PSALM FOR MISS WINGFIELD

PSALM FOR MISS WINGFIELD

The inner life of elegance
Is awkward to explain –
The outer life of awkwardness
Is elegant, if plain.

The dimmer glow of candlelight
Is softer to perceive –
The brighter candelabra flame
Is harder to receive.

The later dance of confidence
Is simple to forget –
The early steps of shy romance
Are harder to regret.

(2 March 2010)

HOPE PSALM

HOPE PSALM

It’s True but not yet real –
The love we often feel –
Conditional as steel
Before the firm anneal.

Becoming as a child
Requires growing up –
Remaining ignorant
Is no accomplishment.

(1 March 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PSALM FOR LIGHTNING BUGS

PSALM FOR LIGHTNING BUGS (For AY)

For you, my friend, these poems have come –
Whoever you may be –
For you the posies ring around
My notebook rosary.

For you, the verses turn me to
Wherever you may dwell –
For you, the stanzas laugh out loud
And make the jingles bell.

(24 February 2010)

SLUMBER

SLUMBER

The underlying circumstance
Of asphodels and lilies –
The overarching precipice
Of atmospheric valleys.

The renovating somnolence
Of beta wave and delta –
The calibrating solitude
Of hibernating shelter.

(22 February 2010)

NEVER THE LESS

NEVER THE LESS

Embarrassing to be mere man –
So great and yet so small –
So pitiful yet elegant –
To dance and then to crawl.

Humiliating ignorance –
And yet a spark divine –
Exhilarates intelligence –
How rude and yet so fine.

(22 February 2010)

SACRAMENT

SACRAMENT

Thorns on the head – spear to the heart –
Stripes at the back – blood from the hands –
Wounds in the wrists – nails for the feet –
Witness the wounds of Calvary.

Sins of the mind – hardness of heart –
Bites at the back – sleight of the hands –
Stiffness of neck – slips of the tongue –
Confess drops of Gethsemane.

(21 February 2010, Sunday)

OWL CITY

OWL CITY

After you burned me
I found a new flame –
After you spurned me
I learned a new name.

After you left me
I turned a new leaf –
When you bereft me
The rift brought relief.

(19 February 2010)

THE BRACELET

THE BRACELET (For JS and AHK)

Our vanity is deadly sin –
It marks us for decease –
And envy is a fatal flaw –
Increasing our decrease.

Humility is close to earth
With gratitude in kind –
Tranquility is selflessness
In action, speech, and mind.

(20 February 2010)

WORTH

WORTH

On my side, nothing much is left –
On Thy side, everything –
Thy promises are still intact –
And winter will cede spring.

In my life, time is long ingrained
With “furrows on the glow” –
In Thy time, love will come to pass
In ways we cannot know.

In Thy plan, every soul has worth –
Thy work and glory be
To bring to pass eternal life
And Immortality.

(16 February 2010)

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)

THANKS BE

THANKS BE

I’m grateful for surprises –
The sudden clemencies –
The subtle interventions –
The unexpected ease.

(17 December 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ON HIS OWN

ON HIS OWN

He came unto His own –
Laid down His life for friends –
Deflected the Accuser’s rage
With medicine that mends

The nations of the world –
The kingdom of the earth –
With comprehension so complete
That every soul has worth.

(22 December 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

NEIGHBORS

NEIGHBORS

Eight deer are resting on the slope –
The watchful one alerts her pose
To watch me watching from the door –
I’m sowing birdseed on the porch.

The others waken from their bed –
From comforters that lightly spread
With sage and shadow as a screen –
Their soft hides hidden – sometimes seen.

(31 December 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

NIEVE

NIEVE

If snow comes from the heavens
And poetry is snow
And spring is resurrection –
Then verse will help us grow.

(30 December 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SOLSTICE PSALM

SOLSTICE PSALM

The days are getting longer now –
The sky is brightening –
And though the darkness drags its feet
The dawn is lightening.

I love the cresting luminance –
The incremental warm –
Such primavera promises
Hold amaranthine charm.

The latter days are lengthening –
Small things are waxing strong –
And though the earth is chilled with dusk
New advent won’t be long.

Before the world turns into dust
The Lord will come again –
The crystal seas will ripple praise
As Angels shout, “Amen.”

(3 January 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CURFEW PSALM

CURFEW PSALM

At times I cannot rest at night –
My body wants to sleep –
But little worries mutiny
And drive away the sheep.

