BROWN PSALM
How couldst Thou be so cruel to me?
“I am the Gardener here”
Why didst Thou prune my eminence?
“To make you sweeter, Dear”
What can I give when I’m so small?
“Your yield will augment mine”
How can I fill my destiny?
“Your harvest will be fine”
(26 October 2010, Provo, Utah)
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
THE POET PSALM
THE POET PSALM (for EED and RWE)
Circumference her master trope –
Her minor turn is prose
Of dialectic opposites –
The arguments men pose.
She runs a Circuit round the Word –
Her purpose is to ring
The bells of periphrastic hymn –
Her “business is to sing”
Domestic is her universe
Beneath – beside – above –
Beyond antithesis she brings
Economy of love.
(11 August 2010, Provo, Utah)
Circumference her master trope –
Her minor turn is prose
Of dialectic opposites –
The arguments men pose.
She runs a Circuit round the Word –
Her purpose is to ring
The bells of periphrastic hymn –
Her “business is to sing”
Domestic is her universe
Beneath – beside – above –
Beyond antithesis she brings
Economy of love.
(11 August 2010, Provo, Utah)
DRAWING PSALM
DRAWING PSALM
The light makes perspective –
The angles that slope –
Diminishing arches –
Diagonal scope.
The rays intersticing –
The network of waves –
The particles splicing –
In cross-section naves.
Antiphonal pointing –
Symmetrical twines –
Stained-glass panes appointing –
Perfectioning lines.
(11 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The light makes perspective –
The angles that slope –
Diminishing arches –
Diagonal scope.
The rays intersticing –
The network of waves –
The particles splicing –
In cross-section naves.
Antiphonal pointing –
Symmetrical twines –
Stained-glass panes appointing –
Perfectioning lines.
(11 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
HIGHGATE PSALM
HIGHGATE PSALM (to Mary Ann Evans, aka GE)
Unconsecrated ground (they said)
Is hallowed by thy grave
Your common marriage (not by law)
With neither aisle nor nave
The sacred space walks into us
As we move through each page
To realms of moral circumstance
In novels for our age.
(15 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Unconsecrated ground (they said)
Is hallowed by thy grave
Your common marriage (not by law)
With neither aisle nor nave
The sacred space walks into us
As we move through each page
To realms of moral circumstance
In novels for our age.
(15 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
KEBLE PSALM
KEBLE PSALM (to Emily wherever)
“They shut me up in prose” she marked –
A dialectic cell –
The polar oppositions of
A reason to excel.
The cloister – chapel – quadrangle –
The library – the lawn –
The polished composition of
A logic closely drawn.
Our fathers have engendered us –
Our mothers have inspired –
The patriarchs identify
The matriarchs desire.
(8 August 2010, London)
“They shut me up in prose” she marked –
A dialectic cell –
The polar oppositions of
A reason to excel.
The cloister – chapel – quadrangle –
The library – the lawn –
The polished composition of
A logic closely drawn.
Our fathers have engendered us –
Our mothers have inspired –
The patriarchs identify
The matriarchs desire.
(8 August 2010, London)
MARGARET’S PSALM
MARGARET’S PSALM
The saturated beauty of
Historical surmise –
Voluminous with duty and
The ever watching skies.
The battlements of history
Parade in magazine –
Bituminous with mystery
They shroud the modern scene.
(2 August 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)
The saturated beauty of
Historical surmise –
Voluminous with duty and
The ever watching skies.
The battlements of history
Parade in magazine –
Bituminous with mystery
They shroud the modern scene.
(2 August 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)
DISTRICT PSALM
DISTRICT PSALM
Landscapes – pastures – footpaths – lakes –
Blessings of my solitude –
Scattering pre-August rain –
I will never be the same.
Who am I to bear this joy?
Who gave me this quiet voice?
Gathering pre-harvest grain
Whispered in Thy stainless name.
(30 July 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)
Landscapes – pastures – footpaths – lakes –
Blessings of my solitude –
Scattering pre-August rain –
I will never be the same.
Who am I to bear this joy?
Who gave me this quiet voice?
Gathering pre-harvest grain
Whispered in Thy stainless name.
(30 July 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)
BORDER PSALM
BORDER PSALM
Lord of the Bold – Guard of the Lamb –
Walk by my side in the green fens –
Golden the dusk – gentle the path –
Lead me to bask in the fair glens.
God of the Breeze – Friend of the Sheep –
Show me Thy ways in the wild hills –
Lovely the land – soaring the view –
Teach me to live in the calm dells.
(31 July 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)
Lord of the Bold – Guard of the Lamb –
Walk by my side in the green fens –
Golden the dusk – gentle the path –
Lead me to bask in the fair glens.
God of the Breeze – Friend of the Sheep –
Show me Thy ways in the wild hills –
Lovely the land – soaring the view –
Teach me to live in the calm dells.
(31 July 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)
POLI-SCI-FI VERSE
POLI-SCI-FI VERSE
Subversion is self-consciousness –
A counterfeit for depth –
A fundamental ignorance –
A lack of height and breadth –
An adolescent undermine –
A disconcerting strike –
A tantrum for dismantling
The virtues they dislike.
Politicos Anonymous –
Astute but seldom wise –
Condemning what they cannot spoil
Or cleverly revise.
An underhanded sabotage
To slander – slash – and burn –
Destruction of prosperity
They did not help to earn.
They try to make us serfs and dupes –
Bully goals are feudal –
Progressive pretext for control –
Show of force – But – futile.
(16 May 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Subversion is self-consciousness –
A counterfeit for depth –
A fundamental ignorance –
A lack of height and breadth –
An adolescent undermine –
A disconcerting strike –
A tantrum for dismantling
The virtues they dislike.
Politicos Anonymous –
Astute but seldom wise –
Condemning what they cannot spoil
Or cleverly revise.
An underhanded sabotage
To slander – slash – and burn –
Destruction of prosperity
They did not help to earn.
They try to make us serfs and dupes –
Bully goals are feudal –
Progressive pretext for control –
Show of force – But – futile.
(16 May 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
HARP PSALM
HARP PSALM
The Harp as healing instrument –
The Harp as Shepherd’s rod –
The Harp as music’s metonym –
The Harp’s Shir Yedidot.
The Harp as Son of David’s sign –
The Harp as tree of Life –
The Harp for king of righteousness –
The Harp as type of Christ.
The Harp as Temple Covenant –
The Harp for jubilee–
The Harp menora’s branching light –
The Harp for angel’s glee.
(28 March 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The Harp as healing instrument –
The Harp as Shepherd’s rod –
The Harp as music’s metonym –
The Harp’s Shir Yedidot.
The Harp as Son of David’s sign –
The Harp as tree of Life –
The Harp for king of righteousness –
The Harp as type of Christ.
The Harp as Temple Covenant –
The Harp for jubilee–
The Harp menora’s branching light –
The Harp for angel’s glee.
(28 March 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Friday, April 29, 2011
ALUMNI DANCE
ALUMNI DANCE
Is this the Dance of Life for us?
Is this the Minuet?
Is this the Courtly Ritual
That Love cannot forget?
Is this the way of Man with Maid?
Is this our Promenade?
Is this the Brilliant Interview
That makes us feel like God?
Is this the Cinderella Ball?
Is this the Magic Scene?
Is this the spotless Marble Hall?
The realm of King and Queen?
Is this the place where Two could meet
As Complementary Pair?
If this is not the Site for Spring,
Wilt Thou please show me where?
(30 April; Provo, Utah)
Is this the Dance of Life for us?
Is this the Minuet?
Is this the Courtly Ritual
That Love cannot forget?
Is this the way of Man with Maid?
Is this our Promenade?
Is this the Brilliant Interview
That makes us feel like God?
Is this the Cinderella Ball?
Is this the Magic Scene?
Is this the spotless Marble Hall?
The realm of King and Queen?
Is this the place where Two could meet
As Complementary Pair?
If this is not the Site for Spring,
Wilt Thou please show me where?
(30 April; Provo, Utah)
MT. PLEASANT PSALM
MT. PLEASANT PSALM
(To my mother Florence and for Viola Stock Jarvis)
The heart is the last thing to go –
The body lingers here –
The pulse runs fast – subsides too slow –
Relinquishing what’s dear.
The feet are the first part to change
To alabaster hues –
How beautiful though pale and strange
The life without the shoes.
A place of white and rays of light –
Her new address is Star –
The Milky Way moves forward to
Accompany her Car.
Her chariot of fire leaves
A comet in the wake –
And each good work she did for us,
A comma for her sake.
(revised 16 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
(To my mother Florence and for Viola Stock Jarvis)
The heart is the last thing to go –
The body lingers here –
The pulse runs fast – subsides too slow –
Relinquishing what’s dear.
