BROWN PSALM

BROWN PSALM

How couldst Thou be so cruel to me?
“I am the Gardener here”
Why didst Thou prune my eminence?
“To make you sweeter, Dear”

What can I give when I’m so small?
“Your yield will augment mine”
How can I fill my destiny?
“Your harvest will be fine”

(26 October 2010, Provo, Utah)

THE POET PSALM

THE POET PSALM (for EED and RWE) 

Circumference her master trope – 

Her minor turn is prose 

Of dialectic opposites – 

The arguments men pose. 

She runs a Circuit round the Word – 

Her purpose is to ring 

The bells of periphrastic hymn – 

Her “business is to sing” 

Domestic is her universe 

Beneath – beside – above – 

 Beyond antithesis she brings 

Economy of love. 

 (11 August 2010, Provo, Utah)

DRAWING PSALM

    DRAWING PSALM 

The light makes perspective – 

The angles that slope – 

Diminishing arches – 

Diagonal scope. 

The rays intersticing – 

The network of waves – 

The particles splicing – 

In cross-section naves. 

Antiphonal pointing – 

Symmetrical twines – 

Stained-glass panes appointing – 

Perfectioning lines. 

 (11 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

HIGHGATE PSALM

   

HIGHGATE PSALM (to Mary Ann Evans, aka GE) 

Unconsecrated ground (they said) 

Is hallowed by thy grave 

Your common marriage (not by law) 

With neither aisle nor nave 

The sacred space walks into us 

As we move through each page 

To realms of moral circumstance 

In novels for our age. 

 (15 August 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

KEBLE PSALM

        KEBLE PSALM (to Emily wherever) 

“They shut me up in prose” she marked – 

A dialectic cell – 

The polar oppositions of 

A reason to excel. 

The cloister – chapel – quadrangle – 

The library – the lawn – 

The polished composition of 

A logic closely drawn. 

Our fathers have engendered us – 

Our mothers have inspired – 

The patriarchs identify 

The matriarchs desire. 

 (8 August 2010, London)

MARGARET’S PSALM

MARGARET’S PSALM

The saturated beauty of
Historical surmise –
Voluminous with duty and
The ever watching skies.

The battlements of history
Parade in magazine –
Bituminous with mystery
They shroud the modern scene.

(2 August 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)

DISTRICT PSALM

DISTRICT PSALM

Landscapes – pastures – footpaths – lakes –
Blessings of my solitude –
Scattering pre-August rain –
I will never be the same.

Who am I to bear this joy?
Who gave me this quiet voice?
Gathering pre-harvest grain
Whispered in Thy stainless name.

(30 July 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)

BORDER PSALM

BORDER PSALM

Lord of the Bold – Guard of the Lamb –
Walk by my side in the green fens –
Golden the dusk – gentle the path –
Lead me to bask in the fair glens.

God of the Breeze – Friend of the Sheep –
Show me Thy ways in the wild hills –
Lovely the land – soaring the view –
Teach me to live in the calm dells.

(31 July 2010, Edinburgh, Scotland)

POLI-SCI-FI VERSE

POLI-SCI-FI VERSE

Subversion is self-consciousness –
A counterfeit for depth –
A fundamental ignorance –
A lack of height and breadth –

An adolescent undermine –
A disconcerting strike –
A tantrum for dismantling
The virtues they dislike.

Politicos Anonymous –
Astute but seldom wise –
Condemning what they cannot spoil
Or cleverly revise.

An underhanded sabotage
To slander – slash – and burn –
Destruction of prosperity
They did not help to earn.

They try to make us serfs and dupes –
Bully goals are feudal –
Progressive pretext for control –
Show of force – But – futile.

(16 May 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

HARP PSALM

HARP PSALM

The Harp as healing instrument –
The Harp as Shepherd’s rod –
The Harp as music’s metonym –
The Harp’s Shir Yedidot.

The Harp as Son of David’s sign –
The Harp as tree of Life –
The Harp for king of righteousness –
The Harp as type of Christ.

The Harp as Temple Covenant –
The Harp for jubilee–
The Harp menora’s branching light –
The Harp for angel’s glee.

(28 March 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ALUMNI DANCE

ALUMNI DANCE

Is this the Dance of Life for us?
Is this the Minuet?
Is this the Courtly Ritual
That Love cannot forget?

Is this the way of Man with Maid?
Is this our Promenade?
Is this the Brilliant Interview
That makes us feel like God?

