UNREQUITED

“Mine own received me not,” He told –
Without self-pity’s tone –
“And, wounded in the House of Friends,
I had to die alone.”

Could we not watch with Him one hour?
Why do we hesitate
To walk with Him across the Brook
Through Kidron’s grave estate?

The need for reciprocity
Could not confound His love –
He found a way to foster us
In spite of the rebuff.

Reproving us with equity –
He breaks a loaf of bread
And feeds a thousand with His words –
“Come unto me – be fed.”

(12 December 2008, Provo, Utah)

THE HEM

She has issues – problems that drain
Her body – her living.
She seeks solutions for the pain –
Encounters but misgiving.

Unknown by any man – unclean –
No one can approach –
She feels the corner of a robe
That heals without reproach.

“Who touched me?” asks the One whose strength
Poured out to proffer health.
He turns to see a Trembling smile
Repenting of its stealth.

The woman kneels and tells the truth.
“My daughter, go in peace.
The blood that flowed from you is mine.
But blessings will not cease.”

(29 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

REVELATION MEDIATION

Red Dragon seeks to harm the Wife
Whose Son will heal the earth.
She flees into the wilderness –
Her crown a Swaddling’s birth.

Tonight each baby is the Child –
All mothers Mary seem –
All fathers proxies for our God –
All angels Joseph’s dream.

The Church appears – a woman clothed
With sun and shod with moon –
Although a Heady Beast brands men
The Bridegroom will come soon.

The Dragon Killer wins the war –
Defeating Babylon –
While Zion rises from the dust
To put a white dress on.

(15 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

THE TEMPEST

The wind is wiping waves of dust –
The storm is whipping screens –
Just to the east of the garden
An Angel intervenes.

His two-edged sword is flaming –
His countenance is flint.
The Tree of Life stands gleaming –
Awaiting His consent.

You know the way ahead is strait –
You know the coast is clear –
Press forward in the Ark of faith –
You know Christ will appear.

His Body makes a bridge to cross
From sea to firmament.
He stretches like a rainbow arch
From earth to sacrament.

(1 December 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BEING STILL

Our Father is a Modest Man.
He shows His face – but rare.
His words come as a rustling voice
In scriptures – or through prayer.

He lets Creation speak for Him.
He has the Creatures tell
The stories of His handiwork –
The letters of His spell.

He stands behind apocalypse –
Provides a faithful veil
To guard us from the blinding light
Of Love that cannot fail.

He helps us without recompense
Sufficient for His pains –
Provides us with abundant life –
With sacrificial gains.

His name is Man of Holiness.
His style is reticence.
His arguments are enthymemes –
Concise intelligence.

(2 December 2008, Provo, Utah)

NEW ORLEANS

Change your cry into a song,
Your fear into a prayer.
Let your mind rest on the Word.
Choose patience, not despair.

Turn shame into a beacon.
The scorching is a flame
That scorns the inquisition
And blamelessness proclaims.

Let agony refine you.
Let ashes renovate.
Be born again in beauty.
Your duty consecrate.

Forgive the brutal torches.
Forget the stenching blaze.
The Lord of Wounds and Bruises
Will heal you with one gaze.

Go beyond your pain to His.
Wipe away His drops.
Hold the hand that He extends
Until the terror stops.

(23 November 2008, Glendale, Arizona)

YEW TREE FARM

Across a sea of cirrus,
Around a lake of sky,
Near the quarried Tilberthwaite,
I saw with Shepherd's eye

The Roman rock-cathedrals,
The Nordic-named Tarn Hows,
The stone-walled Celtic borders,
The hills where grey sheep browse.

I saw the Author's cottage,
Retired in ancient rooms,
Found my way through kissing-gates,
Meandered chapel tombs.

I saw past time to circles
Where point meets outer space.
I saw beyond the District
The other side of place.

(22 November 2008, Utah to Phoenix)

HE WILL COME

Gethsemanes of disregard
Are distant torments now –
As hope elopes with touchstone truths –
Sealed up in topaz vow,

In snow and gold, necklace and ring,
In cut, in clarity,
In color, and divine design –
The troth is parity.

Simplicity is manifold –
Sincerity – a foil
To show the shining deathlessness
Of love the dark can’t spoil.

(18 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ALLUSIONS

Hallowed be Thy name –
Holiness to the Lord –
How great Thou art – Sweet is Thy work –
Beginning was the Word.