The feet are the first part to change
To alabaster hues –
How beautiful though pale and strange
The life without the shoes.
A place of white and rays of light –
Her new address is Star –
The Milky Way moves forward to
Accompany her Car.
Her chariot of fire leaves
A comet in the wake –
And each good work she did for us,
A comma for her sake.
(revised 16 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
STRUGGLE PSALM
STRUGGLE PSALM (10-10-10-10)
The stronger the rack, the longer we grow –
The harder the track, the faster we go –
The darker the path, the brighter we glow –
The straiter the gate, the sooner we know.
The sooner we see, the greater the light –
The brighter the path, the larger the scope –
The faster the track, the smarter we think –
The stronger we grow, the more we can cope.
(18 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The stronger the rack, the longer we grow –
The harder the track, the faster we go –
The darker the path, the brighter we glow –
The straiter the gate, the sooner we know.
The sooner we see, the greater the light –
The brighter the path, the larger the scope –
The faster the track, the smarter we think –
The stronger we grow, the more we can cope.
(18 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
LESSON PSALM
LESSON PSALM
What are the signs of Thy coming?
How shall we know Thy face?
How does Thy Spirit inhabit
The realm of inner space?
What are the fruits of repentance?
How are the yields brought forth?
How does Thy Vision exhibit
The wealth of inner worth?
God gives His children commandments –
He sends His priests to teach –
He walks among dispensations –
Extending light to each.
(13 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)
What are the signs of Thy coming?
How shall we know Thy face?
How does Thy Spirit inhabit
The realm of inner space?
What are the fruits of repentance?
How are the yields brought forth?
How does Thy Vision exhibit
The wealth of inner worth?
God gives His children commandments –
He sends His priests to teach –
He walks among dispensations –
Extending light to each.
(13 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)
PASSOVER PSALM
PASSOVER PSALM
My Father’s Business is to love –
His Time: eternity –
His Place: the temple hill above –
His Name: identity.
My Father’s Purpose is to save –
His Way: our agency –
His Manner: modest – honest – brave –
His Work: the family.
My Father’s Glory is to sing –
His Tune: redemption’s line –
His Lyric: revelation’s spring –
His Lute: the fruitful vine.
(13 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)
My Father’s Business is to love –
His Time: eternity –
His Place: the temple hill above –
His Name: identity.
My Father’s Purpose is to save –
His Way: our agency –
His Manner: modest – honest – brave –
His Work: the family.
My Father’s Glory is to sing –
His Tune: redemption’s line –
His Lyric: revelation’s spring –
His Lute: the fruitful vine.
(13 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Saturday, February 12, 2011
LINEN PSALM
LINEN PSALM
In this my sacred grove
I dedicate to Thee
Another day of lengthened stride –
Of tempered energy –
Of hearty thankfulness –
Of patience on the road –
Another try at reverent steps
To enter Thine abode.
(10 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
In this my sacred grove
I dedicate to Thee
Another day of lengthened stride –
Of tempered energy –
Of hearty thankfulness –
Of patience on the road –
Another try at reverent steps
To enter Thine abode.
(10 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
MORN PSALM
MORN PSALM
The Deer are on the hill at Dawn –
Their silhouettes declare
That lost is found and void is full
And hope is hiding there
And mundane shapes may come to life
With hyperbolic ears –
Monotony may shed its coat –
Surprise advancing years.
(9 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The Deer are on the hill at Dawn –
Their silhouettes declare
That lost is found and void is full
And hope is hiding there
And mundane shapes may come to life
With hyperbolic ears –
Monotony may shed its coat –
Surprise advancing years.
(9 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
PROTECTION PSALM
PROTECTION PSALM
No bitterness – hypocrisy –
Should mar the calm defense
Of Standards we would emulate –
No rancor or pretense
Should undermine the purity
Of values we espouse –
The mantle of integrity
Is what the Truth allows.
(9 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
No bitterness – hypocrisy –
Should mar the calm defense
Of Standards we would emulate –
No rancor or pretense
Should undermine the purity
Of values we espouse –
The mantle of integrity
Is what the Truth allows.
(9 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
BAPTISM PSALM
BAPTISM PSALM (8-6-8-6)
The easy yoke – the burden light
Consists in His good name –
The answer to our earnest quest
Will always be the same.
No esoteric school of thought –
Sophisticated tome –
Can euphemize the substance of
The call that leads us Home.
Sincerity – the gentle mark –
Simplicity – the sign –
A sermo humilis in style
Means subtle discipline.
(8 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The easy yoke – the burden light
Consists in His good name –
The answer to our earnest quest
Will always be the same.
No esoteric school of thought –
Sophisticated tome –
Can euphemize the substance of
The call that leads us Home.
Sincerity – the gentle mark –
Simplicity – the sign –
A sermo humilis in style
Means subtle discipline.
(8 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Monday, February 7, 2011
EXORDIUM PSALM
EXORDIUM PSALM
To resurrect is ordinance –
An order to Revive –
The one commandment all obey
Is coming back alive.
We have to leave the dust behind –
Forsake the hard-earned earth –
Walk out of stiff mortality
Into a vital Birth.
Our viability is sure –
Ordained by Highest Saint –
Who labored through our detritus –
But He made no complaint.
(7 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
To resurrect is ordinance –
An order to Revive –
The one commandment all obey
Is coming back alive.
We have to leave the dust behind –
Forsake the hard-earned earth –
Walk out of stiff mortality
Into a vital Birth.
Our viability is sure –
Ordained by Highest Saint –
Who labored through our detritus –
But He made no complaint.
(7 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
Saturday, February 5, 2011
TRUST PSALM
TRUST PSALM (Mormon 9)
Can I be spotless, pure, fair, white –
Cleansed by the guiltless Lamb?
Can I be humble – diligent –
Be like the meek I-AM?
Can I believe in miracles –
In promises He’ll grant?
Can I work out salvation
By faith if I repent?
(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
Can I be spotless, pure, fair, white –
Cleansed by the guiltless Lamb?
Can I be humble – diligent –
Be like the meek I-AM?
Can I believe in miracles –
In promises He’ll grant?
Can I work out salvation
By faith if I repent?
(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
LEXIS PSALM
LEXIS PSALM
I know how lace and silk can be
In words that we choose well –
I see how sensitivity
Can tailor what we tell.
I notice how lines wait on us
And turn into a verse –
I feel a text’s proclivity
To baptize and immerse.
(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
I know how lace and silk can be
In words that we choose well –
I see how sensitivity
Can tailor what we tell.
I notice how lines wait on us
And turn into a verse –
I feel a text’s proclivity
To baptize and immerse.
(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
NIKE PSALM
NIKE PSALM
He walks above his weakness –
He leaps above the lies –
He skips around the scandals –
Avoids a compromise –
He focuses on winning –
He finds the finish line –
He runs like revelation –
His nidus, the Divine.
He shows us how to vanquish –
He jumps the pain with smiles –
He practices til perfect –
He vindicates the trials.
He overcomes by bounding –
He springs to victory –
He celebrates his triumph –
His valedictory.
(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
He walks above his weakness –
He leaps above the lies –
He skips around the scandals –
Avoids a compromise –
He focuses on winning –
He finds the finish line –
He runs like revelation –
His nidus, the Divine.
He shows us how to vanquish –
He jumps the pain with smiles –
He practices til perfect –
He vindicates the trials.
He overcomes by bounding –
He springs to victory –
He celebrates his triumph –
His valedictory.
(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)
COLOGNE PSALM
COLOGNE PSALM
Who were the Magi with their gifts?
Why did they see the Star?
Were they Three Kings – or Many Men?
Was their home close – or far?
From which great nations brought they gold –
And frankincense, and myrrh?
From which lands did they emigrate?
From Persia, Nod, or Shir?
How did they find the Savior’s house –
Avoiding Herod’s snare
With diplomatic sapience?
What prompted them to care?
Who taught them how to kneel before
The presence of a boy?
Who gave them wisdom’s prescience
That bribes could not destroy?
When we give presents in His name
Do we remember Them?
As we bow down to offer Him
A contrite heart – our gem?
(5-6 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Who were the Magi with their gifts?
Why did they see the Star?
Were they Three Kings – or Many Men?
Was their home close – or far?
From which great nations brought they gold –
And frankincense, and myrrh?
From which lands did they emigrate?
From Persia, Nod, or Shir?
How did they find the Savior’s house –
Avoiding Herod’s snare
With diplomatic sapience?
What prompted them to care?
Who taught them how to kneel before
The presence of a boy?
Who gave them wisdom’s prescience
That bribes could not destroy?