Is this the Cinderella Ball?
Is this the Magic Scene?
Is this the spotless Marble Hall?
The realm of King and Queen?

Is this the place where Two could meet
As Complementary Pair?
If this is not the Site for Spring,
Wilt Thou please show me where?

(30 April; Provo, Utah)

MT. PLEASANT PSALM

MT. PLEASANT PSALM

(To my mother Florence and for Viola Stock Jarvis)

The heart is the last thing to go –
The body lingers here –
The pulse runs fast – subsides too slow –
Relinquishing what’s dear.

The feet are the first part to change
To alabaster hues –
How beautiful though pale and strange
The life without the shoes.

A place of white and rays of light –
Her new address is Star –
The Milky Way moves forward to
Accompany her Car.

Her chariot of fire leaves
A comet in the wake –
And each good work she did for us,
A comma for her sake.

(revised 16 February 2011, Provo, Utah)

STRUGGLE PSALM

STRUGGLE PSALM (10-10-10-10)

The stronger the rack, the longer we grow –
The harder the track, the faster we go –
The darker the path, the brighter we glow –
The straiter the gate, the sooner we know.

The sooner we see, the greater the light –
The brighter the path, the larger the scope –
The faster the track, the smarter we think –
The stronger we grow, the more we can cope.

(18 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LESSON PSALM

LESSON PSALM

What are the signs of Thy coming?
How shall we know Thy face?
How does Thy Spirit inhabit
The realm of inner space?

What are the fruits of repentance?
How are the yields brought forth?
How does Thy Vision exhibit
The wealth of inner worth?

God gives His children commandments –
He sends His priests to teach –
He walks among dispensations –
Extending light to each.

(13 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PASSOVER PSALM

PASSOVER PSALM

My Father’s Business is to love –
His Time: eternity –
His Place: the temple hill above –
His Name: identity.

My Father’s Purpose is to save –
His Way: our agency –
His Manner: modest – honest – brave –
His Work: the family.

My Father’s Glory is to sing –
His Tune: redemption’s line –
His Lyric: revelation’s spring –
His Lute: the fruitful vine.

(13 February 2011; Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LINEN PSALM

LINEN PSALM

In this my sacred grove
I dedicate to Thee
Another day of lengthened stride –
Of tempered energy –

Of hearty thankfulness –
Of patience on the road –
Another try at reverent steps
To enter Thine abode.

(10 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MORN PSALM

MORN PSALM

The Deer are on the hill at Dawn –
Their silhouettes declare
That lost is found and void is full
And hope is hiding there

And mundane shapes may come to life
With hyperbolic ears –
Monotony may shed its coat –
Surprise advancing years.

(9 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PROTECTION PSALM

PROTECTION PSALM

No bitterness – hypocrisy –
Should mar the calm defense
Of Standards we would emulate –
No rancor or pretense

Should undermine the purity
Of values we espouse –
The mantle of integrity
Is what the Truth allows.

(9 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BAPTISM PSALM

BAPTISM PSALM (8-6-8-6)

The easy yoke – the burden light
Consists in His good name –
The answer to our earnest quest
Will always be the same.

No esoteric school of thought –
Sophisticated tome –
Can euphemize the substance of
The call that leads us Home.

Sincerity – the gentle mark –
Simplicity – the sign –
A sermo humilis in style
Means subtle discipline.

(8 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

EXORDIUM PSALM

EXORDIUM PSALM

To resurrect is ordinance –
An order to Revive –
The one commandment all obey
Is coming back alive.

We have to leave the dust behind –
Forsake the hard-earned earth –
Walk out of stiff mortality
Into a vital Birth.

Our viability is sure –
Ordained by Highest Saint –
Who labored through our detritus –
But He made no complaint.

(7 February 2011, Provo, Utah)

TRUST PSALM

TRUST PSALM (Mormon 9)

Can I be spotless, pure, fair, white –
Cleansed by the guiltless Lamb?
Can I be humble – diligent –
Be like the meek I-AM?

Can I believe in miracles –
In promises He’ll grant?
Can I work out salvation
By faith if I repent?

(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)

LEXIS PSALM

LEXIS PSALM

I know how lace and silk can be
In words that we choose well –
I see how sensitivity
Can tailor what we tell.

I notice how lines wait on us
And turn into a verse –
I feel a text’s proclivity
To baptize and immerse.

