I Attest That God Loves All His Children




From the swollen banks of the Congo River
to flooded delta rice fields in South Vietnam 
to the boy who waters down the dust
at the beginning of the day
in a Guatemalan open-air market
to the schoolgirl who opens
her umbrella on an unusually rainy day
while waiting at a bus stop in Adelaide, Australia
to the roofer from Mumbai, India who hastily patches
the holes with mud before the monsoons come
to the farmer from Northern Ireland
who with an oath stamps mud off his boots 
to the lady who for fifty years 
has softly cooed and comforted 
butterflies in the cool mists 
of her vegetable and flower gardens
in Bellingham, Washington 
to the man who shivers and leans into the sleet
in the grey reality of a fishing boat
undulating in the choppy storm 
near Norway’s coast in the North Sea
to the group of children from Tibet 
who launch homemade teetering kites
into sprinkling rain and wind
all are in reach of God’s mercy
— granting life.

"That I will give you the rain
of your land in his due season,
the first and the latter rain..."
(AKJV Deuteronomy 11:14)










Nailing Sins to His Cross (AKJV Colossians 2: 13-15)




thud-thud-thud-thump
Grandmother, I nail
your painting, an external portrait,
a symbol
of the everlasting flood
of kindness, love unbounded.

Your steady hand stirs the upper
Mojave Desert in spring.
I lift and hang it.
Low-lying California oaks
lace and line the sandy
soil, leading to solitary
shimmering summit of bare
rock that wavers into clouds.

thud-thud-thud-thump
Jesus, I nail
my sins to Your cross
releasing my feet from the
tangled wood overgrowth of sin,
redemption's breath
giving jump to my joy.
The nail prints in the hands and feet.
Oh! the nail prints in your hands.

Biography:
Michael Shoemaker is a poet and photographer from Magna, Utah. He is the author of three poetry/photography collections, is a three-time nominee for the 2025 Best of the Net Anthology Awards and a Pushcart nominee. His poetry will appear in Boundless 2025: The Anthology of the Rio Grande Valley International Poetry Festival. His work is in The Christian Courier, Valiant Scribe, The Clayjar Review, Today’s Living Christian Magazine, Spirit Fire Review, Pure in Heart Stories and Go! Christian Magazine. He received a Living Waters Award at Blue Lake Christian Writers Conference in 2024. Michael enjoys hiking and tennis.