When we give presents in His name
Do we remember Them?
As we bow down to offer Him
A contrite heart – our gem?
(5-6 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
AWARD PSALM
AWARD PSALM
Forgiveness is my only prize –
All approbation Thine –
Thy mercy is my accolade –
The honor is not mine.
The constant pardoning of faults –
The softening of pride –
The overlooking my mistakes
And standing by my side.
My only victory is Thee –
Acknowledging my worth –
My only talent is to seek
To prosper in Thy work.
(4 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Forgiveness is my only prize –
All approbation Thine –
Thy mercy is my accolade –
The honor is not mine.
The constant pardoning of faults –
The softening of pride –
The overlooking my mistakes
And standing by my side.
My only victory is Thee –
Acknowledging my worth –
My only talent is to seek
To prosper in Thy work.
(4 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
SOPHIA PSALM
SOPHIA PSALM
Why is there existence?
What is the point of life?
Why instead of nothingness have
Children, father, wife?
Why is there creation?
Why universe of light?
Perceptions’s calculus of sense?
A choice of wrong or right?
Being gathers love in –
Choosing well, the aim –
Generations amplify their
Validity by name.
Poetry makes dwellings –
Cosmic rays bring views –
Revelation’s algebra sends
Every one good news.
(16 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Why is there existence?
What is the point of life?
Why instead of nothingness have
Children, father, wife?
Why is there creation?
Why universe of light?
Perceptions’s calculus of sense?
A choice of wrong or right?
Being gathers love in –
Choosing well, the aim –
Generations amplify their
Validity by name.
Poetry makes dwellings –
Cosmic rays bring views –
Revelation’s algebra sends
Every one good news.
(16 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
COSTUME DRAMA
COSTUME DRAMA
Skylark – Larkrise – Candleford flight –
Delicate cadence – my delight –
Minnie, Dorcas, Laura, and Ruth –
Ladies who learn to live by truth.
Purview is impervious sight –
Dominant goodness – souls contrite –
Dainty denizens – faithful friends –
Pray that this tale will never end.
(30-31 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Skylark – Larkrise – Candleford flight –
Delicate cadence – my delight –
Minnie, Dorcas, Laura, and Ruth –
Ladies who learn to live by truth.
Purview is impervious sight –
Dominant goodness – souls contrite –
Dainty denizens – faithful friends –
Pray that this tale will never end.
(30-31 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
ANOINT PSALM
ANOINT PSALM
The blessing energy is real –
It organizes force –
It gives me strength to carry on –
It helps me to go forth
And do the things the Lord commands
With faith that I can be
A valiant servant for His work
In perpetuity.
(30 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The blessing energy is real –
It organizes force –
It gives me strength to carry on –
It helps me to go forth
And do the things the Lord commands
With faith that I can be
A valiant servant for His work
In perpetuity.
(30 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
WAKING PSALM
WAKING PSALM
He wants to speak to us in dreams
And whispers in the mind –
A glowing feeling in the heart –
He wants us to be kind.
He want to talk to us in tongues
And gifts of prophesy –
Through visions, healings, wisdom, faith –
He wants our eyes to see.
He wants to free us from our fears
And whisk our tears away –
To build our confidence in Him
He teaches us to pray.
(29 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
He wants to speak to us in dreams
And whispers in the mind –
A glowing feeling in the heart –
He wants us to be kind.
He want to talk to us in tongues
And gifts of prophesy –
Through visions, healings, wisdom, faith –
He wants our eyes to see.
He wants to free us from our fears
And whisk our tears away –
To build our confidence in Him
He teaches us to pray.
(29 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Friday, January 28, 2011
GROVE PSALM
GROVE PSALM (for Elder Kikuchi)
To keep a journal is to pray
In words that angels seal –
To make a record for each day
Establishes what’s real.
To thank the Father for His love
Enhances joy we feel –
To ask a question is to seek
The answer He’ll reveal.
(27 January 2011, Provo, Utah)
To keep a journal is to pray
In words that angels seal –
To make a record for each day
Establishes what’s real.
To thank the Father for His love
Enhances joy we feel –
To ask a question is to seek
The answer He’ll reveal.
(27 January 2011, Provo, Utah)
MARTYR PSALM
MARTYR PSALM
Abinadi and Tyndale burned –
The torch was lit by lies –
Their message could not be consumed –
No martyr really dies –
St. Joan of Arc and Lady Jane –
St. Ursula’s young maids –
Their testimony is secured
By selfless holy deeds.
(24 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Abinadi and Tyndale burned –
The torch was lit by lies –
Their message could not be consumed –
No martyr really dies –
St. Joan of Arc and Lady Jane –
St. Ursula’s young maids –
Their testimony is secured
By selfless holy deeds.
(24 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
TOMB PSALM
TOMB PSALM
When Jesus spoke to Magdalen
As resurrected Man –
She was the first to testify
That He fulfilled the plan.
She witnessed that He rose again
And ran to tell the rest:
“The First Fruit of the Garden is
Our Lord – the Blessed Best!”
(17 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
When Jesus spoke to Magdalen
As resurrected Man –
She was the first to testify
That He fulfilled the plan.
She witnessed that He rose again
And ran to tell the rest:
“The First Fruit of the Garden is
Our Lord – the Blessed Best!”
(17 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
SWALLOWED PSALM
SWALLOWED PSALM (Mosiah 16:8-10; 18:2)
He is the endless light of all
That never can be dim –
Our mortal puts Eternal on
With Life that comes from Him.
Through power, pain, and death of Christ
Redemption’s brought to pass –
Ascension – resurrection hour –
And earth a Sea of Glass.
(16 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
He is the endless light of all
That never can be dim –
Our mortal puts Eternal on
With Life that comes from Him.
Through power, pain, and death of Christ
Redemption’s brought to pass –
Ascension – resurrection hour –
And earth a Sea of Glass.
(16 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
REVELSTOKE PSALM
REVELSTOKE PSALM (for Elizabeth Hallen and Wade Siebenthal)
Maturity means reaching out
While gathering within –
To share the heart with others while
Forsaking futile sin.
Great Aunt wants us to see the site
In Canada’s expanse –
A pilgrimage to where she learned
True love if not romance.
A wintry weathered mining man
Came here to face the fact
That what he needed was a life
Of sacred wedding pact.
One hundred years ago this fall
Is double jubilee –
So we will celebrate their vow –
Their anniversary.
(23 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Maturity means reaching out
While gathering within –
To share the heart with others while
Forsaking futile sin.
Great Aunt wants us to see the site
In Canada’s expanse –
A pilgrimage to where she learned
True love if not romance.
A wintry weathered mining man
Came here to face the fact
That what he needed was a life
Of sacred wedding pact.
One hundred years ago this fall
Is double jubilee –
So we will celebrate their vow –
Their anniversary.
(23 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
IDENTITY PSALM
IDENTITY PSALM (from Julie Beck)
Our name is Mother in the plan.
That is our endless role –
No other mantra can replace
The compass of our soul.
We must not run away from “Life”
That is our destiny –
The secret to fulfillment is
Response ability.
(18 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Our name is Mother in the plan.
That is our endless role –
No other mantra can replace
The compass of our soul.
We must not run away from “Life”
That is our destiny –
The secret to fulfillment is
Response ability.
(18 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
CHESS PSALM
CHESS PSALM (To Catherine, Ferdinand, and Isabella)
The Queen is more essential
Than any other role –
She guards the King from danger –
She has the most control –
Moves forward or reverses –
With one step, two, or three . . .
Diagonal or vertical
Or horizontally –
If lost, the game is over –
Unless redeemed by Pawn –
The power of the granger
To reinstate what’s gone –
The Woman shares the center –
Her Husband’s equal mate –
They have to work together
To circumnavigate.
(13 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The Queen is more essential
Than any other role –
She guards the King from danger –
She has the most control –
Moves forward or reverses –
With one step, two, or three . . .
Diagonal or vertical
Or horizontally –
If lost, the game is over –
Unless redeemed by Pawn –
The power of the granger
To reinstate what’s gone –
The Woman shares the center –
Her Husband’s equal mate –
They have to work together
To circumnavigate.
(13 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
PLACE PSALM
PLACE PSALM
We sanctify the Sabbath when
We listen reverently –
We justify our presence when
We worship solemnly.
We purify our spirit when
We gather quietly.
We clarify our vision when
We ponder soberly.
(15 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
We sanctify the Sabbath when
We listen reverently –
We justify our presence when
We worship solemnly.
We purify our spirit when
We gather quietly.
We clarify our vision when
We ponder soberly.
(15 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
ALOE PSALM
ALOE PSALM
All neatly poised in readiness –
Compassion’s steady length –
Emergency preparedness
For giving aid, help, strength.