(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)

NIKE PSALM

NIKE PSALM

He walks above his weakness –
He leaps above the lies –
He skips around the scandals –
Avoids a compromise –

He focuses on winning –
He finds the finish line –
He runs like revelation –
His nidus, the Divine.

He shows us how to vanquish –
He jumps the pain with smiles –
He practices til perfect –
He vindicates the trials.

He overcomes by bounding –
He springs to victory –
He celebrates his triumph –
His valedictory.

(5 February 2011, Provo, Utah)

COLOGNE PSALM

COLOGNE PSALM

Who were the Magi with their gifts?
Why did they see the Star?
Were they Three Kings – or Many Men?
Was their home close – or far?

From which great nations brought they gold –
And frankincense, and myrrh?
From which lands did they emigrate?
From Persia, Nod, or Shir?

How did they find the Savior’s house –
Avoiding Herod’s snare
With diplomatic sapience?
What prompted them to care?

Who taught them how to kneel before
The presence of a boy?
Who gave them wisdom’s prescience
That bribes could not destroy?

When we give presents in His name
Do we remember Them?
As we bow down to offer Him
A contrite heart – our gem?

(5-6 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

AWARD PSALM

AWARD PSALM

Forgiveness is my only prize –
All approbation Thine –
Thy mercy is my accolade –
The honor is not mine.

The constant pardoning of faults –
The softening of pride –
The overlooking my mistakes
And standing by my side.

My only victory is Thee –
Acknowledging my worth –
My only talent is to seek
To prosper in Thy work.

(4 February 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SOPHIA PSALM

SOPHIA PSALM

Why is there existence?
What is the point of life?
Why instead of nothingness have
Children, father, wife?

Why is there creation?
Why universe of light?
Perceptions’s calculus of sense?
A choice of wrong or right?

Being gathers love in –
Choosing well, the aim –
Generations amplify their
Validity by name.

Poetry makes dwellings –
Cosmic rays bring views –
Revelation’s algebra sends
Every one good news.

(16 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

COSTUME DRAMA

COSTUME DRAMA

Skylark – Larkrise – Candleford flight –
Delicate cadence – my delight –
Minnie, Dorcas, Laura, and Ruth –
Ladies who learn to live by truth.

Purview is impervious sight –
Dominant goodness – souls contrite –
Dainty denizens – faithful friends –
Pray that this tale will never end.

(30-31 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ANOINT PSALM

ANOINT PSALM

The blessing energy is real –
It organizes force –
It gives me strength to carry on –
It helps me to go forth

And do the things the Lord commands
With faith that I can be
A valiant servant for His work
In perpetuity.

(30 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

WAKING PSALM

WAKING PSALM

He wants to speak to us in dreams
And whispers in the mind –
A glowing feeling in the heart –
He wants us to be kind.

He want to talk to us in tongues
And gifts of prophesy –
Through visions, healings, wisdom, faith –
He wants our eyes to see.

He wants to free us from our fears
And whisk our tears away –
To build our confidence in Him
He teaches us to pray.

(29 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

GROVE PSALM

GROVE PSALM (for Elder Kikuchi)

To keep a journal is to pray
In words that angels seal –
To make a record for each day
Establishes what’s real.

To thank the Father for His love
Enhances joy we feel –
To ask a question is to seek
The answer He’ll reveal.

(27 January 2011, Provo, Utah)

MARTYR PSALM

MARTYR PSALM

Abinadi and Tyndale burned –
The torch was lit by lies –
Their message could not be consumed –
No martyr really dies –

St. Joan of Arc and Lady Jane –
St. Ursula’s young maids –
Their testimony is secured
By selfless holy deeds.

(24 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

TOMB PSALM

TOMB PSALM

When Jesus spoke to Magdalen
As resurrected Man –
She was the first to testify
That He fulfilled the plan.

She witnessed that He rose again
And ran to tell the rest:
“The First Fruit of the Garden is
Our Lord – the Blessed Best!”

(17 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SWALLOWED PSALM

SWALLOWED PSALM (Mosiah 16:8-10; 18:2)

He is the endless light of all
That never can be dim –
Our mortal puts Eternal on
With Life that comes from Him.

Through power, pain, and death of Christ
Redemption’s brought to pass –
Ascension – resurrection hour –
And earth a Sea of Glass.

(16 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

REVELSTOKE PSALM

REVELSTOKE PSALM (for Elizabeth Hallen and Wade Siebenthal)

Maturity means reaching out
While gathering within –
To share the heart with others while
Forsaking futile sin.

