2014, Selected Psalms & Poems

             TIMELESS PSALM

He lived to be Eternity.

He lives to intersperse

The cosmos with infinity

In patterns so diverse

Observers cannot see His works –

Nor can they comprehend

The Maker of the Masterpiece –

Until they see His hand.

 

(3 January 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            STAR FLAKES

 

The Brain is laced with Poetry –

The Mind crocheted with Verse –

The Heart is Knit with Prosody –

The Soul sews argent Words.

 

(4 January 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SIMILITUDE PSALM

 

Humanities – Divinities?

Dost Thou have days like us?

Unshakable – Fragility?

The World spins from its Top.

 

How steady – how Precarious –

The testing Antidote –

Unwavering – how Perilous –

The spinning Anecdote.

 

(4 January 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            HENGE PSALM

 

Their Symbol was Circumference –

The Kiva was their Mark –

The Circle Stones their Judgment Hall –

A panoramic Park.

 

(4 January 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            DEVOTIONAL PSALM

 

Thou hast chosen the better part –

Hymns – sweet music – these where thou art –

Thou hast hungered to hear the Word –

Counsels – lessons – truth thou hast heard.

 

(4 January 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            POTENTIAL PSALM

 

Our poetry’s within us

Just waiting to step out –

The oak trees in the acorn’s pod

Await their chance to sprout.

 

Becoming who we really are

Is not an accident –

As Faith persuades us to seek light

We follow precedent.

 

(8 January 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            MANNERS PSALM (3 Nephi 27:27)

 

“Be even as I Am” – Thou sayst.

“Then how art Thou?” – ask I –

“I know that Thou art well and wise –

And needest not reply.”

 

“I’m fine, thank thee,” came His response –

“And how art thou today?”

“I’m trying to see Thy work in mine

In what I do and say.”

 

“The pattern is Our Father’s love” –

He quietly explains –

“We look for ways to lighten loads

And lessen other’s pains.”

 

“Then bless my eyes to see the needs –

And bless my ears to hear –

And bless my heart to understand –

And make my feet like deer.”

 

(20 January 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            UNWEARYINGNESS PSALM (Helaman 10:4)

 

I have beheld what Thou hast done –

Not seeking Thine own life –

Thy handiwork unknots the World

That’s tied in twisted strife.

 

(22 January 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            GILBERT TEMPLE VOW

 

Please help me, Lord, to publish peace –

To move the stumbling blocks –

To do a work that’s marvelous –

To foster wondrous works.

 

(2 March 2014, Glendale, Arizona)

 

            ADEQUACY PSALM

 

“I can’t be all for everyone.

I’m sorry,” I confessed.

“No need. The Lord took care of all,”

The Holy Ghost professed.

“You CAN be everything for One,

Give something to each soul.

But you don’t have to save the world.

That was the Savior’s role.”

 

(13 March 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            AGE PSALM

 

The Earth is growing older, too –

Regeneration bates

Its breath of Restorátive Hue

While Restitution waits

 

For Dignity and Amity

To Certify the test

That shrivels Cells – dishevels Plates –

And tucks us into Rest.

 

(15 April 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            GOOD FRIDAY PSALM

 

So good of God to send His Son –

So kind of Christ to lend His life –

So hard to hear the men who mock –

To see the stain – to share the shock –

 

To bear the break – to wear the world –

To harness hell – to count the cost – 

To suffer sin – to mind the mark –

To find the faith – endure the dark –

 

To taste the taint – to drink the dregs –

To sense disdain – to grasp the grief –

To face the fear – to know the need –

To feel defeat – to intercede.

 

So loved the Lord who lived to die

And died to live for you and me –

So paid the price as lifted Lamb –

The Kin of Kin – the Rimed IAMB.

 

(18 April 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

[An “IAMB” is a metrical foot in the prosody of Indo-European and other language families, consisting of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, as in iambic pentameter. In this psalm, “IAMB” is a pun on “I AM”: the Lord’s name in the Old Testament.  The semantic connotation of metrical foot points to “how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him” (Isaiah 52:7). The word “Rimed” indicates those who are trying to become like the Savior.]

