MAY – I

MAY – I

I’m not quite yet the person
I want to be for you.
The process may take eons
Before the work is through.

I’m not quite yet the servant
I long to be for Thee.
The meekness may take ages
To offer perfectly.

I’m not quite yet the daughter
I hope to be for Him,
My weaknesses seem larger –
Though time makes Love less dim.

(3 May 2009, Provo, Utah)

CALCIUM LINE

CALCIUM LINE (from James K. Hallen and Emily E. Dickinson)

The stars that move away are red –
Approaching ones are blue.
Red arteries give oxygen –
The blue veins will refuel.

The Magellanic clouds are stars
Below Equator’s ring.
The Earth – light’s brightest radio –
Has prayers for signaling.

Circumference – periphery
Will bear the words around.
Mimesis – imitatio –
A Milky Way of sound.

Periphrasis tells truth by slant
In rays of slight degree.
Circùmlocútion tilts the Pole –
Reception’s apogee.

(21 June 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CORDS (John 2:15)

CORDS (John 2:15)

Why did He cleanse the Temple twice –
Confront the thieving den?
So patient facing many wrongs –
Why risk the wrath of men?

Why turn the tables in the Court –
Why purge the blasphemy?
Instead of overlooking graft –
Why challenge usury?

He had to show us how to act
When desecrations spoil.
He had to teach us how to guard
The consecrated oil –

Instructing us to choose the Right
When opposition reigns –
Exemplifying Majesty
To break corruption’s chains.

The inner vessel must be cleared –
The chambers purified.
No unclean thing can enter where
His presence will abide.

Though persecutions rant and rage –
No accusation stands.
He valiantly redeems the space
Blessed by His Father’s hands.

(21 June 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

“I BELONG TO A FAMILY”

“I BELONG TO A FAMILY”

You made a trusty Nest for me
Before my mortal birth –
So I could learn to feed and sing
When I arrived on earth.

You kept me safely snug and warm,
Then taught me how to fly.
I thank you, Mother, Father dear,
For showing me the Sky.

(28 June 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ROBIN’S DISCREPANCY

ROBIN’S DISCREPANCY

I held him in my Hostage Hands –
He yielded to my weak Demands –
He settled in a cotton cell –
Recovered in a cardboard shell.

The Robin is the Bard – the Bead.
His eye – a prayer to intercede.
Upon the ground a wild cat creeps –
Beneath the earth a Robin sleeps.

The Robin is the Poem, I said.
These not my words, but his instead.
I only listen and record
The funeral of a wounded bird.

(2 April 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

HOW A POEM BEGINS (for Emily D.)

HOW A POEM BEGINS

That every one will rise again
Astounding Clemency –
That every corpus spirit meet
Refutes Duplicity –

To love – to sing – Circumference –
A Poet’s legacy –
Our Business is to Resurrect –
Resplendent Company.

(25 June 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

LONGING PSALM

LONGING PSALM (for CSW)

I wish I could have been the one
In lone Gethsemane
Who held the Savior when He wept
For them – for you – for me.

I wish I could have cooled His brow
And wiped the sweat away –
I wish I could have stayed awake
As long as He could pray.

I wish I could have heard the plea
Of mediation’s case –
I wish I could have eased the hurt
That marred His patient face.

I wish I could have helped Him pay
The price of sin that night –
I wish I could have run to Him
When others fled in fright.

I wish I could have followed Him
And stopped the brutal men
Who desecrated holiness –
Who made Him bleed again.

I wish I could have shouted “No”
When Pilate asked the crowd
If they would crucify their King –
But that was not allowed.

He willingly accepted doom
To finish Judgment’s claim –
I wish I could have bourne His griefs –
Instead – I’ll bear His name.

(20 April 2009, Provo, Utah)

“YET IN MY FLESH”

“YET IN MY FLESH” (for K. S.)

All Synagogues and Mosques will glow –
All Temples be restored –
All Tabernacles rise again –
By Virtue of our Lord.

All desolation be Redeemed –
All broken walls Replaced –
A Restitution of all things
Prepares us for His Face.

The body is a Sacred Space
Defined by Purity –
The heart is the Most Holy Place
Where we can ever Be.

(6 June 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

LEADER

LEADER (for J. R.)

Kindness is the renovator –
The walls come tumbling down –
A Jericho defensiveness
Becomes an open town.

A note on linen paper card
With message from a Peer
Who pours out praise in equity
Will help bring Zion here.

(5 June 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

ASLAN

ASLAN (for Truman Madsen)

The fact the Savior will come back
Grows clearer every day –
Though Spring is on Sabbatical,
And Summer is away,

And winter wants to stay all year
With breezy chilly blast –
An unforgiving attitude
Like grudges from the past –

But Light replaces every front
Though storms are brisk and bold,
And cheerful Robins – plus Magpies –
Rebuke the lagging cold.

While potentates and prodigals
Pronounce that Earth is spent,
Great Companies and Chariots
Surround the innocent,

And underneath the straggling frost
In every Garden bed,
A Tree of Life is rooting deep –
Producing Fruit instead.

(27 May 2009, Alnö, Sweden)

DOILY

DOILY

Making lace means counting space –
The looping strands make rime –
Slender hooks spin filigree
That threads life into time.

Delicate translucency
Creates a candid net –
Intricate simplicities
Not easy to forget.

Doubled damask tapestry
Impresses connoisseur –
Fragile chains of sheer crochet
May also please Monsieur?

(24 May 2009, Alnö, Sweden)

OVE’S ODE

OVE’S ODE

“Old people look like birds,” he said –
A splendid senior man.
“It’s good for people to grow old –
The ageing helps them plan –

For they have long to travel yet
From here to other years –
Their blinking eyes anticipate
The higher atmospheres.”