I count my blessings anyway –
Review my covenants –
I read until my eyes are red –
I hush the arguments.

Then – while I’m fencing pirate rogues
A slumber boards the ship –
And furls the sail – takes back the wheel –
And into dreams I slip.

(3 January 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ARK PSALM

ARK PSALM (Mosiah 3:9; Moroni 9:9; for Virtue 1)

Most dear and precious of all things –
Most pleasing tenderness –
A golden ensign on a hill –
A type of endlessness –

The banner for the pure in heart –
A shawl of chastity –
The veil of Virtue’s timeless joy –
A cloak of charity –

A mantle made of miracles –
A garment delicate –
The wedding robe of righteousness
Is plain yet intricate.

A likeness – A similitude –
An altar, table, throne –
The body is a covenant –
He came unto His own.

(3 January 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

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)

CONVICTION

CONVICTION (For Dr. Spangler)

My light will not go out –
My song will not be still –
My soul will not be compromised –
Not mine – be done Thy will.

A poem came in my dream –
A book of luminance –
The title was an epithet –
The author was a Prince.

My weakness is a gift –
My struggle is a veil –
We are protected by our faults
From unforeseen travail.

(18 November 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ADVANCED COMPOSITION

ADVANCED COMPOSITION

Writing is a warm-up stretch –
It activates the mind
For any other exercise
To which we are inclined.

Would’st Thou I share these rhymings
Or hide them in a bin?
“Cease to do ill – learn to do well –
To do naught is to sin.”

(22 October 2009, Provo, Utah)

LEGEND

LEGEND

Did Jesu really play the harp
With intricate finesse
In strains that had the pow’r to heal –
The gentleness to bless?

Did Jesu really pluck the lyre
With thundering command –
With music as Salvation’s strings –
With lightning in His hand?

Did Jesu really make sweet noise
Upon a psaltery?
With infinitely mellow voice
Did Jesu sing for me?

(31 October 2009, Provo, Utah)

FITTEST

FITTEST

If evolution were all true
No child would be aborted –
The next mutation might be best –
Selection would be thwarted!

If global warming came from man
We would not have a planet –
The carbon footprints would ignite –
The Arctic would be granite!

(3 November 2009, Provo, Utah)

MAKING

MAKING (Genesis 2-3; Mosiah 7:27)

He made us in the image of
A Mother-Father pair –
Then condescended to become
Similitude of heir.

Created us to be like Him
And came to be like us –
Thus comprehending all our needs
Is simultaneous.

(7 November 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ACELDAMA

ACELDAMA

Why he buckled, none can tell.
He loved the Master just as well
As any other financier –
Bestowed a kiss beside His ear.

He held position, kept the purse.
He had the power to disperse.
Why bite the heel of Him who gave?
Why sell one’s soul when He could save?

The tree was waiting for his weight –
The silver scattered at the gate.
What tragedy of impotence
From travesty of Recompense.

(25 November 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

UNDER THE WEATHER

UNDER THE WEATHER

The litany of loveliness
Is chilling in the air –
I like to think that deer and quail
Are teaching me their prayer.

The temperature descending with
A debutanting frost
Is napping on the front yard sod –
Rudbeckia is lost.

The liturgy of loneliness
Will shed its chilly edge –
The birds will congregate as guests –
My balcony as hedge.

The back yard bush is full of birds
Recusing from repast –
But when they sense I’ve disappeared
They dare the meal I cast.

(7 November 2009, Pleasant Grove)

SEVENTH DAY

SEVENTH DAY

Each Sunday is Millennium –
The Holiest of Days –
We wake to meet the risen Son –
We run to sing His praise –

We rest from ordinary toil –
We worship with His saints –
We fill the hours with selfless deeds
That evil never taints –

He binds the Serpent with a word –
We breathe the Garden breeze –
We walk with Him until the dusk
Returns us to our knees.

(8 November 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

THE GAP

THE GAP (to Hugh and you)

The jealousy of Sadducees –
The scorn of Pharisees –
Betrayal by Perdition’s kiss –
The rage of enemies –

Rejection was apostasy –
The Crucifixion’s crime –
Despising the Anointed One
Poured shadow throughout time.

Disdaining of the Holy House –
The piercing of His hands
Was Excommunication’s doom
Extending through all lands.

Meridian of Majesty –
Though brief – was infinite –
A dispensation of the Fall
And Restoration’s net.