 

 

            REEF PSALM

 

 

In planes and cracks the sun won’t touch

The snow delineates design –

The water-pocket fold declines

Into a splendid bold terrain.

 

The constellated petroglyphs

Are clustering in paho sticks –

Kachina figures dance in lines

Along the earthshine monoliths.

 

(2 May 2014, Capitol Reef, Utah)

 

 

            NIGHT SHIFT

 

The stars work at night

And sleep in all day –

The pendulum swings

Securely away –

Retracing its sway

Wings back into space –

The stellar display

That light can’t deface –

Gold in the moon glow –

Silver in the sea –

Sweepage and swervage –

Slippage on the lea –

Lyra’s mute refrain

Leads the tardy Swan –

Stepping off the plain

I go home to God.

 

(2 May 2014, Capitol Reef, Utah)

 

 

            MINDING MY OWN PSALM

 

“My Business is to Love” the Lord,

“To sing” His name in Praise.

“Circumference” – my Labor, too,

In Light’s revolving Days.

 

(5 May 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

            CORPUS PSALM

 

“Big Theory” likes “Causality.”

“Big Data” – “Correlations.”

The shadow is reality –

The light – representation.

 

(5 May 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

            HOPI THEORY

 

Why is the Universe growing?

Because of some BIG BANG?

What is it converting into?

Why the push to expand?

 

The Center of the Universe

Is not symmetrical –

The Helios of whirling dust

Appears elliptical.

 

The Universe is a window –

An eye that lets in light –

Cosmology is ocular –

Astronomy is sight.

 

(15 & 31 May 2014, Springville, Utah & Hopi Land, Arizona)

 

 

            TERABITHIA PSALM

“He – her – her – she – she – they – all – her –

I – they – he – them – their – her – them – he –

Himself – he – he – she – he – he – he –

He – him – her – Jess – Leslie – she – him –

Her – he – her – himself – he – my – me –

Her – it – it – we – I – my – I – me –

You – let’s – each other – them – it.”

(2 July 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

            TENSILE PSALM

The Wren will record but also reveal.

Her message acquaints but also conceals.

The brain’s crown is laced with poetry’s string.

The mind’s nest crocheted with bird-lings who sing.

 

(9 July 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

            IRISH GAELIC VERSE

Writing is Heaven’s recorder –

Reading is Vision’s reply –

Wisdom is sealing the silence

Under the wonderful Why.

 

(11 July 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

            SEVENTH-DAY PSALM

 

Where Thou art, there is holiness –

The room seems rarified –

The incense of Thy Presence scents –

My home seems sanctified.

 

The stillness of the Sabbath dawn

Invites me to ascend

And meet the Master of the Morn –

As on my knees I bend

 

To thank Thee for Thy Providence –

To ask Thee for: Thy Hand’s

Abiding guidance in my life;

A heart to understand.

 

(24 July 2014, Park City, Utah)

 

 

            DREAM SCRIPT

 

Pins and needles cleanse the earth

At a time before the dawn –

Tiny creatures stir the weeds

Putting little jackets on.

 

(27 July 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            REDEDICATION PSALM

 

“Circumference” is Eternity –

Coincidence a Ring

Of layered Possibilities

Composed from Every Thing

That’s beautiful, intelligent,

Of pure report – That’s true,

Benevolent, and virtuous –

A constant interview.

 

Infinity has Circuitry –

Significance a Chime

That corresponds with Strings, Flutes, Drums,

Resounding through all Time

The Music of Meridians,

A Dispensation’s Strain –

Recorded by Stenographers

In heaven’s round domain.

 

(28 July 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            COUSIN NOTES

1) “I believe in redemption,”

Said Marian today.

2) “Faith is a dedication

That leads in the best way.”

I paraphrase the second

Anonymously wise,

Both scribbled on a memo

For me to synthesize.

 

(30 July 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

            MCDONALD ELEGY

 

Unto you a son was given

Who will be your guide to heaven.

Unto you a child was born to

Welcome you on that sweet morn: new.