He kindly showed me how to buy
My tickets for the train,
Then cycled off to Sweden’s trails
In sun – or cloud and rain.

“The need to eat beats politics,”
He taught at evening’s board.
“Will you please tell what you believe?
I’d like to know the Lord.”

(20 May 2009, Stockholm, Sweden)

DRAMA QUEEN

DRAMA QUEEN

I thought that poetry would fail
When Hope seemed hoax again –
But words still work, and light peaks through
The curtains in my brain.

Who says that artists have to brood?
A writer’s heart must break?
Though blood looks rusty in my lines,
I write – for goodness sake.

“The Poet” left the titles off –
But I like naming verse –
As if to christen sets a stage
Where wonder can rehearse.

Paralysis is merely pride –
Procrastination’s gone –
The patient actors wait backstage –
The Epic must go on.

(15 June 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

RETURN TO VIRTUE

Virginity means future joy,
Intelligent desire,
Resisting decadent despair,
To build the purest fire,
Unspotted from the world of waste,
Enduring all -- fulfilled and chaste.

(9 May 2009, Grove Creek Canyon, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BASE CAMP

I wish my home were "Bethany" --
That He would stop to rest.
I wish He could find comfort here --
That He would be my guest.

(25 April 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

HURDLES

He's not afraid of obstacles --
The hurdler greets the bars --
He calculates the energy
That vaults him over spars.

He's not ashamed to show his strength --
He only has to run --
In seconds he can meet the lengths
Of barriers we shun.

Time is the test -- mediocre
Or Excellent? We choose.
Just to breathe, exquisite pleasure --
Appreciate -- or lose?

(6 May 2009, Provo, Utah)

RETRIEVAL

The Savior walked on Utah Lake.
He raised the Iron Man
Who drowned in shallow stormy waves.
He dried him, and they ran

To rescue other struggling ones
Who sank, though they were strong --
To lift the weaker lonely souls
Who seeking right, went wrong.

(10 May, Provo, Utah)

TIL SUNDSVALL

I'm traveling to my deepest roots --
The place where mothers wove
The pattern of our DNA --
The codes that bid us rove --

Remembering the ancestors --
The cousins and the kith --
Descending into histories
Beyond the runes of myth.

(11 May 2009, Skåne, Sweden)

THREE

THREE

How can I be clean again?
Like Sunbeams chasing birds?
Like butterflies unfurling?
Like toddlers learning words?

He’s gathering the children.
He’s numbering the herd.
I’ll know Him as the Shepherd.
He feeds me with His word.

He will fulfill the promise –
The banishment will end.
He leads me to the mountain
Where little lambs ascend.

(21 April 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

NATURAL DAY OF PRAYER

Because it is May, and the sun
Yawns over the mountain –
The birds turn into accountants –
Grass dews under the Day.

Because it is Thine, and the trees
Grow next to the hedges –
The way connects to the edges
Of sky – And life is mine.

Because it is Spring, and the air
Dawns out of the canyon –
The east reviews golden banners –
Nature’s prayer bids us sing.

(7 May 2009, Provo, Utah)

"COME FORTH"

Children spring up over hurdles –
But grown ones stay low and intense –
Humbled by gravity’s circuit –
They bow as they face the ascents.

Lazarus bends before rising –
He flexes the tendons and heels –
Loosens the wrappings and bindings –
He stretches each muscle – he kneels –

He steps up – goes through the passage –
He meets expiration with breath –
Dashing to life – old bars passing –
Heart racing – he runs out of death.

(1 May 2009, Provo, Utah)

“GO THY WAY”

Raise the banner of Virtue –
Heed not the mocking of Men –
Hold to the Rod of scripture –
Partake of the Tree again.

Share the fruit with my Children –
Speak with me morning and night –
Follow the Spirit’s prompting –
Choose well, then work, serve, and write.

(27 April 2009, Provo, Utah)

ACCEPTANCE (Luke 7)

How did she know where to find Him?
How did she dare to approach them?
How could she suffer the smirking?
How did she bear the reproaching?

Why did she cry when she knelt there?
Why did she give the guest welcome?
Why did she carry such perfume
Into the Pharisee’s feast room?

She washed His feet with fuller’s tears –
Then dried them with her linen hair –
Anointed them with spikenard myrrhs –
She kneaded them with utmost care:

“How beautiful upon the hills
The heels of Him who walked with us –
How wonderful among the towns
The toes of Him – that gathered dust.”

How lyrical upon her ears
The words of His clear gratitude –
Phenomenal the message of
His understanding attitude:

“This absolution for my death
Brings incense to the temple door –
Thy love is great – forgiveness thine –
Go now in peace and sin no more.”

(10 February 2009, Provo, Utah)

BABY’S BREATH

I cannot give my heart for nought
For it was bought with drops
Of blood that poured from every pore
And Love that never stops.

I cannot cast my pearls in vain
For they were formed with tears
Of pain that covered every grain –
With Hope that reappears.

I offer everything I am
Without a wince of shame –
For He provided us with Faith –
Protected by His name.

(20 January 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

“SPRING COMES LATE”

The higher the mountain –
The later the spring.
The longer the waiting –
The sweeter we sing.

The greener the meadow,
The purer the light.
The cleaner the water,
The fresher delight.

(10 January 2009, Provo, Utah)

CIRCUIT

Light is the circumference –
Truth, the radius –
Poetry, the pin point
For the compass quest.

Writing sets up waymarks –
Reading lights the path
Leading to perfection –
Love the Father hath.

