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)