SOLACE

SOLACE

Come down to Galilee, my child –
Come board the boat with me –
Come sail upon the fluted tide –
I’ll navigate the sea.

Come leave the sheltered beach behind –
Come watch the welkins breathe –
Come meditate on storms gone by
When I told waves to cease.

Come help me bring the daylight in –
Step out and follow me –
Come walk upon the water’s skin
With true theology.

Come wade upon a miracle –
Come take the hand I give –
With courage unequivocal
Forsake your fear and live.

(14 February, 2010, Glendale, Arizona)

SLAKE

SLAKE (DC 27:15-18)

We take the shield of Faith wherewith
We quench the darts of fire –
We wear the armor to withstand
The Adversary’s ire.

How do we gird our loins with Truth
To banish wickedness?
How do we put the breastplate on
To stand in Righteousness?

How do we shoe our feet with Peace?
Where is the Spirit’s sword?
The helmet of Salvation is
The cup where Light is poured.

(3 February 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

METRONYMS

METRONYMS

It’s hard to sing a sonnet
So I write verse instead –
These shorter lines are honest
If not magnificent.

You might prefer a novel
Or Eisteddfod in Welsh
And not these simple comments
Predicable as self.

But writing them makes meters –
And rhythm leads to rhyme –
Devotion has its power
As metronome for Time.

(2 February 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

NOW

NOW

Hell is here – not far away –
In bad we do – in ill we say –
It’s not some future sulphur pit –
It’s what we choose that doesn’t fit
Our pure eternal destiny –
Our clean divine identity.

(Sunday, 31 January, 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LESSONS

LESSONS (DC 138:56)

What does it mean to remember
One I never have seen?
Ponder His deeds and His sayings?
What does remembrance mean?

Does it mean we were together?
Before we came to earth?
Does it mean we walked with Jesus
Before our mortal birth?

Was I among the starred angels
Who sang with joy for Him?
Did we play harps with golden strings
In strains of lyric hymn?

Was there a field of yellow blooms
Before the veil erased
The kindness of His countenance –
The vision of His face?

(1 February 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SPACIOUS

SPACIOUS

There will be some who mock –
There will be some who shame –
There will be some who try to curse
Their Neighbor’s crystal name.

There will be some who blame –
There will be some who scorn –
There will be some who steal your joy
And taunt you when you mourn.

Some people will ignore –
There will be some who sneer –
And some will call the bitter “Sweet”
And call your courage “Fear.”

There will be those who cheer –
There will be those who pray –
There will be those who honor you –
There will be Mercy’s Day.

(Sunday, 31 January, 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ESSENCE

ESSENCE (Luke 1:80)

It may be John the Baptist’s home –
The desert near Qumran –
Was where brave parents hid their sons
From Herod’s slaughter-arm.

Perhaps the Nazarites fled to
A wilderness of caves
And set themselves apart from dearth –
Awaiting He who saves.

And there, the child grew, waxing strong
In spirit – til the Day
When he returned to Israel
To clear the Savior’s way –

Preparing the Messiah’s path
With Aaron’s budding rod –
He entered Jordan’s ancient font –
Baptized the Son of God.

(Sunday, 31 January, 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BUDGET PSALM

BUDGET

The waiting time is Equity –
The loneliness invests
A garment of tranquility –
The company of Guests

Who guide me from the Spirit World –
Lift up my chin and say,
“Be of good cheer, my little one.”
They wipe my tears away.

(23 January 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BY FIRE

BY FIRE PSALM (Alma 5)

I know that I was baptized in
The water – like the Son –
But have I been immersed in Light –
The Spirit’s remissión?

And have I felt the mighty change
Of heart that makes us One?
Or felt to sing redeeming love –
The Angels’ perfect tongue?

I know that I was born again
From Second Death of Sin –
But am I sanctified, refined,
And set apart for Him?

And am I rid of haughtiness,
Of mocking, envy, pride?
Have I put on the Holiness
For which the Savior died?

(Sunday, 31 January, 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

DEVOID

DEVOID

The spotlessness was not elite –
Unblemished Lambs were sign
For all God’s kin premortally –
Perfected by design.

The comely Priests portrayed the Son –
He sinless – as were We
Before Probation’s mortal school
Allowed Iniquity.

(9 January 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MIRROR MAN

MIRROR MAN

At first you saw your good in his –
And then you see your flaw –
The flinching of the image bent –
The setting of the jaw.

The image has a double view –
A Doppelgänger rim –
Reflection has a benefit –
You learn a lot from him.

(21 November 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

HIMSELF

HIMSELF (Alma 42:14-15)

God Himself atones us
From all the World’s set stains –
Sacrifices selfhood –
Completely ascertains
The cleanliness we long for –
The spotlessness we crave –
The hope of new reunions
When we rise from the grave.

(7 October 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

FEELINGS

FEELINGS (DC 129)

A Daimon can appear
As angel with appeal –
But when you ask to shake his hand
The phantom is not real.

A Being can approach
As spirit of the just –
He will not move – cannot deceive –
His message you can trust.

An Angel can approach
As courier of God –
He’ll offer you his outstretched palm
And greetings from the Lord.

(28 December 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CONSOLIDATE

CONSOLIDATE (Mark 16:6)

Behold the Man they crucified
In anguish for our pain –
Behold the place – they laid Him where
No man had ever lain –

Behold the stone that rolled away
The bondage of the dead –
Behold the tomb – the empty place
Where angels stood instead –

Behold the maid who agonized –
“Where is my Loved One gone?”
Behold the Savior speak her name –
The Resurrected Son.

(7 January 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ELIAS

ELIAS (for Sister Ellis; Alma 34:36)

“I know exactly who you are” –
The veil is very thin –
The generations reach for us –
Let temple work begin.

“I thought I was a nobody!”
As parent, husband, wife,
The temple is the center stake –
The circuit of our life.

His temple is a righteous heart –
His Spirit dwells within –
The love recorded on the earth
Is sealed by Seraphim.

(10 January 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PATRON

PATRON (for Calvert Watkins)

Each hero needs a poet’s fame –
Each champion needs a bard –
To sing his deeds – extol his name –
Reciprocal reward.

The bravest shepherd overcomes
The lion and the bear –
Then, as a warrior, he defeats
The dragon of the lair.

His battle valor wins a crown –
Anointed – laureled king –
His righteous rule provides the tale
That gifted harpers sing.

(20 January 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)