All packed in tidy implements
Of succor, service, care –
The increments of soothing salve –
Of healing and repair.
All stored for quick recovery –
Support, relief, and cure –
The convalescent instruments
Reliable and sure.
(6 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
All neatly poised in readiness –
Compassion’s steady length –
Emergency preparedness
For giving aid, help, strength.
All packed in tidy implements
Of succor, service, care –
The increments of soothing salve –
Of healing and repair.
All stored for quick recovery –
Support, relief, and cure –
The convalescent instruments
Reliable and sure.
(6 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
SYSTEM PSALM
SYSTEM PSALM (to Maria Elizabeth "Lisel" Hallen)
This book is made of paper leaves
That grew on poplar trees –
That stood upon a hill beside
A meadow made by bees –
Who danced a map from hive to bloom –
From blossom back to home –
Where honey gilt the palaces
Of wax and latticed comb –
Next to a cabin made of logs –
Wherein a daughter slept –
Who never walked when she awoke
But danced, entranced, and leapt –
Whose parents both were pioneers –
Survivors of The Fire –
Whose children were the siblings of
My grandfather – grandsire.
(6 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
This book is made of paper leaves
That grew on poplar trees –
That stood upon a hill beside
A meadow made by bees –
Who danced a map from hive to bloom –
From blossom back to home –
Where honey gilt the palaces
Of wax and latticed comb –
Next to a cabin made of logs –
Wherein a daughter slept –
Who never walked when she awoke
But danced, entranced, and leapt –
Whose parents both were pioneers –
Survivors of The Fire –
Whose children were the siblings of
My grandfather – grandsire.
(6 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
LESSON PSALM
LESSON PSALM
My body wants to sing –
My spirit wants to hear –
So I will listen as I praise
In case the Lord is near.
My being wants to shine –
My essence wants to grow –
So I will hearken as I learn
To grasp what I should know.
(20 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
My body wants to sing –
My spirit wants to hear –
So I will listen as I praise
In case the Lord is near.
My being wants to shine –
My essence wants to grow –
So I will hearken as I learn
To grasp what I should know.
(20 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
VENERATION PSALM
VENERATION PSALM (Mosiah 27:22-31)
The Lord is good and glorious –
His power opens eyes
And shakes the earth’s encumbrances
Into a paradise
Where every humble knee will bend
And every mouth profess
The glance of His all-searching gaze
Restores our righteousness.
All men and women – nations, tongues,
And people must be new –
Redeemed by tidings in sweet song:
The gospel must be true.
(22 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The Lord is good and glorious –
His power opens eyes
And shakes the earth’s encumbrances
Into a paradise
Where every humble knee will bend
And every mouth profess
The glance of His all-searching gaze
Restores our righteousness.
All men and women – nations, tongues,
And people must be new –
Redeemed by tidings in sweet song:
The gospel must be true.
(22 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
INVERSE PSALM
INVERSE PSALM
Cold air sinks, but altitude chills –
A paradox of clime –
Warm air lifts, but mountain cools
The higher that we climb.
Liberty thrives, but license kills –
A consequence of law –
Freedom rings, but anarchy steals
The Frankincense of awe.
Our earth is star for other worlds –
A constellation dot –
Our solar system zodiac
For panoptical spot.
(7-8 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Cold air sinks, but altitude chills –
A paradox of clime –
Warm air lifts, but mountain cools
The higher that we climb.
Liberty thrives, but license kills –
A consequence of law –
Freedom rings, but anarchy steals
The Frankincense of awe.
Our earth is star for other worlds –
A constellation dot –
Our solar system zodiac
For panoptical spot.
(7-8 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
VIOLA PSALM
VIOLA PSALM (for Viola Jarvis, daughter of Kindness Stock)
A place of white and rays of light –
Her new address is Star –
And each good work moves forward to
Accompany her Car.
Her chariot of fire leaves
A comet in the wake –
And each good word she spoke to us
A comma for her sake.
(21 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
A place of white and rays of light –
Her new address is Star –
And each good work moves forward to
Accompany her Car.
Her chariot of fire leaves
A comet in the wake –
And each good word she spoke to us
A comma for her sake.
(21 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
MT. PLEASANT PSALM
MT. PLEASANT PSALM (to my mother Florence)
The heart is the last thing to go –
The body lingers here –
The pulse runs fast – subsides too slow –
Relinquishing what’s dear.
The feet are the first part to change
To alabaster hues –
How beautiful though pale and strange
The life without the shoes.
(20 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The heart is the last thing to go –
The body lingers here –
The pulse runs fast – subsides too slow –
Relinquishing what’s dear.
The feet are the first part to change
To alabaster hues –
How beautiful though pale and strange
The life without the shoes.
(20 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
HEAVEN PSALM
HEAVEN PSALM
But for the rest of the earth
This holy time might pass
Without a thought of being
By Lady, Lord, or Lass.
But for the birth of Jesus
This earth would fade away
Without a trace of meaning –
Of Doing, Depth, or Day.
(25 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
But for the rest of the earth
This holy time might pass
Without a thought of being
By Lady, Lord, or Lass.
But for the birth of Jesus
This earth would fade away
Without a trace of meaning –
Of Doing, Depth, or Day.
(25 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
HERD PSALM
HERD PSALM
The deer descend in agile stealth –
Their eyes the only spark of self –
They browse the stiff mahogany –
They tiptoe through the reverie.
Their eyes are taut with vigilance –
Their legs are lean with confidence –
They scatter if they see me breathe –
They gather when they hear me sleep.
(1 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The deer descend in agile stealth –
Their eyes the only spark of self –
They browse the stiff mahogany –
They tiptoe through the reverie.
Their eyes are taut with vigilance –
Their legs are lean with confidence –
They scatter if they see me breathe –
They gather when they hear me sleep.
(1 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
HUE PSALM
HUE PSALM
The verse is washed in color –
A water-based pastel –
The edges blend or sharpen –
The pigments fade or swell.
A word can paint an image –
A sketch emerge from brush –
A syllable bring tincture –
Compose a line by touch.
(21 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The verse is washed in color –
A water-based pastel –
The edges blend or sharpen –
The pigments fade or swell.
A word can paint an image –
A sketch emerge from brush –
A syllable bring tincture –
Compose a line by touch.
(21 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
PRUNING PSALM
PRUNING PSALM (Jacob 5; 3 Nephi 24:16)
The Lord of the Vineyard weeps for His Trees:
“What more for my people could I have done!”
His Servant replies: “Give us one more hour.
They may yet bring forth good works, help the one.”
A Book of Remembrance is kept for these
Who think on the name of the Only Son –
Who in vocal prayer seek the Savior’s Power –
Who grow towards the light of the Holy One.
Most precious to Him is the joyful Fruit –
The labor of nourishing not in vain –
Preserved for the joy of the Branch and Root –
The Lord’s sacrifice an eternal gain.
(17 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The Lord of the Vineyard weeps for His Trees:
“What more for my people could I have done!”
His Servant replies: “Give us one more hour.
They may yet bring forth good works, help the one.”
A Book of Remembrance is kept for these
Who think on the name of the Only Son –
Who in vocal prayer seek the Savior’s Power –
Who grow towards the light of the Holy One.
Most precious to Him is the joyful Fruit –
The labor of nourishing not in vain –
Preserved for the joy of the Branch and Root –
The Lord’s sacrifice an eternal gain.
(17 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
FRONT PSALM
FRONT PSALM
The arctic tramp begins to vamp –
He throws his weight around –
He crashes as he thrashes brush –
He lashes branches down –
Then softens blow with gentle snow –
He whispers wind in wisps –
A crew of few comes cruising through
To show that sails exist.
(23 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The arctic tramp begins to vamp –
He throws his weight around –
He crashes as he thrashes brush –
He lashes branches down –
Then softens blow with gentle snow –
He whispers wind in wisps –
A crew of few comes cruising through
To show that sails exist.
(23 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
ASHES PSALM
ASHES PSALM (for Susan Ream)
As if she were no saint, they burned
The casque of her remains –
As if she never wore a veil
They cremated her skeins –
As if her body could not rise –
As if death were the end –
As if she had no consequence –
As if she had no friend –
They underestimated Truth –
They cast a pearl to dust –
But she will walk again in white
Endowment as her Trust.
(14 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
As if she were no saint, they burned
The casque of her remains –
As if she never wore a veil
They cremated her skeins –
As if her body could not rise –
As if death were the end –
As if she had no consequence –
As if she had no friend –
They underestimated Truth –
They cast a pearl to dust –
But she will walk again in white
Endowment as her Trust.
