CALLING

“Why, why hast Thou forsaken me?”
Was not an idle cry.
When Father turned His face away,
His Son yearned to know why.

“Why, why dost Thou abandon me?
Did my attempt displease?
Was it this? Was it that? Is there
No way to now appease?

How have I disappointed Thee?
How did my mission fail?”
All of the dread that humans feel
Became a twisting flail.

His distance from Father’s presence
For a moment was more than ours,
But then He ran to succor us
In all the utmost hours.

(13 December 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PREPARATION

How do I follow thee, Savior?
How do I find the Way?
How does my will change to Thy Will
In all I do and say?

Please, may my prayers be not in vain.
I’ll do better next time.
O please – mend the wall in my heart.
Heal the words in my mind.

Father, have I forsaken Thee?
The tendency is sly.
Before I know, my focus roves
And blindness films my eye.

Love, Thy Glory – Thy glory, Love.
After the moon goes down –
Time, the Seer – the seer, time –
A glow consoles our town.

(13 December 2008; Phoenix, Arizona - Pleasant Grove, Utah)

REQUITED

The Word I chose, chose me – I’m told.
He first loved us – they say.
The road I took takes me to Life –
To Him: the Truth, the Way.

The One I seek, seeks me – it’s said.
He first sought us – they tell.
The door I knock upon is His –
He comes to where I dwell.

(23 February 2009, Pleasant Grove)

“WRINKLES IN TIME”

My spirit blooms – my body fades –
This is no time for masquerades –
Cosmetic youth is useless now –
But inner strength augments somehow.

My shoulders bend – my courage grows –
This is no time for stiff repose –
Poetic voice is vibrant here –
I have to be a pioneer.

The pace is quick – response is slow –
There is so much I still don’t know –
The beauty that I long to be
Is coming out in spite of me –

The ageing mars – the laughter mends –
Both earth and heaven are my friends –
Prophetic truth is useful still
As I seek to obey Thy will.

(9 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SENSE AND RESPONSE

What happens when a candle burns?
Does wax turn into air?
What happens when a fire glows?
Does matter disappear?

Can voices translate into light?
Can sounds become a prayer?
What happens when we speak to Him?
What takes our message there?

When carbon burns, electrons move –
Wax makes new energies –
The fire makes cool matter hum –
Creates electric bees.

The hive turns sound to radiance –
With colored frequencies –
Our words pass through glass fiber cells
In honeyed melodies.

(8 & 12 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SESSION

Intelligence loves Truth and Light –
Virtue cleaves to Virtue –
Benevolence will choose the Right –
Mercy fosters Mercy.

The Pure in Heart seek Purity –
Wisdom perceives Wisdom –
The Just pursue compassion’s Claim –
Vision receives Vision.

(6 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PRECOCIOUS

The daffodils are dancing up –
A January dare!
The deer turn up their nose at them –
The shoots don’t seem to care!

I worry if they rise too soon
Their trumpet gold will freeze –
They send out green notes anyway –
Their only aim to please.

(22 January 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BIRD WORDS

The words are pouring out again –
I’m not sure how they come –
Awake, asleep, at dawn, at dusk –
They aren’t as shy as some.
They gently squeeze between the steps –
They dodge – they dart – they dare –
They have a keen intelligence –
They know when to beware.

They come and go in their due time –
And I just have to write –
Sometimes they stay with me all day –
But sometimes they take flight.
With sequin eyes – by window panes –
They sense me through the glass –
I try hard not to startle them –
They hide – they seek – they pass.

They do not ask for cleverness –
They do not covet power –
They flutter in and out at will
At any given hour.
They swoop – they rise – advance – retreat –
They give – they gain – they brood –
Their furtive gleaning lasts all day –
They thank me for the food.

I offer ordinary seed –
And sometimes I forget –
But they return – forgiving me –
They overlook the debt
As if they owed me providence!
Their generous reprieve
Is feeding me with confidence
To share and to receive.

(2 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ALIJAH

He gathers all His children –
He numbers flocks and herds –
They know Him as their Shepherd –
He guides them with His words.

He will fulfill the promise –
Their long dispersion ends –
He brings in all the nations –
He counts us as His friends.

The gathering is literal –
The going home, concrete –
The call is individual –
The welcome is complete.

The promised land is visible –
The mountain is in sight –
The evidence, perpetual –
The proof is in delight.

(1 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

EXPRESS

I’m looking at a distant star
Whose light just greeted me –
Its journey does not seem that far –
Just past eternity.

I don’t know why it winked at me –
I didn’t seek its face –
But somehow through the universe
A spark of joy crossed space.

I thought I had to wait a life
Or sacrifice my breath –
But it arrived before I blinked –
Without requiring death.

Its promises are messengers –
Its particles are wise –
It found a line between the blinds
And shutters of my eyes.

(2 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)