(3 December 2008, Provo, Utah)

BAPTISM

Immersion is a quenching shield
To thwart the fiery darts
And mists of darkness Evil sends
To sabotage our hearts.

The Living Water flows to wash
Away our selfishness –
The weekly Sacrament restores
Our soul to cleanliness.

As newborn infants bathed and clothed
We eat and drink to grow
In stature, favor, righteousness
Until back home we go.

(6 December 2008, Provo, Utah)

JOB MEETS NEPHI

“Knowest thou His condescension?”
I know He that he loves Man –
But I do not know everything
Pertaining to His plan.

“Ask now the birds, and they shall tell –
Ask beasts, and they shall teach –
Speak to the Earth, it shall declare –
Even the worms can preach –

Behold a Virgin, pure and fair –
Look at the Child she bears.”
I see – her Child will carry us
As we endure our cares.

(29 November 2008, Glendale, Arizona)

AUDITION (for Susan Boyle)

The awkwardness was beautiful –
It made a perfect foil
For all the hidden grandeur of
A song that scorn can’t spoil.

The ethos of transparency –
The curtain of surprise
Raised up the audience to you
And opened jaded eyes.

The hope that millions sublimate
Awakened with your notes –
And suddenly the critics gave
Unanimous “yes” votes.

The show was more than wasted fate –
The tigers backed away –
Love is more real than you or me –
No one can kill that Day.

(24 April 2009, Provo, Utah)

GARMENTS (see Jacob 2)

If we could understand the price
He paid to make us clean –
We would not dally with the world
Or toy with the obscene.

If we could see how hard He worked
To free us from the stain –
We’d willingly forsake our sins
To restitute His pain.

Our feelings would be delicate –
Our longings would be chaste –
The tenderness of family love
Would never be replaced

By customary insolence –
By denigrating ploys –
Or habit-forming indolence
That steals our sweetest joys.

Instead we’d treasure wholesomeness
Through Him who made us whole –
We’d love the Lord and all our kin
With heart, mind, body, soul.

(20 April 2009, Provo, Utah)

COUNTING THE COST

Broken by torture, by scourge, by abuse –
Taunted by mocking, by spit, by rebuke –
Laden with burdens, with sorrow, with care –
Bleeding in bruises, in thorns, in despair.

Risen by morning, by dawn, by daybreak –
Haunting the garden, He couldn’t forsake
The women who went, the quick nor the dead –
He ransomed the children of Eden from dread.

(20 April 2009, Provo, Utah)

HEART TURNS

Late afternoon in Provo –
Your ancestors call to me –
The pioneers of persons
Who now serve faithfully.
They call me to nostalgia –
They ask about their sons.
I don’t know how to answer.
I am a convert one.

(24 February 2009, Provo, Utah)

THEY AND THOU

They gave Thee bitter:
Thou giv’st us water.
They gave Thee death:
Thou giv’st us breath.
They gave Thee harm:
Thou giv’st us balm.
They gave Thee pain:
Thou giv’st us peace.
They gave Thee wounds:
Thou giv’st us wealth.
They gave Thee shame:
Thou giv’st us shade.
They gave Thee blame:
Thou giv’st Thy name.

(11 June 2006, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

TWENTY QUESTIONS

How does light make words and worlds?
How does breath make living?
How does truth plant trees in yards?
How does love make giving?

How does touch make miracles?
How does death make healing?
How does woe make fragrant oil?
How do tears make sealing?

Just a servant in the house?
A stranger passing by?
Who was the sinful woman
That brought the spikenard by?

Was it me, Lord? Was it I?
Someone had to cherish?
Give a tribute for the Soul
Not afraid to perish

So we could be remembered
By not neglecting Thee
And thus be resurrected
In Thy facsimile?

Am I clean now? Free to go?
Was my offering sanctified?
How thank Thee for accepting
Me? Even when I cried?

(3 April 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

TALENTS

“Trust yourself,” He counseled –
How? When I’m so weak?
“Trust the Lord,” He countered –
“Faith is not oblique.”

“You are not a stranger
To the Spirit’s script.
The parable is clear.
Do well. You’re equipped.”

Trust has much to teach me –
I have such to gain –
Confidence is easy
Once you swallow pain.

(24 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

TRANSEAMUS (We shall change)

Instead of blindness, to choose light –
Instead of stasis, act.
Instead of ignorance, to know –
Instead of theory, fact.

Instead of harshness, to be kind –
Instead of muteness, speak.
Instead of arrogance, to care.
Instead of hardness, meek.

(23 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SCRIBE

The Muses of the Other World
Ask us to write for Thee –
They miss the days of pen and hand –
They yearn for poetry.

The Angels of Elysium
Record what we make here –
As if we publish in accord
Eternal atmosphere.

(24 January 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

RING AROUND

Hope means it’s not too late to love –
Love means that light is real –
Real means that every soul we meet
Can think, grow, learn, change, feel.

Feel means it’s not too late to learn –
Learn means the power to think –
Think means real wisdom gives us sight –
To see, know, hope – not sink.

(19 January 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

WINDOW WELLS

He hath not spoken in secret –
The Lord speaks openly –
Assemble – draw near together –
Approach Him reverently.

Each anthem reviews Creation –
Each invocation counts –
The skies pour down Salvation's stores
In benediction founts.

(20 April 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

LEAN

He cannot walk in crooked paths –
He does not deviate –
He has no shadow turning wrong –
The route is keen and strait.

How often He would gather us –
But we want our own way –
He offers us a second chance –
Refining gold from clay.

If we will keep our covenants –
Winds, tempests, doubts never
Can shake us from eternal rounds –
Now, tomorrow, ever.