(14 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
TACHYON PSALM
TACHYON PSALM (for James Hallen)
Telestial makes day seem night –
Looks dark, in spite of starlit farm –
And notwithstanding spikes of light
Feels chill and far in stead of warm.
Mortality makes life seem short –
Infinity looks minuscule –
Falls off inversely to the square –
Significance feels minimal.
Yet super strings project – protect –
Neutrinos purify the air
And penetrate our crust of earth –
Providing bread for every fare.
(14 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Telestial makes day seem night –
Looks dark, in spite of starlit farm –
And notwithstanding spikes of light
Feels chill and far in stead of warm.
Mortality makes life seem short –
Infinity looks minuscule –
Falls off inversely to the square –
Significance feels minimal.
Yet super strings project – protect –
Neutrinos purify the air
And penetrate our crust of earth –
Providing bread for every fare.
(14 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
CASTLE PSALM
CASTLE PSALM (for Elizabeth Goudge)
Living, elusive memory
Of England’s destiny –
Giving inclusive charity
To Britain’s progeny –
Bells of Wells and Ely’s Dome-Clock –
Elizabethan history –
Oxford’s renaissance of figures
Donned in presbytery.
(3 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Living, elusive memory
Of England’s destiny –
Giving inclusive charity
To Britain’s progeny –
Bells of Wells and Ely’s Dome-Clock –
Elizabethan history –
Oxford’s renaissance of figures
Donned in presbytery.
(3 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
WALKING PSALM
WALKING PSALM
Bury not thy beauty in
The earth or worldly things –
Walk in loveliness and smiles
Until your spirit sings –
Walk along the ridges of
Your probabilities –
Walk until you reach the bench
Of restful certainties.
(13 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Bury not thy beauty in
The earth or worldly things –
Walk in loveliness and smiles
Until your spirit sings –
Walk along the ridges of
Your probabilities –
Walk until you reach the bench
Of restful certainties.
(13 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Thursday, January 20, 2011
SIGN PSALM
SIGN PSALM
What is the meaning of the Earth?
What is it trying to say?
Significance of landscape on
An irridescent day?
What is the pupose of the world?
What is it longing to tell?
Glad tidings of great comfort to
The souls that herein dwell.
(28 November 2010)
What is the meaning of the Earth?
What is it trying to say?
Significance of landscape on
An irridescent day?
What is the pupose of the world?
What is it longing to tell?
Glad tidings of great comfort to
The souls that herein dwell.
(28 November 2010)
THIRD PERSON PSALM
THIRD PERSON PSALM
A dove-like form descended on
The Son of God as sign –
As approbations’s presence in
The Ordinance combine.
How is the Spirit like a bird?
Surveys the earth and sings –
Accompanies each Act of Truth
With covenantal wings.
(24 November 2010)
A dove-like form descended on
The Son of God as sign –
As approbations’s presence in
The Ordinance combine.
How is the Spirit like a bird?
Surveys the earth and sings –
Accompanies each Act of Truth
With covenantal wings.
(24 November 2010)
BOND PSALM
BOND PSALM
Our dreams come from the Ancestors –
They stem from DNA –
The mind produces Residues
Of what our Dead might say.
Impressions layer Memory
With Meanings evident –
As if a Veil has parted so
A Message could be sent.
(24 November 2010)
Our dreams come from the Ancestors –
They stem from DNA –
The mind produces Residues
Of what our Dead might say.
Impressions layer Memory
With Meanings evident –
As if a Veil has parted so
A Message could be sent.
(24 November 2010)
SEER PSALM
SEER PSALM (2 Nephi 27:23)
He is a God of miracles –
I see His hand through time –
I hear connections in His work
Like canticles of rhyme.
He is a Lord of oracles –
I sense His holy ode –
I feel prophetic impulses
Transposing each abode.
(19 November 2010)
He is a God of miracles –
I see His hand through time –
I hear connections in His work
Like canticles of rhyme.
He is a Lord of oracles –
I sense His holy ode –
I feel prophetic impulses
Transposing each abode.
(19 November 2010)
VERSPECTIVES PSALM
VERSPECTIVES PSALM
The Lord is my light and my guide
On paths through life’s vast countryside.
I follow Him to hidden springs
That nourish all creatures and things.
(14 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The Lord is my light and my guide
On paths through life’s vast countryside.
I follow Him to hidden springs
That nourish all creatures and things.
(14 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Friday, November 19, 2010
RESURGAM PSALM
RESURGAM PSALM
The Master meets each Molecule –
Re-enters every cell –
Resumes each Atom’s nucleus
In Adam’s domicile.
His Spirit makes the fingers stir –
He fills the empty shell –
His Being wakes the blinking eyes
To new Immanuel –
Who resurrected God’s own Son –
Who called Him from the tomb?
Did Father push the stone aside
And lead Him from the room?
Did Father say, Rise up and walk –
Acquit Thy stony berth –
Rededicate the Temple now
As heaven be on earth –
Put on Thy robe of Majesty –
Go teach the Other Sheep –
Awake, wake up, Beloved One –
Arise from death’s short sleep.
(9-12 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The Master meets each Molecule –
Re-enters every cell –
Resumes each Atom’s nucleus
In Adam’s domicile.
His Spirit makes the fingers stir –
He fills the empty shell –
His Being wakes the blinking eyes
To new Immanuel –
Who resurrected God’s own Son –
Who called Him from the tomb?
Did Father push the stone aside
And lead Him from the room?
Did Father say, Rise up and walk –
Acquit Thy stony berth –
Rededicate the Temple now
As heaven be on earth –
Put on Thy robe of Majesty –
Go teach the Other Sheep –
Awake, wake up, Beloved One –
Arise from death’s short sleep.
(9-12 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
POETICS PSALM
POETICS PSALM
Our language has a trim ballet –
It has a pirouette –
A down plié – a revelé –
A tapping castenette.
Our language has a chapel quire –
It has a minstrel loft –
An evensong both short and long –
A hymn both loud and soft.
Our language has a music box –
A time that moves around –
An etiquette delirious –
A circular resound.
(30 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Our language has a trim ballet –
It has a pirouette –
A down plié – a revelé –
A tapping castenette.
Our language has a chapel quire –
It has a minstrel loft –
An evensong both short and long –
A hymn both loud and soft.
Our language has a music box –
A time that moves around –
An etiquette delirious –
A circular resound.
(30 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
WILLIAM’S PSALM
WILLIAM’S PSALM
How did the Genius cultivate
His gift? At Arden’s Farm?
What was the secret of his globe?
Anne’s cottage garden charm?
He captivates the day, noon, night –
The sun, earth, stars and moon –
Communicates the sense of sight –
Of smell, taste, touch, and tune.
He feeds the creatures, milks the goat –
He wears the birding glove –
He renders soap from lavender –
He tenders verse from love.
He plants the sweet-peas in the rows –
He wanders in the wood –
Bewonders king, queen, courtier
While sifting base and good.
He travels on the road so much –
How could he leave this town?
Was Stratford-Avon’s atmosphere
The breath of his renoun?
(29 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
How did the Genius cultivate
His gift? At Arden’s Farm?
What was the secret of his globe?
Anne’s cottage garden charm?
He captivates the day, noon, night –
The sun, earth, stars and moon –
Communicates the sense of sight –
Of smell, taste, touch, and tune.
He feeds the creatures, milks the goat –
He wears the birding glove –
He renders soap from lavender –
He tenders verse from love.
He plants the sweet-peas in the rows –
He wanders in the wood –
Bewonders king, queen, courtier
While sifting base and good.
He travels on the road so much –
How could he leave this town?
Was Stratford-Avon’s atmosphere
The breath of his renoun?
(29 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
BONDS, DEBTS, HIKES
BONDS, DEBTS, HIKES
We will pay the price for Freedom –
But we eschew control –
Endure a tax for Liberty –
But not for shackled Dole.
We will work for Independence –
But bondage saps our Will –
Our labor thrives on Stewardship –
Not budget overkill.
(18 November 2010, Pleasant Grove City, Utah)
We will pay the price for Freedom –
But we eschew control –
Endure a tax for Liberty –
But not for shackled Dole.
We will work for Independence –
But bondage saps our Will –
Our labor thrives on Stewardship –
Not budget overkill.
(18 November 2010, Pleasant Grove City, Utah)
OLIVE PSALM
OLIVE PSALM
Just what did Jesus say that night
When words poured from His soul?
What dialogue with Deity
Streamed forth to make us whole?
How could He speak for every one –
Translating every woe?
How did He share the tales of grief
That no one else would know?
Who heard His empathetic plea?
Who saw Him bend and groan?
Who witnessed the atoning prayer
When He was left alone?