 

(2 August 2014, Springville, Utah)

[Little Axton James McDonald was laid to rest on this day.]

 

 

            CEMETERY WALK

 

Science is the fruit of faith,

Its self-sufficient lawn,

Its garden of departed ones

Who put salvation on.

 

Invested in a little space,

The dust restores a grove.

The trees protect the sacred ground

Where we can tread with love.

 

(11 August 2014, Amherst, Massachusetts)

 

 

            EDEN PSALM

 

We have within a Holy Land –

A piece of Paradise – a Strand

Of pearls from Galileean Seas –

A string of garnered memories –

 

We wear a Garland from the East –

A crown of Mysteries – a Feast

Of Kernels that give worth and glean

The gathered Grain from rows between.

 

(20 August 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            TREK PSALM

 

Self-pity can be fatal –

We mustn’t hang our heads –

Keep looking up to mountains

Where living water threads.

 

(31 August 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            ADVOCATE PSALM

 

He loves you – He likes you –

Respects you – Esteems you –

He helps you – He heals you –

Protects you – Redeems you –

He lifts you – He leads you –

Restores you – Refines you –

He knows you – Renews you –

He draws you – Defines you.

 

(17 September 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SHIFT PSALM

 

My joys no longer of this Earth,

The mountain’s call recedes –

The landscape does not haunt me so –

An inner vista leads.

 

(18 September 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            UN-SIN PSALM

 

Discomfort is a Surgeon’s edge –

A restorátive Blade –

Disruption of disfigured lines –

The cure for which we prayed.

 

Retrenchment is a gentle Plan –

A renovative Pain –

The dis-construction of a Lie –

So Truth can twine again.

 

(Sunday, 19 October 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            COUNCIL PSALM

 

The Martyrs and Confessors sing

With Hosts of Holiness –

The Artists and Professors ring

The Rows with Righteousness –

 

The Angels and the Patriarchs

Surround the Wonder Chair –

The Sages and the Matriarchs

Ascend the Winding Stair.

 

(21 October 2014, Phoenix, Arizona)

 

 

            PLAIN PSALM

 

Thy flaw is part of thy beauty –

Thy weakness is a gift

That can become a strength through Him

Whose mission is to sift.

 

(2 November 2014, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            DIANA PSALM

 

Your whole good life will be restored –

Full saturation of your breath –

A transformation of your soul –

Eternal light from shadowed death.

 

We sink or swim – we think or sleep –

In sight of drink we drown or thirst –

Partaking of the mortal vase

We thank Him for the water first.

 

(11 November 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            TEACHER PSALM

 

When Magdalena saw the Lord

He spoke her given name –

With welcome voice – with brief restraint –

She started to exclaim –

 

She recognized the Gardner there

As He who cut the Cords

And broke the Chains and purged the Stains

With earnest mighty Words.

 

She could have called him “Risen Lord” –

Or “King” – or “Nazarene” –

Or “Savior” or the “Son of God.”

“Rabboni” said the Magdalene.

 

(11 November 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            MINISTER PSALM

 

The Savior visited His friends –

He taught them Truth – He read with them –

Ate Martha’s meals – gave Mary Bread –

And raised their Brother from the dead.

 

He ministered within their Home –

Reviewed the prophets’ scripture tome –

Directed them to daily prayer

To bless them when He wasn’t there.

 

He sat with them – relaxed – and smiled –

He counseled them: “Be as a Child” –

They sang aloud the temple psalms –

He blessed them with anointed palms.

 

(11 November 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            LAMB PSALM

 

He is the Shepherd of Shepherds –

The rod and staff His role –

There is no other Name or Sake

Whose Life can save our Soul.

 

I want to follow Jesus home –

I hope to match His steps –

To imitate His willingness –

Perceive His heights and depths.

 

The stars would be my grazing space –

The sky would be my yard –

The clouds would be my company

In times of Light or Dark.

 

I wish to journey where He leads –

Each day a Promised Land –

He is the Pastor of Pastures –

Each place at His right hand.