(7 October 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CANDELABRA

CANDELABRA

The body is a holy house –
A tabernacle home –
A template for epiphany –
An altar for shalom.

The body is a tree of life –
An edifice with roots –
A vineyard of apocalypse –
A shiloh of first fruits.

(28 October 2009, Provo, Utah)

PRAYER

PRAYER

What is real? Breath – Speech – Feast –
What is true? We – Them – You –
What is right? Love – Life – Light – Delight –
What is pure? Clean – Clear – Sure.

Reality is now –
And Verity to know –
And Righteousness is choosing well –
And Purity is snow.

(23 October 2009, BYU Fieldhouse, Provo, Utah)

BAPTISM

BAPTISM

I lead you down – I lift you up –
I sanctify the fragile cup –
I cleanse you from the stench of sin –
I bring you out – I take you in.

The waters are mortality –
The baptist has authority –
The garb of white, Creation’s hope –
Refining fire, the Holy Ghost.

Descent is death – Ascent is life –
Consent is breath – Assent is light –
My hands are placed upon your head –
Then drink the Water – eat the Bread.

(21 October 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

DEVOTIO MODERNA

DEVOTIO MODERNA

What motivates the gulls to fly?
The food, the view, the air?
Or do they hasten south to flee
The winter’s atmosphere?

What motivates a soul to pray?
The words, the peace, the fear?
Or are we heading home to meet
The Master’s tender care?

(21 October 2009, Provo, Utah)

SAFE

SAFE

His every cell was torqued with pain
As He partook the cup –
His back already torn to shreds
As He was lifted up.

His agony was so complete
It left no hurt unturned –
His empathy was infinite –
He perfectly discerned

The anguish of humanity –
Inequity’s deceit –
The widow and the fatherless
Redeemed by His “defeat.”

(11 October 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

WINDESHEIM

WINDESHEIM (to Nephi and Jacob)

The Church is the body of Christ –
The body of Christ, the Temple –
The Temple, then, is His true church:
Similitude, His example.

The Spirit is the breath of Life –
The breath of Life, inspiration –
Inspiration, exaltation:
The angels’ communication.

The Covenant, a law of Love –
The law of Love is charity –
Charity is the covenant:
Firmness of mind – Heart’s purity.

The Grace that saves is what He did –
What we do, reciprocation –
Reciprocation is real Grace –
Gratitude is revelation.

(7 October 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

IN SECRET

IN SECRET (Matthew 6:6; Alma 33:7)

How merciful (when we approach
In confidential prayer)
Our Father is – He blesses us
In Providential care.

When we are in the wilderness,
He turns our enemies.
In field, or house, or secret hour,
He hears our earnest pleas.

He raises up a healing type,
That we may live and see
(If we but cast our eyes in faith)
An everlasting Tree.

The springs of perfect love He grants
Will make our burdens light.
All this is ours if we will kneel
Before the Source of Life.

(20 October 2009, Tuesday, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

KIN DAY

KIN DAY (Doctrine & Covenants 59)

The Sabbath is a family time –
The Jubilee of days –
When Labor rests in Liberty –
When Prayer pours out in Praise –

When Gratitude says, “This is good” –
Unspotted from the world –
When Righteousness brings broken hearts –
Contrite before the Lord –

When cheerful souls confess His hand –
Delighting in glad things:
Obedience – the Sacrament –
Thanksgiving – Offerings.

Each Sunday is millennial –
A consecrated place –
A Temple for His countenance –
A longing for His face.

(18 October 2009, Sunday, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

YOM KIPPUR (for Margaret Barker)

YOM KIPPUR (for Margaret Barker)

If Son of God can live as Man,
Then men can be like God!
The High Priest enters Holiness
With Sanctity bestowed.

More real than Life art Thou, my Lord –
More fine than Art, or Gold –
More true than any other Word
Or any story told.

(9 September 2009, Provo, Utah)

VERSE VOICE

They wait for me, these words gallant –
They poise in shadowed wings –
Intent upon the Prompter’s cue
When, like a dawn, they spring

Upon the stage of cognizance
With lines they know by heart –
With me as audience of awe
Recording drama’s art.

If language is the priest of truth
And poetry the seer –
Expression is the opera
That draws the curtain clear.

(9 September 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

REFLECTIONS

To sing the joy of words –
The power of the pause –
The ecstasy of making sense –
The hour of record.