Great Aunt wants us to see the site
In Canada’s expanse –
A pilgrimage to where she learned
True love if not romance.

A wintry weathered mining man
Came here to face the fact
That what he needed was a life
Of sacred wedding pact.

One hundred years ago this fall
Is double jubilee –
So we will celebrate their vow –
Their anniversary.

(23 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

IDENTITY PSALM

IDENTITY PSALM (from Julie Beck)

Our name is Mother in the plan.
That is our endless role –
No other mantra can replace
The compass of our soul.

We must not run away from “Life”
That is our destiny –
The secret to fulfillment is
Response ability.

(18 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CHESS PSALM

CHESS PSALM (To Catherine, Ferdinand, and Isabella)

The Queen is more essential
Than any other role –
She guards the King from danger –
She has the most control –

Moves forward or reverses –
With one step, two, or three . . .
Diagonal or vertical
Or horizontally –

If lost, the game is over –
Unless redeemed by Pawn –
The power of the granger
To reinstate what’s gone –

The Woman shares the center –
Her Husband’s equal mate –
They have to work together
To circumnavigate.

(13 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PLACE PSALM

PLACE PSALM

We sanctify the Sabbath when
We listen reverently –
We justify our presence when
We worship solemnly.
We purify our spirit when
We gather quietly.
We clarify our vision when
We ponder soberly.

(15 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ALOE PSALM

ALOE PSALM

All neatly poised in readiness –
Compassion’s steady length –
Emergency preparedness
For giving aid, help, strength.

All packed in tidy implements
Of succor, service, care –
The increments of soothing salve –
Of healing and repair.

All stored for quick recovery –
Support, relief, and cure –
The convalescent instruments
Reliable and sure.

(6 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SYSTEM PSALM

SYSTEM PSALM (to Maria Elizabeth "Lisel" Hallen)

This book is made of paper leaves
That grew on poplar trees –
That stood upon a hill beside
A meadow made by bees –

Who danced a map from hive to bloom –
From blossom back to home –
Where honey gilt the palaces
Of wax and latticed comb –

Next to a cabin made of logs –
Wherein a daughter slept –
Who never walked when she awoke
But danced, entranced, and leapt –

Whose parents both were pioneers –
Survivors of The Fire –
Whose children were the siblings of
My grandfather – grandsire.

(6 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LESSON PSALM

LESSON PSALM

My body wants to sing –
My spirit wants to hear –
So I will listen as I praise
In case the Lord is near.

My being wants to shine –
My essence wants to grow –
So I will hearken as I learn
To grasp what I should know.

(20 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

VENERATION PSALM

VENERATION PSALM (Mosiah 27:22-31)

The Lord is good and glorious –
His power opens eyes
And shakes the earth’s encumbrances
Into a paradise

Where every humble knee will bend
And every mouth profess
The glance of His all-searching gaze
Restores our righteousness.

All men and women – nations, tongues,
And people must be new –
Redeemed by tidings in sweet song:
The gospel must be true.

(22 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

INVERSE PSALM

INVERSE PSALM

Cold air sinks, but altitude chills –
A paradox of clime –
Warm air lifts, but mountain cools
The higher that we climb.

Liberty thrives, but license kills –
A consequence of law –
Freedom rings, but anarchy steals
The Frankincense of awe.

Our earth is star for other worlds –
A constellation dot –
Our solar system zodiac
For panoptical spot.

(7-8 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

VIOLA PSALM

VIOLA PSALM (for Viola Jarvis, daughter of Kindness Stock)

A place of white and rays of light –
Her new address is Star –
And each good work moves forward to
Accompany her Car.

Her chariot of fire leaves
A comet in the wake –
And each good word she spoke to us
A comma for her sake.

(21 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MT. PLEASANT PSALM

MT. PLEASANT PSALM (to my mother Florence)

The heart is the last thing to go –
The body lingers here –
The pulse runs fast – subsides too slow –
Relinquishing what’s dear.

The feet are the first part to change
To alabaster hues –
How beautiful though pale and strange
The life without the shoes.

(20 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

HEAVEN PSALM

HEAVEN PSALM

But for the rest of the earth
This holy time might pass
Without a thought of being
By Lady, Lord, or Lass.

But for the birth of Jesus
This earth would fade away
Without a trace of meaning –
Of Doing, Depth, or Day.

