REMEMBRANCE

REMEMBRANCE

I cannot weep enough for Him –
The wounded Son of Man –
I cannot say enough to thank –
But I’ll do all I can.

The summit of devoted life –
A bold humility –
To serve our neighbor as the Lord
Has loved us – perfectly.

I thank Thee for this state of Light –
This site of reverence –
This space where Evil does not dare
To steal inheritance.

The more we bless – the more He gives –
His goodness multiplies –
Replenishing our emptiness
With awe that amplifies.

(10 December 2009, Provo, Utah)

IMITATIO

IMITATIO (Dickinson J130/Fr122)

These are the dusks when Deer come down –
The garden roses done –
Because November hides repast
Remarkable as none.

The leaves are dun – the branches fawn –
The vegetation brown –
But widowed creatures find a feast –
Like Ruth – while gleaning ground.

(6 December 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

RECONCILIATION

RECONCILIATION

What is the gap between His will and mine?
Where do I need to improve?
When I am lacking, excessive, unkind
How do I make mountains move?

How do I pacify tempests that brood?
How can I do what He did?
How do I counter temptation with truth?
How can I raise up the dead?

Can I be meek like a lamb being shorn?
Can I give sight to the blind?
Can I be pure like a child newly born?
How can I be more refined?

(14 December 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PSÁLLŌ (Luke 24:39)

Play me like an instrument –
A harp of many strings –
The scars are tied to ligaments
That stretched for men and kings.

Pluck me like a psaltery
For music’s still small song –
The wounds are knotted into notes
Transposing good from wrong.

Touch me like a sounding board –
A lyrical re-frame –
The marks were carved by implements
As symbols for My Name.

Strum me like a sympathy –
Behold my hands and feet –
Empirical as empathy –
Handle me, and see.

(6 December 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

STUFFINS (or STUFF-CAKES)

STUFFINS (or STUFF-CAKES)

A recipe is poetry –
A new song for the mouth –
You follow the ingredients
But leaving some things out

And adding in whatever goods
You have around the house –
Like substituting olive oil
For butter from a cow –

The sugar becomes poultry spice –
Use corn meal for the flour –
With onions, raisins, celery –
And bake them half an hour

In little paper muffin cups –
A serving for each guest –
Instead of stuffing for the bird
Polenta in a nest!

(26 November 2009, Payson, Utah)

EMILY

As if she carries a secret –
Deciphering a rune –
As if to speak were a riddle
Enveloped in a tune –

As if she treasures enigma –
Discovering its clue –
As if to write were a puzzle
Responding to a cue.

(10 December 2009, Thursday)

CUSTODIAN (Mosiah 5:11)

Skin cells – sin scales – falling dust –
Tissues – textiles – turn to rust –
Trying to remove the spot –
Only His pure love can blot.

May His clean atoning blood
Bear His name like oxygen
To each atom of my soul –
Breath of new life – spirit whole.

(26 November 2009)