To sound the love of phrase –
The sentence built of orbs –
The merging phonemes binding lines –
The order of the verbs.

To say the praise of Him
Who said, “Let there be sky” –
Who gave the breath of light to earth –
Antithesis of die.

(10 September 2009, Provo, Utah)

OPE-TIDE

Could that ever happen to me?
Perhaps it’s not my turn –
So maybe patience is my vow –
My troth, obscurity.

Dear Heavenly Father, is this
My quest? To wait for promises?
Or will I cross the threshold step
Thoughts healed, fears quelled, as his?

Yes, maidenly daughter, the time
Will come when covenants replace
The longings of a learning heart –
You’ll enter sacred space.

(11 September 2009, Provo, Utah)

BASE CAMP

My pilgrimage is here at home –
Awaiting wand’ring stars –
Their journey is adventure’s path –
And gratitude is ours
For such a clear September day –
For mountain’s endless quest –
For summits that can summon us
To seek our very best.

(12 September 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MERE MORTAL

There’s so much more we could have been –
So many bands to break –
So many opportunities
To give instead of take –

There’s so much more we could have done
If we had not been blind –
So many lives we could have touched –
Such chances to be kind –

We could have done a thousand acts
Of quiet courtesy –
We could have blessed a thousand lives
With healing surety –

We could have rescued flocks of lambs –
We could have fed the poor –
We could have built up Paradise –
We could have done much more.

(12 September 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

RUBIES

At least the path to bliss is clear –
For Virtue is the guide –
She calls us to awake and rise
To meet the morning tide.

Her distaff is a rod of words
That beckon through the mist
Of darknesses that dampen sight –
She sees, prevails, persists

In leading to the Blessing tree –
Creation’s residence –
In feeding us the fruit of Truth –
Salvation’s evidence.

Presents us to the Holy Ghost
As worthy to partake
Of ever-loving righteousness
For lasting kindness’ sake.

(26 September 2009, Provo, Utah)

LAST DAY FOR LEAVES

It’s not some’s verbal cup of tea –
Transparency seems bland –
But phosphorescent maple slopes
Steep autumn from one’s hand.

The drive around the loop was late –
The dusk was hovering –
But fall’s florescent foliage
Evaded covering.

(28 September 2009, Sundance Canyon, Utah)

AGES

Old deaths are dogging life –
But life is dodging death –
Old hates are haunting love –
But love is heeding breath –

Old fears are foiling hope –
But hope is facing fear –
Old woes are wounding joy –
But joy is waiting here.

(29 September 2009, Provo, Utah)

O, THE WISDOM (for Jacob, 2 Nephi 9)

He suffered all for every one –
Each woman, man, and child –
He succored us – the Perfect Son –
That we be reconciled.

He gathers us into the fold –
Each nation, kindred, tongue –
He scatters death with Light foretold –
He raises old and young.

(30 September 2009, Provo, Utah)

TABERNACLE (to Coach Mendenhall)

Abiding is a residence
Residing works by faith
Confiding is a providence
Providing answers fate.

Deciding is a precedence
Presiding offers sight
Dividing is the evidence
Persistence will indict.

(1 October 2009, Provo, Utah)

COGNITION

The tension of Extremity
Prompts Prosecution’s blame
In sentence accusational –
But once we know its name

We counter with Exactitude –
Then weakness is a veil –
Protecting from Endangerment
With strength that cannot fail.

(5 October 2009, Provo, Utah)

CRESTED BEAUTY

CRESTED BEAUTY

The moon I saw in Galilee
Looms over Utah Lake –
Tonight it hallows Crested Butte
While no one is awake

Except for those who range for food
In nocturne’s privacy –
The creatures seeking amnesty
In lunar secrecy.

(7 September 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LABOR

LABOR

He offered everything he had
For utmost benefit –
Secured our welfare from His loss
For feast propitiate.

The distance from God’s present home
He surveyed from the Stake –
He sacrificed the perfect life
That no one else could take.

(7 September 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

THE LAST BREEZE (for Ulla-Britt)

THE LAST BREEZE (for Ulla-Britt)

Along the Kattegat she walks –
Yearning for Selånger –
The valley of her father’s home –
Shadows growing longer.

Necessity is residence –
But time is memory –
The pilgrim sun brings northern light
To Ängelholm’s south sea.