How could He drink the bitter cup
He never sought to fill?
How did He raise all mortals up?
How could He climb the hill?
How could He bear the travesty?
Why would He take the blame?
Why did He take the mockery
Of Priests who had no shame?
What thoughts went through His righteous mind?
What feelings broke His heart?
How could He represent us all?
How did He do His part?
(Sunday, 14 November 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Just what did Jesus say that night
When words poured from His soul?
What dialogue with Deity
Streamed forth to make us whole?
How could He speak for every one –
Translating every woe?
How did He share the tales of grief
That no one else would know?
Who heard His empathetic plea?
Who saw Him bend and groan?
Who witnessed the atoning prayer
When He was left alone?
How could He drink the bitter cup
He never sought to fill?
How did He raise all mortals up?
How could He climb the hill?
How could He bear the travesty?
Why would He take the blame?
Why did He take the mockery
Of Priests who had no shame?
What thoughts went through His righteous mind?
What feelings broke His heart?
How could He represent us all?
How did He do His part?
(Sunday, 14 November 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
EXPIATION PSALM
EXPIATION PSALM (Romans 8; Isaiah 53; 2 Nephi 9)
Because the Lord is on our side –
No Evil has effect –
No Enemy can prosecute
The First-born Son Elect.
Through Him – the Father justifies –
No accusations stand –
The Christ who died and rose again
Appears at God’s Right Hand.
He makes an Intercession there
For us – in watchful Prayer –
No one can separate us from
The love God would not spare.
(Sunday, 14 November 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Because the Lord is on our side –
No Evil has effect –
No Enemy can prosecute
The First-born Son Elect.
Through Him – the Father justifies –
No accusations stand –
The Christ who died and rose again
Appears at God’s Right Hand.
He makes an Intercession there
For us – in watchful Prayer –
No one can separate us from
The love God would not spare.
(Sunday, 14 November 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
AWKWARD PSALM
AWKWARD PSALM
A sign of true humility
Is when we understand
That human weakness may deserve
Respect – not reprimand.
The awkward ones who hesitate –
Forgetful souls who slip –
Quixotic fellows – clumsy gals –
Who seem to lose their grip –
The socially inadequate –
The ever ill at ease –
The overbearing amateurs
Who try too hard to please –
Have courage we could emulate
In facing their regrets –
They dare to carry on in grace
Sufficient for their debts.
(18 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
A sign of true humility
Is when we understand
That human weakness may deserve
Respect – not reprimand.
The awkward ones who hesitate –
Forgetful souls who slip –
Quixotic fellows – clumsy gals –
Who seem to lose their grip –
The socially inadequate –
The ever ill at ease –
The overbearing amateurs
Who try too hard to please –
Have courage we could emulate
In facing their regrets –
They dare to carry on in grace
Sufficient for their debts.
(18 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
CHARIOT PRAYER
CHARIOT PRAYER
“I’m looking for you, Little One.”
The voice seemed from the radio –
Awoke me from a needy sleep –
Began a prayer in stereo.
“I’m here,” I mumbled. “Here am I.”
I stumbled to the window sill –
Expecting snow – was met with Dawn –
Perhaps the Call was songbird’s trill?
I cannot dictate Time – nor Place –
Nor Manner – Purpose – my domain.
But shall I ask the Lord to take
My brother home? Relieve his pain?
How dost Thou set the captive free?
I have no keys to Where – nor When –
But Angels keep my Lazarus –
Awaiting Thy divine “Amen.”
(9 November 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
“I’m looking for you, Little One.”
The voice seemed from the radio –
Awoke me from a needy sleep –
Began a prayer in stereo.
“I’m here,” I mumbled. “Here am I.”
I stumbled to the window sill –
Expecting snow – was met with Dawn –
Perhaps the Call was songbird’s trill?
I cannot dictate Time – nor Place –
Nor Manner – Purpose – my domain.
But shall I ask the Lord to take
My brother home? Relieve his pain?
How dost Thou set the captive free?
I have no keys to Where – nor When –
But Angels keep my Lazarus –
Awaiting Thy divine “Amen.”
(9 November 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
ALL SAINTS PSALM
ALL SAINTS PSALM
On distant shore here – a longing for
The Other co-reflects –
To be There rebounds back to Hue –
Yet neither side suspects
That yearning is fulfilling screen –
A blinded window’s Pane –
Nostalgia’s perfect landscape draws
A scene one can regain.
(31 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
On distant shore here – a longing for
The Other co-reflects –
To be There rebounds back to Hue –
Yet neither side suspects
That yearning is fulfilling screen –
A blinded window’s Pane –
Nostalgia’s perfect landscape draws
A scene one can regain.
(31 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
SEALING PSALM
SEALING PSALM (For AHK)
The Other Side has Schools of Light –
Our Mentors labor there
With rolled-up sleeves in shirts of white –
Their manuscript is rare.
It’s filled with our Biographies –
Atlantic Ocean tales –
Adventures on Pacific seas –
In waves, in calms, in gales.
They gather our decisions in –
They sort them by Degree –
They work with tooled precision in
A golden filigree.
(3 November 2010, Provo, Utah)
The Other Side has Schools of Light –
Our Mentors labor there
With rolled-up sleeves in shirts of white –
Their manuscript is rare.
It’s filled with our Biographies –
Atlantic Ocean tales –
Adventures on Pacific seas –
In waves, in calms, in gales.
They gather our decisions in –
They sort them by Degree –
They work with tooled precision in
A golden filigree.
(3 November 2010, Provo, Utah)
CONFESS PSALM
CONFESS PSALM
I know all we have gone astray –
We’re stiff with salt of pride –
But as I kneel to start this day –
I sense Thee near my side.
I cannot claim Thee “on my side”
When I have chosen wrong –
But in the distance I can hear
The Tenor for my song.
(9 November 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
I know all we have gone astray –
We’re stiff with salt of pride –
But as I kneel to start this day –
I sense Thee near my side.
I cannot claim Thee “on my side”
When I have chosen wrong –
But in the distance I can hear
The Tenor for my song.
(9 November 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Saturday, October 16, 2010
SACRALITY PSALM
SACRALITY PSALM (to Brother Faulconer)
Philology is love of Words –
To tell the Truth, the poet’s gift –
Philosophy is love of Truth –
The poet’s Words to read and sift.
In Metaphor, Metonymy –
A dual Phenomenology –
In Meaning’s similarities –
Relation’s contiguities.
So Dasein is a twin Design –
Concentric circles definite –
Perceive, Receive – Create, Refine –
Circumferential infinite.
With Quintessential inference
The House of Being has a door –
With Existential deference
The Hall of Heaven has a floor.
(16 October 2010, Mt. Pleasant, Utah)
Philology is love of Words –
To tell the Truth, the poet’s gift –
Philosophy is love of Truth –
The poet’s Words to read and sift.
In Metaphor, Metonymy –
A dual Phenomenology –
In Meaning’s similarities –
Relation’s contiguities.
So Dasein is a twin Design –
Concentric circles definite –
Perceive, Receive – Create, Refine –
Circumferential infinite.
With Quintessential inference
The House of Being has a door –
With Existential deference
The Hall of Heaven has a floor.
(16 October 2010, Mt. Pleasant, Utah)
Saturday, October 2, 2010
RESURRECTION PSALM
RESURRECTION PSALM
The keys have been restored
To long lost mysteries –
To covenants of days before –
To holy mysteries.
Prepare to clear the door –
To set the captives free –
Observe the Lord’s munificence
Secured by Calvary.
(12 June 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The keys have been restored
To long lost mysteries –
To covenants of days before –
To holy mysteries.
Prepare to clear the door –
To set the captives free –
Observe the Lord’s munificence
Secured by Calvary.
(12 June 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
SHEWBREAD PSALM
SHEWBREAD PSALM (for James E. Talmadge)
“He was greater than the temple” –
Truer than the ritual –
More than counting steps for Sabbath –
He was Lord – Immanuel –
“God with us” – Anointed Maker –
Purer than the kosher Lamb –
More eternal than the altar –
He was Present – firm I-AM.
(30 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
“He was greater than the temple” –
Truer than the ritual –
More than counting steps for Sabbath –
He was Lord – Immanuel –
“God with us” – Anointed Maker –
Purer than the kosher Lamb –
More eternal than the altar –
He was Present – firm I-AM.
(30 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
MOISTURE PSALM
MOISTURE PSALM
Rain, speckling down in strings,
Unspotted overwhelms –
A liquid stream of word refrains –
Extraordinary realms.
A fragment of refreshing brooks –
Precipitations’s sea –
As drop by bead the Providence
Cleans window panes for me.