(20 April 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

GROWING UP

It’s not about me – rather Thee –
The selfless price Thou paid’st –
It’s not about my will – but Thine –
The sacrifice Thou mad’st.

Not about pleasing kings or queens –
It’s about feeding sheep
The bread of life – the water quick –
Helping lame lambs leap.

The alms and prayers are not for show –
Songs not for earth’s reward –
The gifts we share will glorify
Thee – risen perfect Lord.

The poems and hymns are gratitude –
Though words inadequate –
And how the Angels add their voice –
Enough to compensate.

(20 April 2009, Pleasant Grove and Provo, Utah)

MATURATION (for ELH)

Freedom is gained by earning trust –
True love is guaranteed.
Wisdom is found by learning much –
Real life is refereed.

Friendship is won by listening –
Sincerity succeeds –
Kinship is nourished eye to eye –
Attention intercedes.

(20 April 2009, Provo, Utah)

SLIP MOON

Almost is near enough
In waking Galilee –
The post-full moon is still a pearl
Above the laving sea.

This version of the bead
Forgoes periphery –
Though nothing but a waning strand
Has slipped from what we see.

Diminishment begins
In gentle increments
That teach us how to say “Good bye”
When darkness implements

A temporary loss –
A temporal farewell –
Until perimeter of Sun
Repairs the waxen shell.

(5 April 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

DAUGHTER

Thy Love hath made me Beautiful –
An ordinary Maid –
Extraordinary Equipage –
“Eternal Golden Braid” –

An unsuspected Entourage –
The Bearing of a Queen –
A Crown of Zion’s city walls –
A Loveliness Sistine.

(3 April 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

SISTER STARS

She has a bulb of many watts –
Omega-byte hard drive –
What if hope drove her – not shadow?
What poems would then arrive?

She has a comprehensive eye –
A quintessential ear –
What if noon moved her – not midnight?
What power would appear!

(3 April 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

BROTHER MARS (To J.K.H.)

He has a forty-carat brain –
A million dollar mind –
What if light passed through – not darkness?
What wonders would he find?

He has a universal heart –
A conscientious core –
What if love passed through – not distance?
What beauty to explore!

(2 April 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

PLAN OF HAPPINESS (for SJH)

We lived before we came to Earth –
They had a preface there –
They taught us how to choose the right
Through wisdom, virtue, prayer.

We chose to test experience
By coming to this life.
Our vehicle: an Ark of joy
In spite of storms and strife.

The Dove holds out our destiny:
A branch of olive peace.
If we reach for that promised state
Our freedom will increase.

(2 April 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

AWESTRUCK (to Diana and Ashley)

Treat every day as pilgrimage –
Be tourist in This land
As if the common place were new –
As if the plain were grand.

Greet every word as foreign phrase –
Search etymology
As if the language were a guest –
Give hospitality.

Meet every one as Deity –
Show honor to the small
As if the humble soul were God –
As if the child were all.

(31 March 2009, BYU, Provo, Utah)

POEM xD (for Scott)

“What does the Lord say about me?”
He says that you are free
To choose prison or liberty –
Real joy or misery.

He says that you are infinite.
You have a destiny.
You have the power to change the world
With moral agency.

(31 March 2009, Provo, Utah)

OF GOOD REPORT

Who wouldst Thou have me be, oh Lord?
Thy birth in Bethlehem
Has got me humming first noels
And skipping like a lamb.

What wouldst Thou have me do, my Lord?
Thy home in Nazareth
Reminds me to grow grace by grace,
To fear not even death.

Where wouldst Thou have me go, dear Lord?
Thy walk in Galilee
Has left me restless for Thy shores,
Thy blessed propinquity.

When wouldst Thou have me learn, dear Lord?
Thy days in Bethany
Tell me to seek a better part
In Thy proximity.

Why wouldst Thou salvage me, good Lord?
Thy sharp Gethsemane
Seems hard until I see the pain
Transformed to victory.

How wouldst Thou have me help, kind Lord?
The path to Jericho
Requires a good Samaritan
To ease a Neighbor’s woe.

(24 March 2009, Provo, Utah)

REMISSION

“Who dost thou say I am, Child?”
Thou art the Saving God –
Light of Lights – the Lamb of Lambs –
Whose feet with peace are shod.

“Who do I say thou art, Child?”
A Saint of Latter Day –
Sister – Daughter – Teacher – Friend –
Whose shoes will walk Thy Way.

“When will I see thy face, Child?”
In prayer both night and dawn –
At the Holy Place each week –
When I put Kindness on.

“When wilt thou see my face, Child?”
When I look up and live –
When I serve others as Thine own –
When I this song Thee give.

(23 March 2009, Provo, Utah)

THE ROMAN PREFECT (To Elissa)

She pleaded with her husband: “Please,
Do not harm this Man.
I had a dream that He is just.
Release Him, if you can.”

He thought of her imploring, but
Accusers over-ruled.
So Pilate washed his hands of Right,
Admitting he was fooled.

“Behold the Man,” he jeopardized
As he gave mobs the choice,
Let their hostility prevail.
They crowded out his voice.

Ironic superscription sign
Proclaimed the coward news.
Greek, Latin, Hebrew read the line:
“This is the King of Jews.”

Though Pilate feigned to intervene,
The Christ was crucified.
But he conceded Truth to men:
An Innocent has died.

Beneath the politics, he knew
His governing was flawed.
His low Centurion confessed:
“This was the Son of God.”

(19 March 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

KING FOR A DAY

The hazing starts with rolling dice:
A prisoner is “king” –
The soldiers’ lot: to “serve” a lord –
The Lord is suffering.