 

(15, 22, 23 November 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            OXYGEN PSALM

 

Is any Beauty left on Earth?

Has Holiness a Haven?

Has Love survived in latter days –

Or must we wait for Heaven?

 

Is any Valor possible?

Does Courage have a Hero?

Does Hope still comfort like a bird –

Or is the heart at Zero?

 

(24 November 2014, Chandler, Arizona)

 

 

            GLORY, GLORY SONATINA

 

Nothing shines brighter than the Light of God.

The wish for things “not true but seen” is lust,

Whose flat-screen view provides a glared mirage

That flickers in the dankened moldy must.

The Wren will recórd but also reveal.

The brain’s crown is laced with poetry’s strings.

Her message acquaint but also conceal.

The mind’s nest crocheted with language that sings.

Do not be fooled by hoax and contention:

Our bodies and spirits are brightly knit.

Heaven and Earth in collaboration:

They’re not just attached with a flimsy stitch.

Morality is real climate control.

We cannot save the dust without the soul.

 

(10, 27 December 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            “THANK YOU” PSALM

 

As I drove east to Hopi Land

The Sun appeared to fall –

From rings of blue and rims of rose –

The glowing copper ball

Became an ancient ornament

That dangled in the west –

Corn Maiden’s doll exchanged old words

That fluttered with our breath.

 

“Askwali” taught the Hopi Man

“Is female gratitude” –

“A gentleman would say kwakwha

For thankful attitude –

I bought the down-tuft grandmother

For Christmas sentiment –

Red, aqua, yellow, black with white

Her kind accoutrement.

 

(14 December 2014, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            VOW PSALM

 

I need to talk – I wish to speak –

I love to publish peace –

I long to witness on my feet

In truths that never cease.

 

I need to hear – I want to heed –

I love to listen, too –

I have to hearken in my heart

To teachings that ring true.

 

I love to sing – I hope to praise –

I want to lift the notes –

Enunciate the Spirit’s words –

The joy His life denotes.

 

(14 December 2014, Sunday, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            QUICKENING PSALM

 

A sprout shall come from Jesse’s stem –

A Branch shall flourish from His roots –

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest

Where Wisdom’s understanding shoots –

With counsel, knowledge, awe, and might –

He shall reprove with Equity –

He shall not judge with human sight –

His righteousness will mend the meek.

 

He smites the worldly with His mouth –

He slays the wicked with His rod –

His lips and loins wear Holiness –

The girdle of His breath is God –

The Wolf shall nestle with the Lamb –

The Leopard slumber with the Kid –

The Calf to gather with the Cat –

And all by Little Children led –

 

The Cow and Bear in safety feed –

The Lion grazing with the Ox –

Their Younglings in the pasture sleep –

Their Fatlings fearless – eating straw.

The Nurs’ry toddlers dread no Snake –

No Cocatrice can wound their hands –

God’s Holy Mountain free from harm

As Knowledge lathes the Seas and Lands.

 

An Ensign stands with Jesse’s root –

The Nations seek it east to north –

And north to west – and west to south –

And south to rest – so on – so forth.

The Lord shall set His hand to take

His people for a second time –

Recovering the remnant souls

From Egypt – and from ev’ry clime –

 

From Pathros – from Assyria –

From Elam, Hamath, Shinar, Cush –

From ev’ry continent and isle –

From ev’ry desert – Ev’ry bush.

And He shall set an Ensign high

To gather lost diasporas –

Assemble outcasts from all tribes –

From all four corners – the Dispersed.

 

All envy – adversaries – gone –

Vexations be cut off – depart –

As Ephraim and Judah meet –

Forgive – accept a truce – restart.

On shoulders of the Palestines –

His people fly from east to west –

They stretch their hands and all obey –

He smites the floods and all are blessed.

 

His children cross the seven streams –

A highway lifts their feet to land –

They lift their praises to the Lord

Acknowledging His mighty hand –

A sprout shall come from Jesse’s stem –

A Branch shall flourish from His roots –

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest

Where Wisdom’s understanding shoots.

 

(29-30 December 2014, Phoenix, Arizona)