(7 September 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

THE GLASS IMAGERIE

THE GLASS IMAGERIE

The verses ring like crystal –
A delicate appeal –
Collection of inventions –
Reflections that reveal

Imagination’s insight –
Perception’s beveled edge –
A prism of coherence –
Cohesion like a bridge

From word to aspiration –
From dream to shadow play –
From shadow play to essence –
From essence to display.

(6 September 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

TIMP HIKER

TIMP HIKER

He was not tall – he was not short –
He was not plain or fair –
But he was conscious of my “lamb”
In that thin atmosphere.

Young Geoffrey, sick with altitude,
Responded to his care –
The benefactor comforted
With unobtrusive flair.

(29 August 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MERCURY

MERCURY

You do not know how pure you are –
Appealing innocense
Betrays the graven mask you wield –
Displays intelligence

Much wiser than the cleverness
Of Ambiguity –
Much brighter than the platform of
Sustain-ability.

(27 August 2009, Provo, Utah)

REASSURANCE

REASSURANCE

Does the Father really see me?
Does He watch me with His eye?
Do the Angels write my story
In Scriptoriums on high?

Does the Savior truly know me?
Does He understand my heart?
Do the Prophets have a message
That can help me sing my part?

Does the Holy Spirit hear me?
Does He guide the words I say?
Do my ancestors draw near me
From the bright place where they stay?

Yes, the Father really sees you –
And the Savior understands,
And the Holy Spirit leads you –
And Their Servants are your friends.

(8 September 2009, Provo, Utah)

CROWN

CROWN

The Sacrament – most sacred hour –
Remembrance of His love –
His sacrifice – His holy deeds –
His work below – above.

For laurel He was given thorn –
For throne, a brutal tree –
For champion’s march, a cruel parade –
For fame, indignity.

Yet He gave us the oil of joy
For mortal misery –
A garment of unblemished praise
For grief’s soliloquy.

His agony Gethsemanied –
His anguish Calvaried –
His victory, the Garden Tomb –
His triumph, pris’ners freed.

(16 August 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

YOM KIPPUR

YOM KIPPUR (for Margaret Barker)

If Son of God can live as Man,
Then men can be like God!
The High Priest enters Holiness
With Sanctity bestowed.

More real than Life art Thou, my Lord –
More fine than Art, or Gold –
More true than any other Word
Or any story told.

(9 September 2009, Provo, Utah)

DESOLATE

DESOLATE

A Tree of Death unspeakable
Beguiles a Single Maid
In spite of Garden’s Tree of Light
Or Tree of Good and Sad.

Depression was the Serpent’s noose –
Entwining jug’lar vein –
Suspension hangs a Lone Recluse
Upon a rope of pain.

(25 July 2009, Provo, Utah)

ORDEAL

ORDEAL

“An ancient form of trial to determine guilt or innocence, practiced by the rude nations of Europe, and still practiced in the East Indies. In England, the ordeal was of two sorts, fire-ordeal and water-ordeal; the former being confined to persons of higher rank, the latter to the common people.” (Webster 1844 American Dictionary.)

How did martyrs win their fame?
Trial by water – trial by flame –
Faithful to the only Name –
Bearing persecution’s blame –
Wearing torture’s lonely shame –
Praising God their only aim –
Counting curse or blessing same –
Testifying that Christ came.

(25 July 2009, Provo, Utah)

SNORE STORY

SNORE STORY

How fast you fall to sleep, my friend –
The weariness is deep –
The mountains that you climb are steep –
You slumber, not to weep.

Your character was fashioned best
By meeting wilderness –
With river-winding lupine crest –
In aspen-sheltered rest.

(3 July 2009, Crested Butte, Colorado)

DISCERNMENT

DISCERNMENT

It’s good to know such men exist –
That valiant ones are real –
Integrity makes character
From victories of steel.

Their keenness of intelligence –
The covenant they vow –
The confidence of rectitude
Sits solemn on their brow.

Their wisdom is unflinching power –
Their labors rescue souls –
Presiding with the gaze of seers –
Defining self-control.

That such exist is boon enough –
These kings in embryo –
Epitomes of diligence
With hearts as brisk as snow.

(18 June 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LIBERTY JAIL (to Joseph Smith)

LIBERTY JAIL (to Joseph Smith)

Even the snares of enemies
Will help economize –
The bonds they cinch – the traps they set –
The Lord will customize

To help us meet our destiny –
Fulfill our mission here –
No matter where they dig the pit
An angel will appear.

