Monday, April 19, 2021

Mime

 


 

           MIME

Remembering is Sacrosanct –

An imitative Cord.

Mimesis is recovered life

In spirit and in form:

 

To represent Another’s voice

With parallels of line –

To emulate Intelligence

That truth will help refine –

 

To follow the discipleship –

The pattern of the one

Whose Holiness is surrogate

For kindness of the Son.

 

Similitude is greatest Thanks

For poetry’s bequest –

Selection born of reverence –

Creation bourn of Rest.

 

(29 March 2013, Provo, Utah)

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Elegy for Ann-Marie (2021 Utah Poetry Festival video)

 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFsqm4Czicg

 

             ELEGY FOR ANN-MARIE

 

Translation was her expertise.

She moved from word to world in grace –

Interpreting the gist of truth

With love that helped her hand replace

 

One sentence for an equal thought –

One meaning for another sense –

She captured idioms of time

In native lyric resonance.

 

She taught the brilliant and the meek –  

She crossed the channel for her friends –

Secured the children of her nest –

Bequeathed her heart – bestowed her best.

 

She guided me from Park to Hägg

At Stockholm’s University –

Propounded works that Poets make –

Translating Light’s diversity.

 

And now she moves to other realms –

Traverses new dimensions there –

Reversing mortal pains to odes

That celebrate a brighter sphere.

 

I see her at the Blue Hall feast –

I see her walking on the stairs –

I see her greeting loved ones gone –

I see her free from this life’s cares.

 

Her Presence honors one and all –

She wears a sapphire velvet Gown

While dancing in the Golden Hall

Of laureates and Triple-Crowns.

 

(1 February 2018, Provo, Utah)

[To Ann-Marie Vinde, translator of Emily Dickinson and Ford Madox Ford]

  

Canadian Psalm

 


            CANADIAN PSALM

 

Between two Sunday sacraments,

I drove to Midway – Huber’s Grove –

Encountered on the drive-by road

A wounded goose, who life had flown.

 

With vinyl gloves and plastic mat,

I lifted him – so soft, still warm –

And carried him across to grass

That grace might know no further harm.

 

His winding neck, his flawless head,

His feathers black, white, beige, and gray

Were lighter than the Sabbath air

That sanctified the solemn day.

 

For sparrows and poor human souls,

Creation’s Maker notes demise.

I laid a marker on the bird

To honor him for mortal eyes.

 

(13 April 2021, Wasatch State Park, Utah)

 

 

 

 


Thursday, April 8, 2021

Motes

 



MOTES

 

Your words were like a Sunset –

A glorious repose –

A promising reminder

That blesses as it goes.

The Sun has other business –

The Earth must turn to truth –

But now each evening offers

A resonance of youth.

 

The Sunrise brings revival

Across the creosote.

The morning fosters muses

Who clear their airy throats

With notes of reminiscence

That we are not alone.

The handcarts of the universe

Will always bring us home.

 

(4 March 2021, Springville, Utah)

 

Due Diligence

 


    DUE DILIGENCE

Parents are Angel Investors –

Preparing, providing, they shield

Start-ups for long-term exchanges

With shares in a home-sourced high-yield.

 

Learning to work, lead, and listen,

They nurture the children with care.

No guarantee of performance

Secures the brave losses they dare.

 

Families are Angel Investment –

God trusts us with high-risk consent.

Funded by Father’s affluence,

His Son is the capital spent.

 

Courage is equity’s business.

Endowed with a goodly intent,

The Office of Angels will thrive

In spite of the cost of the rent.

 

(16 February 2021, Springville, Utah)

[For the Arch-Angels]