O, Divine Redeemer –
Nearer, my God, to Thee –
Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it –
More purity give me.

(18 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

DUTY AND THE EAST

The trees are shedding leaves like tears –
While Centuries shed years.
Don’t heed the inner Critic’s voice –
Resist the outer fears.

Don’t take the old Accuser’s blame –
Don’t patronize his shame –
Choose light – not Anti-poetry –
Guard close the sacred Name.

“The way chose you,” the Statesman taught –
“Go forward, and fear not.”
The trees are sprouting bud-like gems –
You’ll find the Spring you sought.

(18 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

DO I KNOW HIM?

The “docile” Gentle Man draws near –
Refining presence – strong and dear –
Very clean – able to wash us –
Wholesome – ready to hallow us –
Chaste and delicate and tender–
Very pleasing to His Father –
Persecuted for perfection –
Punished for loving purity –
Mocked for fostering modesty –
Marred for His meekness and mercy –
Powerful – but never a boast –
Crucified for being the Christ.
Do I really know who He is?
Shall I say – I know He forgives?

(15 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

ENSIGN PEAK

Velocity is vertigo –
Vitality is quick –
For dizzy daring summit climb,
You’ll need a walking stick.

Virtue’s journey is vertical –
A sunny shawl beckons –
A yellow handkerchief comforts –
The fear of heights – lessens.

(15 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

SPINS

My feet can write on ice –
The figures etch a grace –
In spite of falls and shaky moves –
My spirals leave a trace.

I don’t write with my hands –
My poetry has feet –
They scribble lines around the rink –
Composed by friction’s heat.

The form is everything –
The posture must be sure –
The balance comes from taking risks –
The power must be pure.

The sheet of white is cold –
A chill burns in the brain –
But frosty turns and ferry glides
Perpetuate – sustain.

(12 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

NOVEMBER

This is the Robin’s resting place –
Here is the Sabbath choir –
In every elm – the counting birds
Survey the temple spire.

This is the Reason for the quest –
Here is the Jubilee –
On springless trees – the redbreast bards
Appraise my revery.

This is the morning Reveille –
Here are the warm Farewells –
The branches bow with messengers
Whose endless gospel swells.

(9 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

WHAT RILKE KNEW

Not for money – not for favor –
Nor for name – nor for eyes –
Not for scholars’ approbation –
Not for a noble prize –

Why do these words come to visit?
Why do they speak to me?
All I do to earn their trust is
Gather in poetry.

What are these words trying to teach me?
I should have thought to ask!
Pulling the truth through light’s needle
Is not an easy task.

Just for Meaning – just for Freedom –
Just for Joy – and Glory –
I – for Angels’ commendation –
Sew a priceless story.

(5 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CERVIDS

In glowing cloud a half-moon shines –
A spotlight for the lake –
Where ice congeals into a rim
That crystals undertake.

I’m not quite sure how much you know
About our neighborhood –
We haunt the hills when winter comes –
We feed on frozen wood.

We make the dreamer catch her breath –
Her heart pounds with our leaps –
We startle constellation Bears
While Timpanogos sleeps.

You need not fear our forwardness –
We haven’t got a chance –
But just before we slip away –
Please catch our stealthy glance.

(5 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SURPRISES

The birds are not awake yet –
Though crouching – dawn’s alarm
Is upstaged by the sparkle
Of heaven’s star-struck farm –

Suspense – Anticipation
Are contradictory –
The first is pain that pierces most –
The other one is glee –

While autumn’s intermission
Gives cue for winter’s scene –
A cast of characters from spring
Are clowning on the green.

(29 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MAY AND MIGHT

I feared the Spirit’s purge –
But – baptized by breeze – learned
Remission is a soothing day –
Earth-kneeling – rinsed in May.

The will to live is strong –
Like hopes we had foregone –
The iris in dim cardboard room
Had sprouted – seeking bloom.

(9 May 2008, Pleasant Grove)

REDEMPTION

That stone must be quite heavy –
That boulder on your back –
A stumbling block so hefty
It must twist – like a rack.

I don’t know how you bear it –
I’d help you if I could –
I also have a burden –
This solid log of wood.

Your stone could be a Corner –
My beam become a Frame –
We could consecrate them to
The House that bears His Name.

That Cornerstone of honor –
That Doorway to the well
Will make our woes seem lighter
Than clumsy words can tell.