(25 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

HERD PSALM

HERD PSALM

The deer descend in agile stealth –
Their eyes the only spark of self –
They browse the stiff mahogany –
They tiptoe through the reverie.

Their eyes are taut with vigilance –
Their legs are lean with confidence –
They scatter if they see me breathe –
They gather when they hear me sleep.

(1 January 2011, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

HUE PSALM

HUE PSALM

The verse is washed in color –
A water-based pastel –
The edges blend or sharpen –
The pigments fade or swell.

A word can paint an image –
A sketch emerge from brush –
A syllable bring tincture –
Compose a line by touch.

(21 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PRUNING PSALM

PRUNING PSALM (Jacob 5; 3 Nephi 24:16)

The Lord of the Vineyard weeps for His Trees:
“What more for my people could I have done!”
His Servant replies: “Give us one more hour.
They may yet bring forth good works, help the one.”

A Book of Remembrance is kept for these
Who think on the name of the Only Son –
Who in vocal prayer seek the Savior’s Power –
Who grow towards the light of the Holy One.

Most precious to Him is the joyful Fruit –
The labor of nourishing not in vain –
Preserved for the joy of the Branch and Root –
The Lord’s sacrifice an eternal gain.

(17 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

FRONT PSALM

FRONT PSALM

The arctic tramp begins to vamp –
He throws his weight around –
He crashes as he thrashes brush –
He lashes branches down –

Then softens blow with gentle snow –
He whispers wind in wisps –
A crew of few comes cruising through
To show that sails exist.

(23 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ASHES PSALM

ASHES PSALM (for Susan Ream)

As if she were no saint, they burned
The casque of her remains –
As if she never wore a veil
They cremated her skeins –

As if her body could not rise –
As if death were the end –
As if she had no consequence –
As if she had no friend –

They underestimated Truth –
They cast a pearl to dust –
But she will walk again in white
Endowment as her Trust.

(14 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

TACHYON PSALM

TACHYON PSALM (for James Hallen)

Telestial makes day seem night –
Looks dark, in spite of starlit farm –
And notwithstanding spikes of light
Feels chill and far in stead of warm.

Mortality makes life seem short –
Infinity looks minuscule –
Falls off inversely to the square –
Significance feels minimal.

Yet super strings project – protect –
Neutrinos purify the air
And penetrate our crust of earth –
Providing bread for every fare.

(14 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CASTLE PSALM

CASTLE PSALM (for Elizabeth Goudge)

Living, elusive memory
Of England’s destiny –
Giving inclusive charity
To Britain’s progeny –

Bells of Wells and Ely’s Dome-Clock –
Elizabethan history –
Oxford’s renaissance of figures
Donned in presbytery.

(3 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

WALKING PSALM

WALKING PSALM

Bury not thy beauty in
The earth or worldly things –
Walk in loveliness and smiles
Until your spirit sings –

Walk along the ridges of
Your probabilities –
Walk until you reach the bench
Of restful certainties.

(13 December 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SIGN PSALM

SIGN PSALM

What is the meaning of the Earth?
What is it trying to say?
Significance of landscape on
An irridescent day?

What is the pupose of the world?
What is it longing to tell?
Glad tidings of great comfort to
The souls that herein dwell.

(28 November 2010)

THIRD PERSON PSALM

THIRD PERSON PSALM

A dove-like form descended on
The Son of God as sign –
As approbations’s presence in
The Ordinance combine.

How is the Spirit like a bird?
Surveys the earth and sings –
Accompanies each Act of Truth
With covenantal wings.

(24 November 2010)

BOND PSALM

BOND PSALM

Our dreams come from the Ancestors –
They stem from DNA –
The mind produces Residues
Of what our Dead might say.

Impressions layer Memory
With Meanings evident –
As if a Veil has parted so
A Message could be sent.

(24 November 2010)

SEER PSALM

    SEER PSALM  

He is a God of miracles – 

I see His hand through time – 

I hear connections in His work 

Like canticles of rhyme. 

He is a Lord of oracles – 

I sense His holy ode – 

I feel prophetic impulses 

Transposing each abode. 

(19 November 2010)

[2 Nephi 27:23]

VERSPECTIVES PSALM

VERSPECTIVES PSALM

The Lord is my light and my guide
On paths through life’s vast countryside.
I follow Him to hidden springs
That nourish all creatures and things.

(14 October 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)