The role reversal mocks the King –
The whole band takes a turn –
“Anointed” Him with “crown” of thorns:
His blood not their concern.

“Endowed” Him with a purple “robe”
As one by one they toss –
They “scepter” Him with filthy reed –
Make Simon bear His cross.

The round of torture’s wheel twists on –
The cohorts play their “game” –
They almost sense His dignity,
Sufficing in their shame.

The King of Kings will now be “throned”
In piercing infamy.
Forgive them for they did not know
They hung Eternity.

(17 March 2009, Antonia Fortress, Jerusalem, Israel)

IN GALLICANTU

“Put up thy sword,” the Lord had said
When Peter smote a guard.
To follow Him takes more than might.
The Discipline is hard.

Obedience, not sacrifice?
To live for Him, yet cry?
Excruciating subterfuge –
The bitter cock crows “Why?”

(19 March 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

WEEPING FOR PETER

“Judge not, that ye be not judged”
Applies to Peter, too.
To die, or to deny the Christ?
The man had work to do.

The gentle Master told him that
The test would be extreme:
“You will not know me thrice by dawn
As bold as you may seem.”

What agony of loyalty,
To love but not to tell,
To go where danger fed the flames,
To choose an inner hell

And thus survive to testify
That He was God in deed,
To witness for the scattered sheep,
To heal, to seal, to bleed.

(16 March 2009, St. Peter in Gallicantu, Jerusalem, Israel)

INCENSE PSALM

Is there any trace of Jesus
In this anxious ancient land?
A hair of head, or crust of bread?
A skin cell from His hand?

Is there any sign of Jesus
In this neighborhood of Job?
A footprint on a sandaled trail?
A tassel from His robe?

Is there any hint of Jesus
In the remnant of His seed?
A shepherd leading one lost lamb
To where the safe ones feed?

I thought I caught a glimpse of Him
In Shiloh's sacred space --
Where Rachael and her new children
Are putting stones in place.

(13 March 2009, Haon, Galilee, Israel)

SABBATH SUNSET

"What good can come from Nazareth?
So insignificant!
How could a Governor emerge
From such a settlement?"

"What King can rule from Bethlehem?
From such humility!
How could a man of modest means
Claim Principality?"

"What Lord can walk on Galilee
And vanquish surly winds?
What makes you think a carpenter
Can ransom us from sins?"

His greatness came from Elohim --
And Mary gave Him grace --
In scrolling coasts and fruitful hills
I sense His weathered face.

(13 March 2009, Haon, Galilee, Israel)

MOON SET

The Galilee is waking --
The Moon is veiled in dawn --
Her abalone fringes
Are putting ripples on.

The birds chime in as cantors --
A full-fledged gamelan --
Opalescent hosts of hope
Transverse the brave Golan.

(13 March 2009, Haon, Galilee, Israel)

SHILOH PSALM (for Rachael)

The incense of Priesthoods
Still sifts from the stones.
The cisterns are filling
With blessings – not bones.

A princess of Judah
Restores Ephraim.
The flaming Shechinah
Returns to redeem
The perfume of almonds –
The gold statice scent –
The Holy of Holies –
The veil that was rent.

She’s gathering pillars –
She’s teaching the scribes –
She’s reading the Torah –
She’s schooling the Tribes –
She’s stretching out curtains –
She’s strengthening stakes –
She’s laying foundations
For all of our sakes.

She’s fighting the envy –
Uprooting the pride.
She’s planting the garden
Where God will reside.

(12 March 2009, Shiloh, Ephraim, Israel)

VILLAGE PSALM

A moon of milk and honeycomb
Is setting over Galilee --
The hidden sun is scaling heights --
Revealing its identity.

The morning birds anticipate
A day of pilgrimage --
Across the water dawning marks
Apocalyptic images.

(12 March 2009, Haon, Galillee, Israel)

ALL THY MIND

Full moon is out in Galilee --
North Star -- above the sea --
The gentleness of vesper waves
Is pacifying me.

The frogs are bleating like lost sheep
Who know they will be found --
The lights of cities on a hill
Rejoice without a sound.

Tiberias is vigilant
Across the western shore --
The Golan Heights insomnious --
Retreating from the war.

(11 March 2009, Haon, Galillee, Israel)

SHABBAT SHALOM

Do birds sing in Jersalem?
Do stars shine as in old?
Which steps lead to the Olive Mount --
To stories that were told?

Can Peace come to this place again?
Can good will reign on Earth?
Can deserts blossom like a rose
Because of one Child's birth?

The wedding dancers wend to bed --
The Christian pilgrims dream
That every step toward peace they take
Makes Stars of David gleam.

Today the birds awoke at four --
The Holy City slept --
Three waves of prayer preceded dawn --
The first Shabbat was kept.

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

CHRISTMAS RESEARCH (for Margaret Baker)

To sing is not to sin –
The glory has a skin
That covers flesh with luminence
And clothes the voice within –

(January 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

RESOLUTIONS, 2009

Out of bed first, on my knees –
Book of Mormon, one verse please –
Seek the Savior, find His way –
Write one letter every day –
Make poems daily – walk a mile –
Index records – give a smile –
Eating healthy – sleep eight hours –
Fix the garden, plant some flowers –
Temple weekly – EDL –
Finish Webster – Do work well –
Love my neighbors, greet by name –
Count my blessings, Grateful-Game –
Laugh more often – let things go –
Teach the students, help them grow –
Boldness, yes, not overbear –
Bridle passions – serve, prepare –
Never idle – always pure –
Seek forgiveness – still endure –
Cherish virtue – walk in light –
Help my family, choose the right –
Thinking clearly, sunny side –
Keep it simple – forsake pride –
Honor family – treasure souls –
Daily planning – write down goals.