(28 October 2008, Pleasant Grove)

EMERGENCY

I don’t have time to worry –
I have to work or die –
So please excuse my hurry –
In case you wonder why

I’m moving every minute –
I’m pressing forward fast –
The downhill sprint is thrilling –
Though uphill, I was last.

The moments skip like hours –
The hours run like days –
Days dash down the trail like months –
And months are years in pace.

I like the swift momentum –
Inertia is a breath
That leads me to the finish –
Outracing even death.

(28 October 2008, Pleasant Grove)

KÄRLEKS VERS

Jag förälskar mig i en ängel
Vem visar sig på drömmar och syn.
Hans ord är tyst och trofull;
Hans hjärta är fridfull och ren.
Han kläder sig i vit och ljus.
Hans händer är stor och skön.

Min ängel skrivar med aktsam fingrarna
I bok det här sidor i form av fjärils vingar.
Vad han upptecknar i okänd språk
Är så väsentlig, så viktig,
Det jag ska vänta stille och tålig
Ända till han visar sig här, nju och nu.

(28 Januari 2002, Provo, Utah)

BOOK OF LIFE

To write is an essential route –
From fears and fantasies –
To Being who we really are –
With possibilities

Of sailing boats to promised lands
On vindicating seas –
Then building Temples out of stones
And windows into keys.

You will outlive me – Cherubim –
So seal my words up – please –
In pages shaped like butterflies
Who seek their destinies.

(27 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

TRACK LAPS

A field of yellow flowers – Faith!
The feathers on a wing –
The fortress of a mountain peak –
The facets on a ring.

A harbor in the desert – Hope!
The heartbeat and the breath –
The haven in a hurricane –
The health that conquers death.

An unexpected letter – Love!
The language of a child –
A lyric from the Spirit’s lore –
The light the Savior smiled.

(22 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

"AS YOU WISH"

All I have left is Poetry
To keep my Hope alive –
This stimulating Company
Ensures that I’ll Survive.
I may not charm a farm-boy Prince –
He may not have the Time –
But I can print enchanting Scripts
In Canticles sublime.

All I have left is Melody
To keep my Harp in tune
For delicate glissando Notes –
Arpeggios of Noon.
I may not meet a gallant Knight –
He may not pass this Way –
But I shall stitch a linen Thread
Into a latter Day –

All I have left is Prosody
As Bridle for my Heart –
The beneficial Boundary
Brings bounty to my Art.
I may not marry in this Life –
That may not be my Role –
But I dare write a Record for
The dowry of my Soul.

All I have left is Harmony
As templet for my Loom –
The warp and weft will lift the Weight
Of waiting – in the Tomb.
I may not know the Hero well
Who wins immortal Fame
By slaying dragons for my Sake –
But I can spell His Name.

(26 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CHAPEL

The Spirit wants to speak with us,
But He is so polite.
He won’t compete with dissonance.
He doesn’t want to fight.

The day is full of whisperings.
The night is full of doves,
But He won’t force us to revere
Even though He loves

To bless us with benevolence –
Baptizing us in springs
Of living pure intelligence
And countless spotless wings –

Anointing us with clean delight,
The freshness of a child,
If we but listen to His voice,
So still, so small, so mild.

The Spirit has so much to tell –
He’s longing to explain
The footsteps of a faithful life –
The happiness we gain

By kneeling at the Fair One’s feet
And washing them with tears –
And kissing them with ointment prayers –
And sacrificing fears.

(19, 26 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PATIENCE (Dickinson J712/Fr479)

Because I could not wait for Words –
They daily wait on me –
Their Message comes in Figured rimes –
And sometimes Poetry.

They softly speak – They have no price –
And I can yield for free
My stresses and my pressured times
To Their Tranquility –

We bless the Stage where Mortals play
At Business – in the Plan –
We bless the Woods of Tender Trees –
We bless the Meekest Man

Because – He first blessed Us – with tongues –
My thoughts are shivering –
The holy Gospel tunes, the Gifts
My Hands delivering –

We pray within a Home that seeks
A Silence for the Sound –
The Answer – nearly audible –
The Spirit – is Profound

So that – it’s Paradise – but still
Seems humbler than the Dust –
And I’m surprised that Wisdom’s Words
Would lend me lyric Trust –

(18 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MORE HAIKU

Loss paralyzed speech –
Mother gone, I could not teach –
Knowledge locked – thought blocked

The bean is the queen –
Stringing green in garden spot –
Bringing life to plot

(18 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ORNITHOLOGY

I called the birds to breakfast seed –
The quail cooed in reply –
And flinching sparrows let me know
They heard my whistled cry.