(2 October 2010, Provo, Utah)
Rain, speckling down in strings,
Unspotted overwhelms –
A liquid stream of word refrains –
Extraordinary realms.
A fragment of refreshing brooks –
Precipitations’s sea –
As drop by bead the Providence
Cleans window panes for me.
(2 October 2010, Provo, Utah)
COMPOSITION PSALM
COMPOSITION PSALM
Ingredients for mastery:
Energy – Control – Grace –
As if the Mind were sheet of ice –
As if the Brain had skates.
The Energy means Detail – Power –
The strokes of brilliancy –
Control means order – discipline –
Practice – proficiency.
The Grace means smoothness – balancing –
Originality –
The quality of edges cut
In figured vibrancy.
(2 October 2010, Provo, Utah)
Ingredients for mastery:
Energy – Control – Grace –
As if the Mind were sheet of ice –
As if the Brain had skates.
The Energy means Detail – Power –
The strokes of brilliancy –
Control means order – discipline –
Practice – proficiency.
The Grace means smoothness – balancing –
Originality –
The quality of edges cut
In figured vibrancy.
(2 October 2010, Provo, Utah)
BRITAIN PSALM
BRITAIN PSALM
Churches, abbeys, castles, schools:
All the splendor typical –
Mountains, valleys, rivers, pools:
All the brilliance mythical.
Banquets, markets, dinners, feasts:
Physical, ephemeral –
People – nations – families – folks:
Memorable, redeemable.
Wisdom, vision, vistas, views:
Every day was meaningful –
Lesson, message, essence, hues:
Every place was magical.
Portraits, pictures, paintings, poems:
Each conveyed a miracle –
Scriptures, windows, volumes, tomes:
Each domain was lyrical.
(29 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Churches, abbeys, castles, schools:
All the splendor typical –
Mountains, valleys, rivers, pools:
All the brilliance mythical.
Banquets, markets, dinners, feasts:
Physical, ephemeral –
People – nations – families – folks:
Memorable, redeemable.
Wisdom, vision, vistas, views:
Every day was meaningful –
Lesson, message, essence, hues:
Every place was magical.
Portraits, pictures, paintings, poems:
Each conveyed a miracle –
Scriptures, windows, volumes, tomes:
Each domain was lyrical.
(29 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
UPGRADE PSALM
UPGRADE PSALM (to Elder Christofferson)
Honor has a quiet footstep –
Valor has a modest voice –
Honesty has earnest motives:
Decency in every choice.
Plain and precious consecration
Has a simple recipe:
“Purity – exertion – service –
Self-respect – integrity.”
(2 October 2010, Provo, Utah)
Honor has a quiet footstep –
Valor has a modest voice –
Honesty has earnest motives:
Decency in every choice.
Plain and precious consecration
Has a simple recipe:
“Purity – exertion – service –
Self-respect – integrity.”
(2 October 2010, Provo, Utah)
AUTHOR PSALM
AUTHOR PSALM
They wrote so we would know they lived –
The record is their breath –
The words they leave are monuments
Until they rise from death.
The works they seal in documents
Are candles in the dark –
Are storage in the granary –
Are manna in the ark.
(31 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
They wrote so we would know they lived –
The record is their breath –
The words they leave are monuments
Until they rise from death.
The works they seal in documents
Are candles in the dark –
Are storage in the granary –
Are manna in the ark.
(31 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
DIASPORA PSALM (3 Nephi 16:4)
DIASPORA PSALM (3 Nephi 16:4)
Where did the long lost Tribes go, Lord?
Where does the Remnant dwell?
Do other Sheep still look for Thee?
Is now the time to tell?
The northern lights illuminate
A perma-frosted mount –
Is that where Thy People linger?
And who will lead them out?
Forgive my curiosity –
I’d like to know their names –
Perhaps we share a common chord –
Recording hidden themes.
(13 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Where did the long lost Tribes go, Lord?
Where does the Remnant dwell?
Do other Sheep still look for Thee?
Is now the time to tell?
The northern lights illuminate
A perma-frosted mount –
Is that where Thy People linger?
And who will lead them out?
Forgive my curiosity –
I’d like to know their names –
Perhaps we share a common chord –
Recording hidden themes.
(13 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
LUNA PSALM
LUNA PSALM
The Noosphere is dripping moon
The Numinous expands –
The Stratosphere is sipping noon –
The Ominous remands.
The Nebulous is clarified –
The Nocturne starts to wane –
The Atmosphere is rarified –
The Paragon of Fane.
(15 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
The Noosphere is dripping moon
The Numinous expands –
The Stratosphere is sipping noon –
The Ominous remands.
The Nebulous is clarified –
The Nocturne starts to wane –
The Atmosphere is rarified –
The Paragon of Fane.
(15 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
HOMELY PSALM
HOMELY PSALM
A plain face has its own estate –
So easy to adorn –
Enhancement almost effortless –
A smile can cancel scorn.
A low grace has its own reward –
No vanity to flaunt –
Reminded by forgetfulness
The emptiness of vaunt.
Familiar countenance is home –
To welcome frailty
As echo of a former age
Beyond debility.
The dead are not presumable –
They leave a vivid trace
Of helix-sculpted elegance –
Dimensions out of place.
(16 September 2010, Provo, Utah)
A plain face has its own estate –
So easy to adorn –
Enhancement almost effortless –
A smile can cancel scorn.
A low grace has its own reward –
No vanity to flaunt –
Reminded by forgetfulness
The emptiness of vaunt.
Familiar countenance is home –
To welcome frailty
As echo of a former age
Beyond debility.
The dead are not presumable –
They leave a vivid trace
Of helix-sculpted elegance –
Dimensions out of place.
(16 September 2010, Provo, Utah)
STORM SONG
STORM SONG
The lightning claps
The thunder’s doom –
A flood of sound
Emits the room –
Electric snaps
Announce the boom –
The rumble peaks
Into the gloom.
(22 August, 2010, Phoenix, Arizona)
The lightning claps
The thunder’s doom –
A flood of sound
Emits the room –
Electric snaps
Announce the boom –
The rumble peaks
Into the gloom.
(22 August, 2010, Phoenix, Arizona)
RINK SONG
.JPG)
RINK SONG
I know how to weave –
To move in and out –
Maintaining my speed –
Selecting a route –
Respecting Their space –
I know how to pass
In cross-over strokes –
Glide forward and back –
I practice new skills –
I learn how to spin –
Whirl left and twirl right –
Curve out and turn in.
(16 September 2010, Provo, Utah)
CLOCK PSALM
.JPG)
CLOCK PSALM
Awakened by an inner chime
I greet the Morning Guest –
So grateful to be up on time
I thank Thee for my Rest.
Thy Cross becomes a Beam of Life –
Thy Crown, a vital sign –
The kiss of death, a Covenant –
Thy Cup, assuaging vine –
Thy Gospel plan, a spacious field –
Thy Tree – the love of God –
The Living Water irrigates
Thy Word, the iron rod.
Enlightened by the scripture feast
I meet the Path of Day –
But first I pause to praise Thy name –
At last – I kneel to pray.
(28 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
HARVEST PSALM
.JPG)
HARVEST PSALM
Our Faith comes from the Son of God –
Hope from the Holy Ghost –
While Charity is shed abroad
By He who gave us most:
The Father’s love desirable
Above all when and where –
More joyous to the soul than ought –
Its Beauty comes by prayer –
More fair than purity of snow –
Of person – place – or thing –
His condescension’s time and space
Is one eternal ring.
The Living Water’s Tree of Life
Invites us to press forth –
Not heeding those who mock and point –
Partaking of His worth.
Our Hope stems from atoning Vine –
Our Faith from Living Root –
If we endure in Love we gain
Most sweet delicious Fruit.
(27 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Thursday, September 23, 2010
MEMORIAL PSALM
.JPG)
MEMORIAL PSALM
I got to see the Dawn-Moon set
Upon the Oquirrh edge –
I got to watch the Equinox
Appease the Wasatch ridge.
I got to hear the promises
Within the Holy Place –
I got to feel the spirit of
My loved ones – face by face.
(23 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
TIMPANOOKE SUITE
WAYMARK: FIRST
The air and Light are synonyms –
We paint the atmosphere –
The objects – metaphysical –
Are more than they appear.
WAYMARK: SECOND
The dawn is gradual but quick –
Resolving radiance –
The footsteps of ascendency –
Enlightened gradients.
WAYMARK: THIRD
Built-in body Bunsen-Burner –
Walking keeps us warm –
Ligamental lacework lattice
Has a layered charm.
WAYMARK: FOURTH
The uphill tests endurance –
Downhill slope our balance –
The guide that gives assurance:
Vegetation’s valance.