(2 January 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CALLING

“Why, why hast Thou forsaken me?”
Was not an idle cry.
When Father turned His face away,
His Son yearned to know why.

“Why, why dost Thou abandon me?
Did my attempt displease?
Was it this? Was it that? Is there
No way to now appease?

How have I disappointed Thee?
How did my mission fail?”
All of the dread that humans feel
Became a twisting flail.

His distance from Father’s presence
For a moment was more than ours,
But then He ran to succor us
In all the utmost hours.

(13 December 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PREPARATION

How do I follow thee, Savior?
How do I find the Way?
How does my will change to Thy Will
In all I do and say?

Please, may my prayers be not in vain.
I’ll do better next time.
O please – mend the wall in my heart.
Heal the words in my mind.

Father, have I forsaken Thee?
The tendency is sly.
Before I know, my focus roves
And blindness films my eye.

Love, Thy Glory – Thy glory, Love.
After the moon goes down –
Time, the Seer – the seer, time –
A glow consoles our town.

(13 December 2008; Phoenix, Arizona - Pleasant Grove, Utah)

REQUITED

The Word I chose, chose me – I’m told.
He first loved us – they say.
The road I took takes me to Life –
To Him: the Truth, the Way.

The One I seek, seeks me – it’s said.
He first sought us – they tell.
The door I knock upon is His –
He comes to where I dwell.

(23 February 2009, Pleasant Grove)

“WRINKLES IN TIME”

My spirit blooms – my body fades –
This is no time for masquerades –
Cosmetic youth is useless now –
But inner strength augments somehow.

My shoulders bend – my courage grows –
This is no time for stiff repose –
Poetic voice is vibrant here –
I have to be a pioneer.

The pace is quick – response is slow –
There is so much I still don’t know –
The beauty that I long to be
Is coming out in spite of me –

The ageing mars – the laughter mends –
Both earth and heaven are my friends –
Prophetic truth is useful still
As I seek to obey Thy will.

(9 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SENSE AND RESPONSE

What happens when a candle burns?
Does wax turn into air?
What happens when a fire glows?
Does matter disappear?

Can voices translate into light?
Can sounds become a prayer?
What happens when we speak to Him?
What takes our message there?

When carbon burns, electrons move –
Wax makes new energies –
The fire makes cool matter hum –
Creates electric bees.

The hive turns sound to radiance –
With colored frequencies –
Our words pass through glass fiber cells
In honeyed melodies.

(8 & 12 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SESSION

Intelligence loves Truth and Light –
Virtue cleaves to Virtue –
Benevolence will choose the Right –
Mercy fosters Mercy.

The Pure in Heart seek Purity –
Wisdom perceives Wisdom –
The Just pursue compassion’s Claim –
Vision receives Vision.

(6 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

PRECOCIOUS

The daffodils are dancing up –
A January dare!
The deer turn up their nose at them –
The shoots don’t seem to care!

I worry if they rise too soon
Their trumpet gold will freeze –
They send out green notes anyway –
Their only aim to please.

(22 January 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BIRD WORDS

The words are pouring out again –
I’m not sure how they come –
Awake, asleep, at dawn, at dusk –
They aren’t as shy as some.
They gently squeeze between the steps –
They dodge – they dart – they dare –
They have a keen intelligence –
They know when to beware.

They come and go in their due time –
And I just have to write –
Sometimes they stay with me all day –
But sometimes they take flight.
With sequin eyes – by window panes –
They sense me through the glass –
I try hard not to startle them –
They hide – they seek – they pass.

They do not ask for cleverness –
They do not covet power –
They flutter in and out at will
At any given hour.
They swoop – they rise – advance – retreat –
They give – they gain – they brood –
Their furtive gleaning lasts all day –
They thank me for the food.

I offer ordinary seed –
And sometimes I forget –
But they return – forgiving me –
They overlook the debt
As if they owed me providence!
Their generous reprieve
Is feeding me with confidence
To share and to receive.

(2 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ALIJAH

He gathers all His children –
He numbers flocks and herds –
They know Him as their Shepherd –
He guides them with His words.

He will fulfill the promise –
Their long dispersion ends –
He brings in all the nations –
He counts us as His friends.

The gathering is literal –
The going home, concrete –
The call is individual –
The welcome is complete.

The promised land is visible –
The mountain is in sight –
The evidence, perpetual –
The proof is in delight.

(1 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

EXPRESS

I’m looking at a distant star
Whose light just greeted me –
Its journey does not seem that far –
Just past eternity.

I don’t know why it winked at me –
I didn’t seek its face –
But somehow through the universe
A spark of joy crossed space.

I thought I had to wait a life
Or sacrifice my breath –
But it arrived before I blinked –
Without requiring death.

Its promises are messengers –
Its particles are wise –
It found a line between the blinds
And shutters of my eyes.

(2 February 2009, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

REALITY CHECK

I can’t sit in a darkened room
And look for truth in gloom.
I need to view a scene that’s bright –
Where faith turns into sight.

Glory is glow – shining through light–
Magnifying to white –
Like inspiration with insight.
Revelations at night

Come – deer are browsing down the ridge –
Though drowsy – I can’t budge.
The moon hides shadows in the snow –
One by one – cervids go.

The Savior keeps me safe – The Lamb –
The King – the yet I-AM –
The Mighty One may make me bold –
Redeeming me from cold.

(14 January 2009, Provo, Utah)

HELP WANTED

The light – stretched from the distances
Of your hills to the east
Unto the mountains of my west –
Dispenses subtle peace.

The patience of a desert land
Makes desolation null.
The treasures of stalactite caves
Make expectation full.