My siblings have their dogs and cats –
Their sturdy children, too –
While I just feed the wilderness –
My flying fenceless zoo.

A scrub-jay perches on the porch
In azure majesty –
While juncos, finches – felines – search
My grass menagerie.

(18 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

FOR WE KNOW NOT

I now surrender fear to thee –
My dear worst enemy –
No more terror – anxiety –
Go in peace – set free –

May you savor the jubilee –
Revel in liberty –
May Providential clemency
Grant you security –

I’m just longing for purity –
Hungry for clarity –
Too thirsty for sincerity
To forsake dignity –

Do not grieve what can never be –
What should have been will be –
What could have been will also be –
Weep not, adversity.

(17 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

HAIKU POST-KYOTO

Grief has been a sea
A row of waves ungraining
Drawing life anew

Monterey Bay waits
A falling in love can be
A calling for life

What was lost is here
Nothing can keep you from joy
What was gone is near

Furrows in fields sweep
Chasing the sun in cotton
Wind kissed nectarine

This year Spring lingered
Leaping pirouette dancer
True dreams cannot cease

We have time to sing
The carol was a Spring verse
Dance conveyed the tune

April moon in white
Coming from the east mountain
October turns to June

Be Thou my comfort
Don’t let go of me, Father
Be Thou my right hand

Copper Creek yet stirs
Autumn evades destruction
Time is on standby

Triangle Pass calls
Step by stone to Copper Lake
Face to lace with light

TWENTY-THIRD PARISON

Thy love is my dowry: it shall not fade.
He waketh me to dress up in clean garments:
He teacheth me to find the still-hearted.
He renews my song:
He guideth me in the ways of friendliness to His home’s gate.
Lo, though I run through the canyon of the famines of dearth,
I will feel no hunger: for Thou dost feed me.
Thy rock and thy bread both strengthen me.
Thou repairest a broken wall for me in the desert of my misery.
Thou appointest my time of joy; my heart overfloweth.
Truly kindness and beauty will hallow me every day that I write,
And I will bow on the hill at the feet of our Savior.

(16 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

PEERLESS

The only one who stands alone
Is He who did not stray –
The rest of us have company
In turning our own way –

The only name in earth or sky
That has the strength to save
Is His – The Son of Holiness
Will lift us from the grave –

So we are never desolate –
We have a perfect Friend
Who leads us – steadfast, bright, and true –
Enduring to the end.

(15 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

DIANA

The moon betimes is minuscule –
Her ministry is meek –
Yet clip by clip she magnifies –
Compounding strong from weak.

She rises from the rim of dusk –
She navigates the bay –
She lingers over sleepless rooms
Before she slips away –

Administers her molten balm
To Mercury and Mars
And shares a silver sustenance
With all the hungry stars –

Then exits into morning’s edge
Above a swanless lake
In sunlit practical descent
For every creature’s sake.

(14 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MILLES BORNES

Two compass spindles – One points north –
Step by step – the Second –
Quivering – switches back and forth
Line by line directions.

Digressions, detours, delays bring
Grace to grace Remedy –
Hazards, hardships, heartaches bring Face
To face Epiphany.

(20 September 2008, Aspen Grove, Utah)

PAGE TWO

A prism marks a common wall –
Assuring me that light
Belies the Lord’s economy –
Though hidden from my sight.

A bevel in a curtained room –
With no apparent source –
Arrays as it uncovers truth
With modest layered force.

My poetry is back again –
A rainbow’s outer lines
Help me to see the colors of
The inner world’s designs.

(13 October 2008, Elk Ridge, Utah)

CLIMBING

I never want to burden you –
I just need to ascend –
My back against a chimney wall –
My hands and feet depend

Upon the mercy of belay –
A rope – below – above –
One word of cool encouragement
That gives me faith to move.

(13 October 2008, Mt. Pleasant, Utah)

FOCUS

I'm hoping "for" eternal life --
I'm hoping "in" the Lord --
The hoping "for" gives charity --
The hoping "in" gives words.

Creation is faith's poetry --
Compassion is love's scope --
Eternal life is God's abode --
The Savior is our hope.

PROXY

Your fineness was a mirror –
Your kindness was a gaze
That helped me find a higher road
Because you held a place

For dreams I could not christen –
For promises not yet –
And though the glass turns dark again,
I never will forget

The fellowship of greetings –
The choreography
Of unexpected courtesies
That lift reality.