(18 September 2010, Timpanooke Trail)
The air and Light are synonyms –
We paint the atmosphere –
The objects – metaphysical –
Are more than they appear.
WAYMARK: SECOND
The dawn is gradual but quick –
Resolving radiance –
The footsteps of ascendency –
Enlightened gradients.
WAYMARK: THIRD
Built-in body Bunsen-Burner –
Walking keeps us warm –
Ligamental lacework lattice
Has a layered charm.
WAYMARK: FOURTH
The uphill tests endurance –
Downhill slope our balance –
The guide that gives assurance:
Vegetation’s valance.
(18 September 2010, Timpanooke Trail)
GROVE CREEK SUITE
“YES”: THE BENCH
My questions had an answer –
A Being whispered “Yes” –
I followed His commandment:
“Come follow, teach, and bless.”
MATURITY: THE BRIDGE
Respect for words is charity –
Without it we would fail –
To train the tongue means clarity –
That amity prevail.
HUMILITY: THE FOREST
Humility’s not high nor low –
It’s balancing the load –
The paradox of Heaven’s God –
Mortality’s Abode.
CLIMBING: THE SPRINGS
To climb is steep but worth the strain –
The vistas are immense –
The nearly silent chant of grass
Awakes our sleeping sense.
SOLO: CHRIS’S FLATS
Our solitude is plenitude –
The emptiness is dear –
The wilderness inhabitants
Can greet us without fear.
THE WAY: THE GROVE
“The way seeks us” as we walk on –
The path is foreordained –
Coincidence is not by chance –
The plan is not constrained.
FELLOWSHIP: THE FIRE ROAD
Our fellowship brings gratitude –
The gift of morning tide –
Companionship is interlude
With angels at our side.
My questions had an answer –
A Being whispered “Yes” –
I followed His commandment:
“Come follow, teach, and bless.”
MATURITY: THE BRIDGE
Respect for words is charity –
Without it we would fail –
To train the tongue means clarity –
That amity prevail.
HUMILITY: THE FOREST
Humility’s not high nor low –
It’s balancing the load –
The paradox of Heaven’s God –
Mortality’s Abode.
CLIMBING: THE SPRINGS
To climb is steep but worth the strain –
The vistas are immense –
The nearly silent chant of grass
Awakes our sleeping sense.
SOLO: CHRIS’S FLATS
Our solitude is plenitude –
The emptiness is dear –
The wilderness inhabitants
Can greet us without fear.
THE WAY: THE GROVE
“The way seeks us” as we walk on –
The path is foreordained –
Coincidence is not by chance –
The plan is not constrained.
FELLOWSHIP: THE FIRE ROAD
Our fellowship brings gratitude –
The gift of morning tide –
Companionship is interlude
With angels at our side.
PALETTE PSALM
PALETTE PSALM
Full moon over the county – lake –
Sketches a grey wove scene –
Water color washes opaque
Upon a silken screen.
Midnight passing to blurry dawn –
Placid pool suffuses –
Brushes nebulous pearl on lawn –
Pacific diffuses.
(22 September 2010, Pleasant Grove)
Full moon over the county – lake –
Sketches a grey wove scene –
Water color washes opaque
Upon a silken screen.
Midnight passing to blurry dawn –
Placid pool suffuses –
Brushes nebulous pearl on lawn –
Pacific diffuses.
(22 September 2010, Pleasant Grove)
Friday, September 17, 2010
GIFT PSALM
GIFT PSALM
To be healed we must have faith –
To heal we must be pure –
To be taught we must be meek –
To teach we must defer –
To believe we must have hope –
To love we must take heart –
To receive we must discern
To sieve the better part.
(8 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
To be healed we must have faith –
To heal we must be pure –
To be taught we must be meek –
To teach we must defer –
To believe we must have hope –
To love we must take heart –
To receive we must discern
To sieve the better part.
(8 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
INADEQUATE PSALM
INADEQUATE PSALM
How does my prayer help others since
Thou knowest everything?
What difference can my pleadings make?
What solace can I bring?
Some burdens are so heavy that
My arms aren't fit to bear –
How can I lift my neighbor's load?
What do I have to share?
(7 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
How does my prayer help others since
Thou knowest everything?
What difference can my pleadings make?
What solace can I bring?
Some burdens are so heavy that
My arms aren't fit to bear –
How can I lift my neighbor's load?
What do I have to share?
(7 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
VERSE PSALM
.jpg)
VERSE PSALM
To keep the fiery darts away
I write my questions out –
Some answers follow instantly –
I have to jot them down.
The rime is just an instrument –
So please don’t take defense
Or minimize my artistry –
At least I’m making sense.
At first I thought it was a fluke –
A flash – A falling star –
I worried that the Well would drought –
But Words still flow – so far.
I won’t presume that you should choose
To listen to my noise –
But if a trickle soothes a harm
That vindicates my voice.
(13 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
SESSION PSALM
SESSION PSALM
Thy House is full of sight –
Thy Sanctuary bright –
The chandelier of prism prayer
Is pilgrim’s progress light.
Thy Heart is filled with Love –
Thy Charity complete –
Thy Comforter a perfect room
Where saints and spirits meet.
(4 September 2010, American Fork, Utah)
ABROAD PSALM
.jpg)
ABROAD PSALM
Our lives are intertwined
No matter where we go –
The interstice of circumstance
Connects the roots below.
Our times are co-aligned
In spite of distances –
Coordinates of memory
Above resistances.
(26 August 2010, Provo, Utah)
WALL PSALM
WALL PSALM
I stood in sun-washed Roman ruins
Astounded by a tree
Who gave me air as I exhaled
A blessing – as if fee.
A breeze came haling through the leaves
A sounding from the past –
As if to greet in choral heaves
Astonished spirits gasped.
(3 August 2010, Chesters, Northumberland, England)
BARLEY HALL PSALM
BARLEY HALL PSALM
The bells of York were ringing –
The Minster chimes were pealing –
As if for us – were singing
A welcome full of feeling.
The candlelight was glowing –
The evensong retreating –
The tables overflowing
The banquet room for meeting.
The venison delicious –
Potatoes – chutney – pleasing
The orange cake was nutritious –
Our hungry stomachs easing.
The Viking folks were hiding –
The Anglo-Saxons shining –
The Romans were presiding –
And we contented dining.
(3 August 2010, York, Yorkshire, England)
TIME OUT PSALM
.jpg)
TIME OUT PSALM
Is solitude a selfishness?
Or are we set apart
With quiet time for drinking light
Before the service start?
Is distillation idleness?
Or is there time for thought
With meditation as a prayer
For doing as He taught?
(13 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
MANDATORY PSALM
.jpg)
MANDATORY PSALM
There has to be Atonement
More infinite than death –
There has to be Redemption
More definite than breath.
There has to be Revival
More meaningful than pain –
There has to be Salvation
More bountiful than gain.
(10 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
RECOMMEND PSALM
RECOMMEND PSALM (Virtue Value 3)
To enter the Temple – receive
All the blessings of Heavenly
Father – I can and will do this:
I’ll remember my ancestors –
Imagine the voice of the Lord
Saying, “Come unto me ye blessed.”
I will look up to God that day
With His image upon my face –
Sing the hymns of redeeming grace –
Stripped of pride, envy, mockery –
Partake of the fruit of the tree –
Repent – change my heart – garments clean –
Turn to Him as His arms extend –
Share goods with the needy and poor –
Name sealed in the Book of the Lord.
(1 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
To enter the Temple – receive
All the blessings of Heavenly
Father – I can and will do this:
I’ll remember my ancestors –
Imagine the voice of the Lord
Saying, “Come unto me ye blessed.”
I will look up to God that day
With His image upon my face –
Sing the hymns of redeeming grace –
Stripped of pride, envy, mockery –
Partake of the fruit of the tree –
Repent – change my heart – garments clean –
Turn to Him as His arms extend –
Share goods with the needy and poor –
Name sealed in the Book of the Lord.
(1 September 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
REPENTANCE PSALM
REPENTANCE PSALM (Virtue Value 4)
To be more pure and worthy:
I’ll turn my thoughts from pride –
I’ll magnify my talents –
I’ll beautify inside –
I’ll walk above my weakness –
I’ll look upon the heart –
I’ll worship in the Temple –
I’ll strive to do my part.
(31 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
COMPANIONSHIP PSALM
COMPANIONSHIP PSALM (Virtue Value 2)
I learned the Spirit yearns to dwell
In Tabernacles clean
So that the Holy Ghost may shine –
So He can intervene
To help us call a friend in need –
To teach us how to pray –
So we can serve our neighbors well
And know what words to say.
(31 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
.jpg)