One thousand cranes with crystal beaks
Make isolation moot.
The hidden feet of catacombs
Make cries of bleakness mute.

(14 February 1988, Tucson, Arizona)

HERE’S MY HEART

If not yet pure, more purified –
Refined, if not yet fine –
If not yet sure, more confident –
Less mine – if not yet Thine.

If not yet true, more trustworthy –
Enlightened, if not light –
If not yet clean, less small and mean –
More righteous, if not right.

If not yet psalms, more poetry –
More whole, if not complete –
If not yet firm, confirmed by hope –
Less brine, if not yet sweet.

(24 December 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah )

INTERCESSION

Like sunshine melting ice –
Like water soothing stones –
The love of Christ will touch each cell
With power that atones.

So vast to reach the dark
And pull out stars unknown –
The transformation of our souls
Comes through His name alone.

An instant change is rare –
We need the time to grow
Into the gown of righteousness
That He wants to bestow.

So, patience is a friend
And waiting – not a foe
As point by point we put on light
From head to heart to toe.

(28 December 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ROUND AND ABOUT

Dreams are the reservoir for sense –
Sense – the sanctuary for verse –
Verse is the orphanage for truth –
Truth – repository for dreams.

The key of Thy protection went
With me everywhere on my way –
Breath, pulse, sight, heartbeat, and brainwave –
In sleep, journey, study, night, day.

(11 August 2008, Provo, Utah)

UNREQUITED

“Mine own received me not,” He told –
Without self-pity’s tone –
“And, wounded in the House of Friends,
I had to die alone.”

Could we not watch with Him one hour?
Why do we hesitate
To walk with Him across the Brook
Through Kidron’s grave estate?

The need for reciprocity
Could not confound His love –
He found a way to foster us
In spite of the rebuff.

Reproving us with equity –
He breaks a loaf of bread
And feeds a thousand with His words –
“Come unto me – be fed.”

(12 December 2008, Provo, Utah)

THE HEM

She has issues – problems that drain
Her body – her living.
She seeks solutions for the pain –
Encounters but misgiving.

Unknown by any man – unclean –
No one can approach –
She feels the corner of a robe
That heals without reproach.

“Who touched me?” asks the One whose strength
Poured out to proffer health.
He turns to see a Trembling smile
Repenting of its stealth.

The woman kneels and tells the truth.
“My daughter, go in peace.
The blood that flowed from you is mine.
But blessings will not cease.”

(29 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

REVELATION MEDIATION

Red Dragon seeks to harm the Wife
Whose Son will heal the earth.
She flees into the wilderness –
Her crown a Swaddling’s birth.

Tonight each baby is the Child –
All mothers Mary seem –
All fathers proxies for our God –
All angels Joseph’s dream.

The Church appears – a woman clothed
With sun and shod with moon –
Although a Heady Beast brands men
The Bridegroom will come soon.

The Dragon Killer wins the war –
Defeating Babylon –
While Zion rises from the dust
To put a white dress on.

(15 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

THE TEMPEST

The wind is wiping waves of dust –
The storm is whipping screens –
Just to the east of the garden
An Angel intervenes.

His two-edged sword is flaming –
His countenance is flint.
The Tree of Life stands gleaming –
Awaiting His consent.

You know the way ahead is strait –
You know the coast is clear –
Press forward in the Ark of faith –
You know Christ will appear.

His Body makes a bridge to cross
From sea to firmament.
He stretches like a rainbow arch
From earth to sacrament.

(1 December 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

BEING STILL

Our Father is a Modest Man.
He shows His face – but rare.
His words come as a rustling voice
In scriptures – or through prayer.

He lets Creation speak for Him.
He has the Creatures tell
The stories of His handiwork –
The letters of His spell.

He stands behind apocalypse –
Provides a faithful veil
To guard us from the blinding light
Of Love that cannot fail.

He helps us without recompense
Sufficient for His pains –
Provides us with abundant life –
With sacrificial gains.

His name is Man of Holiness.
His style is reticence.
His arguments are enthymemes –
Concise intelligence.

(2 December 2008, Provo, Utah)

NEW ORLEANS

Change your cry into a song,
Your fear into a prayer.
Let your mind rest on the Word.
Choose patience, not despair.

Turn shame into a beacon.
The scorching is a flame
That scorns the inquisition
And blamelessness proclaims.

Let agony refine you.
Let ashes renovate.
Be born again in beauty.
Your duty consecrate.

Forgive the brutal torches.
Forget the stenching blaze.
The Lord of Wounds and Bruises
Will heal you with one gaze.

Go beyond your pain to His.
Wipe away His drops.
Hold the hand that He extends
Until the terror stops.

(23 November 2008, Glendale, Arizona)

YEW TREE FARM

Across a sea of cirrus,
Around a lake of sky,
Near the quarried Tilberthwaite,
I saw with Shepherd's eye

The Roman rock-cathedrals,
The Nordic-named Tarn Hows,
The stone-walled Celtic borders,
The hills where grey sheep browse.

I saw the Author's cottage,
Retired in ancient rooms,
Found my way through kissing-gates,
Meandered chapel tombs.

I saw past time to circles
Where point meets outer space.
I saw beyond the District
The other side of place.

(22 November 2008, Utah to Phoenix)

HE WILL COME

Gethsemanes of disregard
Are distant torments now –
As hope elopes with touchstone truths –
Sealed up in topaz vow,

In snow and gold, necklace and ring,
In cut, in clarity,
In color, and divine design –
The troth is parity.

Simplicity is manifold –
Sincerity – a foil
To show the shining deathlessness
Of love the dark can’t spoil.