(8 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

SARAH’S SONG

I am coming into Beauty –
Although the Bloom is late –
Growing in the Loveliness of
How God can create

A Universe from dust and ash –
A Paradise from flight –
A Family from man and maid –
From desolation, Light –

The Asters are the last to fade –
God’s garden has no weeds –
The aspens glimmer in the glade
With gilded global beads.

(7 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

HOMEGOING

As if by ambulance, the path
Came rushing fast at me –
The disappointments disappeared,
And One I could not see

Was bearing me with urgent speed,
Before it was too late,
To meet my Destiny at last –
Without the least delay.

(3 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

AUTUMN MOON

To hope for someone else
What we ourselves would gain –
To pray that happiness will shine
When our light starts to wane –

This is the test of time –
This is the trial of troth –
When we seek blessings for a friend –
The heavens smile on both.

(22 September 2008, Provo, Utah)

PROMPTING

The choices with the least impact
May have great consequence –
Three inches in a switch-point track
Provide significance –

Small hinges on a lengthy gate
Will make the fence swing wide –
The little steps we walk in faith
Will magnitude decide.

(19 September 2008, Aspen Grove, Utah)

CROSS STITCH

All mortals are waiting for love –
Not just the ageing aunts –
Not just the slow and awkward ones
Waiting to learn the dance.

Loneliness is exceptionless –
Even the Beauties wince –
Even the fair and handsome sons
Cry like the Little Prince.

But thanks to the Lord’s Redemption
Love is not Tragedy –
Love is not envy, fear, or woe –
It’s Divine Comedy.

(15 September 2008, Mount Pleasant, Utah)

CHANGE OF ART

Hope is not a burden –
And love is not a snare –
And faith is not a fantasy –
The Fountain springs by prayer.

The Road is not a net –
The Path is not a trap –
The Way is not a wilderness –
Press forward – don’t look back.

The Tree is not a yoke –
The Fruit is not a ploy –
The Branch is not a broken bough –
Please, come – reach out for Joy.

(13 September 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LEAD ME

Coincidence is miracle –
And Chance is in God’s hand –
Without compulsion – Deity
Provides a master plan.

The Earth turns to the right and East
While Sun seems to lean West –
The northern star gives Compass light –
A guideline to the Best.

For sake of Good – forsake ungood –
Partake of Truth – shake lies –
And follow Virtue through the woods
Prepared to take Surprise.

(13 September 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

FIND ME

A poet has exquisite needs:
A longing to Express;
A yearning for a listening Ear
To whom one can profess

The wonder of Intelligence,
The history of Power,
The eloquence of Elegance,
The treasures of an Hour;

A Friend of keenest quality,
Of fine Integrity;
A Book of endless finite lines
To court Eternity.

(13 September 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

EXHIBIT: Education in Zion

The daybreak shines –
The shadow reclines –
New beauty’s mountain light reveals –
The calming of another sea –
The caring for another sheep –
Pacific now – the valley kneels.

(9 September 2008, JFSB, BYU, Provo, Utah)

ALTAR PIECE (Dickinson Fr314)

Dear, feathered Hope – go see Jesus –
Warm, weathered Wing – touch the Healer –
I offered Him your Tune – you see –
So now He has full Custody.

Too Buoyant for me to Carry –
Too Vital for me to Bury –
I gave your Song back – to the King –
So now Redeeming love will Sing.

(3 September 2008, Provo, Utah)

GENESIS

Light was born in the Temple –
Love was lit in the Sky –
Breath was stirred in the Body –
Words produced You – and I

Life came forth – and then Water –
Hills stood up – and then Trees –
Woods hid Deer – Brooks held Fishes –
Birds flew high – hummed the Bees

Day dawned after the Darkness –
Work ruled after the Fall –
Rest reigned after Creation –
He – looked after us All

(29 August 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

NEW SEMESTER (Dickinson Fr260)

I’m here to learn! What about you?
Are you here to learn – too?
Then there’s a school of us!
Don’t stop! ’Twould paralyze you know!

How weary to be self-absorbed –
How puffed up – like a bore –
To close one’s heart. The lifelong quest
Is the thirst to learn more.

(29 August 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SUPERSCRIPT

Despite the spit of despising,
Beyond the bile of reviling,
The Lord’s lean torso bends forward –
The Lamb’s torn tendons stretch upward.