(7 June 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

DECEIVING JUDAS

DECEIVING JUDAS

Betrayed the Lord for thirty marks?
“He earned the criticism –
His message trite – irrelevant –
Who will even miss Him?”

You could not stand His tenderness?
For that He had to die?
“He disregarded protocol –
Besides, it was not I.”

Conveyed them to the olive grove?
You sold His life for pelf?
“I did not crucify the Lord –
He did it to Himself.”

(25 April 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

JA

JA (to Dag H.)

I dread temptation of dissent –
“Yes” to life and loving –
I dream salvation of assent –
“Yes” to light and learning.

I tread the challenge of ascent –
“Yes” to God and goodness –
I dance inertia of descent –
“Yes” to Christ and kindness.

More than meadows – more than mountains –
I say “yes” to Thy way –
More than milage – more than mansions –
I say “yes” to Thy will.

More than miracles and music –
I say “yes” to Beauty –
More than honors – more than praises –
I say “yes” to Duty.

(25 April 2009 < 25 October 2004, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SERMO HUMILIS

SERMO HUMILIS

“The poetry lacks Mystery”
A gentle Reader said.
I do have secrets in my soul
And puzzles in my head –

But Some Thing calls me to be plain –
To let my light so shine
That others seeing this may read
The substance of a line.

(15 March 2009, Christmas Hotel, Jerusalem, Israel)

RAIN CHECK

RAIN CHECK

Walking through mirrors of water –
Skipping through windows of brightness –
Running up stairways of thunder –
Riding up towers of lightning.

(24 February 2009)

STOCKING STUFFER

STOCKING STUFFER

Already demons lick their lips –
The frenzied death machine
Anticipates the hollow days
Of planned sterility.

Weep – daughters of America –
Their coupon is a debt –
That makes Nativity avoid
A child you won’t forget.

The discount is a shocking hoax –
The choice they sell is fraud –
Your parenthood is not a curse –
Your baby comes from God.

(29 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

KINSHIP

KINSHIP

What if Jesus were my brother?
Would I recognize Thy Son?
Would my eyes be open to Him?
Would I know He was the one?

If I saw Him poor or lonely,
Would I recognize His face?
If I saw a Man afflicted,
Of another tongue or race?

What if Jesus were a stranger?
Would I lend a friendly smile?
Would I welcome Him sincerely?
Would I speak with Him a while?

If he needed my attention,
Would I have the time to pay?
If the Savior’s scars were hidden,
Would I know Him anyway?

(23 August 2009, Maryvale Ward, Phoenix, Arizona)

PARADISE (for Dr. Madison U. Sowell)

“There is no music yet on earth
That can compare with ours” –
The Children of the Spirit World
Still sing with Morning Stars –

The Sons of God still shout for joy –
Ten thousand Daughters dance –
Saint Carolyn still laughs about
Their innocent romance –

While Sister Shauna leads the Choir
In hymns of solemn prayer –
With one hand on piano keys
And one hand in the air!

Saint Jeanny orders Manna Flakes
And Nectarines for all –
Which Madison and Debra share
With angels great and small –

Then Brother Dante reads the Poem
He wrote for Beatrice –
And E. B. Browning dedicates
Songs “from the Portuguese” –

Now Honored Students celebrate
And colleagues say “Bravo!”
To one whose tune has changed our lives:
We bid you fond “Addio!”

(7 August 2009, Pleasant Grove and Provo, Utah)

(JoLynn Bennett mentioned Madison Sowell to me when we passed a new professor on campus in 1979. Madison was one of the people who helped JoLynn win a full-ride scholarship to Yale. When I returned to BYU as a new professor in the early 1990's, he kindly cited my Dickinson research, attended my RMMLA conference presentation, and wrote a letter for my Third Year Review. He invited me to submit a proposal for an Honors seminar on Emily Dickinson and later for an Honors Advanced Writing course. What a kind friend, mentor, and associate!)

ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT

What kind of teacher is Jesus?
How does He mentor His students?
How does He foster compassion,
Or kindness, repentance, and truth?

How do we follow His footsteps?
How do we live by His message?
How do we measure the impact
Of Light leading Lives in lessons?

(31 July 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

TWO DREAMS (for LSH)

I saw a bundle on the road
And people stopped to aid –
I stalled my car and ran to help –
I saw my friend was dead –

She tried to open up her eyes
When I breathed out her name –
Resuscitation was too late –
Revival never came.