(18 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

ALLUSIONS

Hallowed be Thy name –
Holiness to the Lord –
How great Thou art – Sweet is Thy work –
Beginning was the Word.

O, Divine Redeemer –
Nearer, my God, to Thee –
Here’s my heart, oh, take and seal it –
More purity give me.

(18 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

DUTY AND THE EAST

The trees are shedding leaves like tears –
While Centuries shed years.
Don’t heed the inner Critic’s voice –
Resist the outer fears.

Don’t take the old Accuser’s blame –
Don’t patronize his shame –
Choose light – not Anti-poetry –
Guard close the sacred Name.

“The way chose you,” the Statesman taught –
“Go forward, and fear not.”
The trees are sprouting bud-like gems –
You’ll find the Spring you sought.

(18 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

DO I KNOW HIM?

The “docile” Gentle Man draws near –
Refining presence – strong and dear –
Very clean – able to wash us –
Wholesome – ready to hallow us –
Chaste and delicate and tender–
Very pleasing to His Father –
Persecuted for perfection –
Punished for loving purity –
Mocked for fostering modesty –
Marred for His meekness and mercy –
Powerful – but never a boast –
Crucified for being the Christ.
Do I really know who He is?
Shall I say – I know He forgives?

(15 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

ENSIGN PEAK

Velocity is vertigo –
Vitality is quick –
For dizzy daring summit climb,
You’ll need a walking stick.

Virtue’s journey is vertical –
A sunny shawl beckons –
A yellow handkerchief comforts –
The fear of heights – lessens.

(15 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

SPINS

My feet can write on ice –
The figures etch a grace –
In spite of falls and shaky moves –
My spirals leave a trace.

I don’t write with my hands –
My poetry has feet –
They scribble lines around the rink –
Composed by friction’s heat.

The form is everything –
The posture must be sure –
The balance comes from taking risks –
The power must be pure.

The sheet of white is cold –
A chill burns in the brain –
But frosty turns and ferry glides
Perpetuate – sustain.

(12 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

NOVEMBER

This is the Robin’s resting place –
Here is the Sabbath choir –
In every elm – the counting birds
Survey the temple spire.

This is the Reason for the quest –
Here is the Jubilee –
On springless trees – the redbreast bards
Appraise my revery.

This is the morning Reveille –
Here are the warm Farewells –
The branches bow with messengers
Whose endless gospel swells.

(9 November 2008, Provo, Utah)

WHAT RILKE KNEW

Not for money – not for favor –
Nor for name – nor for eyes –
Not for scholars’ approbation –
Not for a noble prize –

Why do these words come to visit?
Why do they speak to me?
All I do to earn their trust is
Gather in poetry.

What are these words trying to teach me?
I should have thought to ask!
Pulling the truth through light’s needle
Is not an easy task.

Just for Meaning – just for Freedom –
Just for Joy – and Glory –
I – for Angels’ commendation –
Sew a priceless story.

(5 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CERVIDS

In glowing cloud a half-moon shines –
A spotlight for the lake –
Where ice congeals into a rim
That crystals undertake.

I’m not quite sure how much you know
About our neighborhood –
We haunt the hills when winter comes –
We feed on frozen wood.

We make the dreamer catch her breath –
Her heart pounds with our leaps –
We startle constellation Bears
While Timpanogos sleeps.

You need not fear our forwardness –
We haven’t got a chance –
But just before we slip away –
Please catch our stealthy glance.

(5 November 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SURPRISES

The birds are not awake yet –
Though crouching – dawn’s alarm
Is upstaged by the sparkle
Of heaven’s star-struck farm –

Suspense – Anticipation
Are contradictory –
The first is pain that pierces most –
The other one is glee –

While autumn’s intermission
Gives cue for winter’s scene –
A cast of characters from spring
Are clowning on the green.

(29 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

MAY AND MIGHT

I feared the Spirit’s purge –
But – baptized by breeze – learned
Remission is a soothing day –
Earth-kneeling – rinsed in May.

The will to live is strong –
Like hopes we had foregone –
The iris in dim cardboard room
Had sprouted – seeking bloom.

(9 May 2008, Pleasant Grove)

REDEMPTION

That stone must be quite heavy –
That boulder on your back –
A stumbling block so hefty
It must twist – like a rack.

I don’t know how you bear it –
I’d help you if I could –
I also have a burden –
This solid log of wood.

Your stone could be a Corner –
My beam become a Frame –
We could consecrate them to
The House that bears His Name.

That Cornerstone of honor –
That Doorway to the well
Will make our woes seem lighter
Than clumsy words can tell.

(28 October 2008, Pleasant Grove)

EMERGENCY

I don’t have time to worry –
I have to work or die –
So please excuse my hurry –
In case you wonder why

I’m moving every minute –
I’m pressing forward fast –
The downhill sprint is thrilling –
Though uphill, I was last.

The moments skip like hours –
The hours run like days –
Days dash down the trail like months –
And months are years in pace.

I like the swift momentum –
Inertia is a breath
That leads me to the finish –
Outracing even death.

(28 October 2008, Pleasant Grove)

KÄRLEKS VERS

Jag förälskar mig i en ängel
Vem visar sig på drömmar och syn.
Hans ord är tyst och trofull;
Hans hjärta är fridfull och ren.
Han kläder sig i vit och ljus.
Hans händer är stor och skön.

Min ängel skrivar med aktsam fingrarna
I bok det här sidor i form av fjärils vingar.
Vad han upptecknar i okänd språk
Är så väsentlig, så viktig,
Det jag ska vänta stille och tålig
Ända till han visar sig här, nju och nu.

(28 Januari 2002, Provo, Utah)