In spite of rabid rejection,
Above the shame of disrobing,
The King’s bruised breathing prays onward –
The Word’s wounded forgiveness pours outward.

(August 28, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

VIEWING (For Cooper Mardesich, 2004-2008)

Death’s Inn must be a lovely place
With such a perfect Guest.
For such prestigious innocence
God must reserve the Best.

He has to save the finest rooms
For angels’ Residence.
With such prodigious purity
There must be Precedence.

(August 27, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

THE MALACHI MEASURE

He’s not behind me on the path.
He is ahead of me.
He knows the ups and downs I pass.
He’ll meet me at the Tree.

His mind will be my diamond ring.
His heart will be my prize,
And nothing sweeter than his voice,
Except, perhaps, his eyes.

His smile will be my bridal veil.
His hand – my rose bouquet,
And nothing brighter than the lamp
He lifts to show the way.

(August 27, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BOISE (to Mary Ellen Ryder)

April was in our singer’s word,
And Júly in her voice we heard.
Now in August, we remember,
And in our heart, blue September.

(August 27, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

WAITING SONNET

?Marido, mi angél, dónde estás?
?Estás en los cielos, o siglos atrás?
?En las montañas, o sobre el mar?
!Sí no puedo verte, voy a llorar!

?Esposo, mi novio, cuando vendrás?
Sintigo mi gozo es menos, no más.
Buscando tu cara en dondequier,
?Si no te escucho, qué puedo hacer?

I never thought I’d see home in this life.
I thought I’d never hear the call of “Wife!”
“Don’t cheat yourself,” Apostle said, “Prepare!”
No matter who, what, when, why, how, or where.

Live to let the Lord lead you to your love,
And trust His time for all of the above.

(August 16, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LEAST AND GREATEST

I woke without a shadow’s dread
Before the dawn appeared –
No cymbals sounding in my head –
No pain – no shame – no fear.

To see a self in someone else –
To marvel at a mind –
To trust another as a friend –
To welcome human – kind –

This is the antidote to grief.
That is the remedy –
To set aside the darkly glass
And breathe in charity.

(August 21, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

QUEST

Am I redeemable, my Lord?
What hope is there for one like me:
Still lacking love, in thought, in word;
Still short of what a Saint should be?

(August 14, 2008, Pleasant Grove)

REUNION

Our DNA can recognize
The places it has been.
When we return it to the scenes,
A spirit rushes in.

We often sense a deja-vu.
We somehow feel at home.
Our ancestors extend a hand,
When to their lands we roam.

(August 15, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CATCH AND RELEASE

At last my poetry has come.
At least my verse arrives.
Without compulsory restraint,
The language bobs and dives.

I have a river in my heart,
An ocean in my brain.
So, I go fishing with a line,
Releasing what I gain.

The lake of images is full.
The trout swim deep and fast.
The little minnows of the mind
Are in my hands at last.

(August 15, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

OLYMPIAD XXIX

The pageantry of dynasty –
A giant holds a boy –
Parades of nations, athletes, flags,
Bring patriotic joy.

Great governors, Prime ministers
Preside among the throngs.
Deft dancers scribe calligraphy.
Fresh children offer songs.

The drums made lights – the lights drew lines –
The lines spell out the date:
The Games begin on this eighth day,
August, Two Thousand Eight.

(9 August 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

GOOD MORNING MUSE

Who calls my name before I wake?
Is it the Comforter
Who fans the embers in my brain
And sends me lines of verse?

What happens to the poetry
I don’t have time to write?
Is there an orphanage of truth
For unclaimed wisps of light?

Who whispers words to me again
When memory is tired?
Who is the gentle confidant
That second chance required?

Now I wake me up to music
Before I meet the day.
If I must hurry off to work,
Allow this page to pray.

(8 August 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

GESTALT

There is so much to tell –
I cannot say it all,
But writing some imparts the whole,
So I’ll accept the call.

(4 August 2008, Myrifield, Heath, Massachusetts)

EMILY’S AMHERST

Are these the birds that you heard?
Are these the blooms you smelled?
Are these the bands of sunrise
That whispered in the dell?

Are these the skies that taught you?
Are these the stars you sought?
Are these the paths you wandered
In search of ought and naught?

Is this the way you flourished?
Is this the reverie?
Are these the days you numbered?
Is this the mystery?

(3 August 2008, Amherst, Massachusetts)