

my father told me
stories of herding sheep
on the planks
in the 40s

grief is a woven tapestry
of
objects
ancestors

Dan Hines 2024
photo by unknown source