And then I dreamed I needed help –
I didn’t have a ride –
My friend appeared and offered aid –
We ran so fast and wide –

We sprinted roads – we vaulted walls –
It didn’t seem that far –
We passed the schoolroom where she taught –
We found her new white car.

(30 July 2009, Provo, Utah)

WHEAT AND TARES

WHEAT AND TARES

I will not listen to the Curse –
I’ll hear the Bless instead –
I will not heed the Undertone
That’s pulling in my head.

I’ll hear the overriding Hope
That leaps across the Log –
I will not fear the Predator
Or languish in the fog.

I’ll listen to the Present sense –
I’ll rest the Preterite –
I’ll vanquish enervating Doom
With Light confederate.

Humility means looking up –
Not groveling in Guilt –
I will not underestimate
The Blood Atonement spilt.

My strengths and weaknesses both count
When He is Auditor –
I’ll face the daily Judgment bar
With Christ as Creditor.

(30 July 2009, Provo, Utah)

HIM

HIM (for Leanna)

He’ll meet me at the Tree of Light –
He’ll offer me a vow –
He’ll carry me across the gulf
No matter Torments howl.

He’ll welcome me into his arms –
He’ll wipe my tears away –
Embellish me with Wisdom’s pearls
And treasure words I say.

He’ll find me on the Narrow Road –
He’ll share the load I bear –
When I arrive in Paradise
I’ll meet my True Love there.

(17 July 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

NIGHT LIGHT

NIGHT LIGHT

An unpretentious history
Is talking in your sleep –
A particle of light you held –
Expedient and deep –

Is gaining swift velocity
And shedding mystery
In daunting luminosity –
It wakens reverie.

(3 July 2009, Crested Butte, Colorado)

WHO MAKES INTERCESSION

WHO MAKES INTERCESSION

He sent my mind a Blessing –
Like hands upon my head –
As if the Father taught me
Respect for self instead
Of auto-condemnation.
We promises reviewed
And words of consecration –
The covenants renewed –
Pacific confirmation
That set my thoughts apart
For meekness and refinement –
Not cogitating buffets
Or darts of scarring flame –
Instead a concentration –
Remembering His name.

(8 June 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PROCLAMATION

PROCLAMATION

The heart of the husband
Will turn to the housewife –
The heart of the woman
Will return to the man.

The head of the family
Will tender protection –
The mother will nurture
As the father provides.

The hero will counter
The wrath of the serpent –
The lady be valiant
As Deity’s servant.

(18 June 2009, Provo, Utah)

CANNERY

CANNERY

Machinery of metal
Begins cancophony –
A carousel of pistons –
A blistering of steam –

The fellowship of workers –
The rhythm of the tasks –
The providence of order –
Good labor – all we ask.

(24 February 2009, Lindon, Utah)

MARATHON

MARATHON (For Michael R. Hallen)

As if the stars were not enough –
As if the moon were pale –
As if the planets were mere dust –
As if the sun were stale –
As if the birds were static noise –
As if the breeze were vain –
As if all landscape were mirage –
As if all sky were rain

A doubting darkness tries to hide
The route that leads to God –
But we just hum the songs of life
And follow where He trod –
Avoiding any crooked paths –
Contamination’s death –
He helps us make the finish line –
Providing second breath.

(16 January 2009, Phoenix, Arizona)

TEMPLE DATE

TEMPLE DATE

O be wiser – O have vision –
Drink the light of that Place
Where particulating wave-lengths
Shall immensify Space.

(16 January 2009, Mount Timpanogos Temple, American Fork, Utah)

"I HAVE FEELINGS"

“I Have Feelings” (For Dawson, Libby, Jenna)

"When baby brother takes my toys –
That’s when I’m sad a bit –
But sharing solves the problem quick –
And I get over it."

"When thunder rolls and lights go out –
That’s when I feel quite scared –
But we have candles in the house
My parents have prepared."

"When every thing goes wrong at once –
Or when I get worn down –
I might feel just a little mad –
But I can smile, not frown."

And what makes you feel glad? I asked
A beaming three-year old:
"When Jesus whispers in my ear –
It tickles some, you know.

When Jesus whispers in my ear –
Or when the Holy Ghost –
It kind of tickles then, you know –
That’s when I’m glad the most."

(1 July 2009, Sunbeam class, Grove Creek 8th Ward, Pleasant Grove, Utah)