2013, Selected Psalms & Songs

DAY ONE SONG

The year begins with dreams and poems –
The day begins with peace –
And life resumes its streams and hopes –
The blessings never cease.

(1 January 2013, Springville, Utah)



EAST ROOM PSALM

The Light – our best Awakening –
Mechanics second best –
When Dawn rejoices noisily –
Impossible to rest.

The Golden Draught is Quickening –
A Tonic for the West –
The Medicine of Orient –
And thus the Day is Blest.

It nudges – prods – unceasingly –
It steals the covers’ charm –
Removing shadows from the Eyes
With particles that swarm.

Its ringing, buzzing, sounding Glow
Can quietly disarm
All Vestiges of Drowsiness
In Morning’s firm alarm.

(1 January 2013, Springville, Utah)



DESTINY PSALM

What is the Purpose of my life?
What do I have to Give?
Specific Contribution Plan?
What Dream have I to live?

May I speak for the Unborn Babes?
The Least among us all?
Defend the “Right to Light” for them?
The Vuln’rable and Small?

(3 January 2013, Springville, Utah)

CONFIRMATION PSALM

We are learning how to listen –
We’re practicing to hear
The promptings that the Holy Ghost
Will whisper in our ear.

We are yearning for the promise –
Invited to partake
The blessing of Companionship
Provided for our sake.

(5 January 2013, Springville, Utah)



UNWED DIRGE

The sharp dis-pairing of Divorce
Strikes blessings from the Young –
Dissecting their inheritance –
And snaps their Lives unstrung.

They linger in bleak Solitude –
They scatter from the Hold –
The Union that conceived their Joy
Lies broken, bare, and Cold.

(6 January 2013, Provo, Utah)



LEADER PSALM

Be Calm: pacific as a Breeze –
Connected: like a Seam –
Be Curious: explore the Truth –
Compassionate: Esteem –

Courageous: like a Pioneer –
Be driven: like the Sun –
Be Empathetic: see the Good –
Integrity: be One.

Give Counsel – give Support – Sustain –
Translate from “Me” to “We” –
Give Comfort – be Considerate –
See Possibility –

Administer – but Minister –
Ask Father who to Help –
Find those at Risk and see their Need –
Put others before Self.


(10 January 2013, Provo, Utah)



CURSIVE PSALM

We have an inner dialogue –
A Messenger within
With whom we seldom correspond –
But now we can begin.

We have a hidden internet
With fiber-optic lines
Of dialectic insight to
Consider and combine.

(13 January 2013, Springville, Utah)

SIGHT-SEEING PSALM (from JKH)

My Heart is glowing in the Dark –
Illuminating gloom –
My Lamp is shining in the Dusk –
A Lantern in the Room.

The Stars are beaming into Space –
Combusting into Gleam
Like Candles radiating Glow
In Circulating Stream.

The Worlds are turning into Tropes
And Solar System Schemes –
The Universes into Tales –
The Galaxies, to Dreams.

The Entropy is speeding Up
While Gravity bears Down –
The Incandescent Village is
Our Luminescent Town.

(13 January 2013, Springville, Utah)



ZEPHYR PSALM

These songs are coming out of me
As fast as I can print –
And even when I write them down,
It doesn’t make a dint!

It’s like a stream of cooling wind –
An ever-flowing creek –
The only thing I have to do
Is let the fountain speak.

It’s such a source of holiness –
A quiet silver spring –
It sparkles as it percolates
And makes me want to sing.

It doesn’t matter where I am
Or what I want to say –
The language is a reservoir
Of water for the Way.

(13 January 2013, Springville, Utah)

COMPARE PSALM

To be a Fool is better than
To be an Arrogant –
An Ignorant can try to learn –
A Puffed Persona can’t.

To build on Rock is better than
To set a house on Sand –
An architect of Righteousness
Constructs on solid Land.

(15 January 2013, Springville, Utah)

PORCH PSALM

How do the Birds perceive their Food?
Who helps them find the seed
That scatters on the dull cement
When Winter augments need?

The tiny beads – sunflower shells –
How can they see such Feed?
Does vision magnify its range?
Does instinct intercede?

(Springville, Utah, 18 January 2013)

 

RESEMBLANCE PSALM

What part of me is Eden’s gift?
Which cell traits came from Eve?
What side of me is Adam’s rib?
Which genes did I receive?

My nose is hers? My toes are his?
My feet are sturdy friends –
My sense of smell encased in shell
Might be of fine descent.

I have a hand to measure things
That no one else can write –
My ear can hear the whispered wings
Of angels in their flight.

I like to name the entities –
Is that my Father’s line?
I love to walk in paradise –
Is that my Mother’s sign?

(23 January 2013, Provo Temple, Utah)

WARD TEMPLE NIGHT SONNET

Light is a Liquid, a Solid, a Gas –
Math’s “Missing Matter” abides in its Mass –
Passing through Time, Ten Dimensions, and Space –
Shining through Water and Terra: Thy Face.
Life is Digestion, Oration, and Breath –
Deity’s Doctrine transmuting its Death
Deftly – the Blind, the Afflicted, the Deaf
Sorting the Darkness to Day – Grain from Chaff.
Love is a Stillness, a Presence: Thy Voice –
Eve’s Pure Persuasion revealing a Choice
Pervasive as Whisper – Sound without Noise –
Standing with Companies Poised to Rejoice.
Human Divinity is Antidote –
Beauty of Holiness true Anecdote.

(Provo, Utah, 23 January and 1 March 2013)

KIN PSALM

The eyes of all my Ancestors
Are in my DNA –
They whisper their Remembrances
As I go on my Way.

They ambush me in Homecomings
When visiting their lands –
The Capture me in Memories:
Nostalgia’s gentle bands.

The clues of Angel Messengers
Are guiding me each Day –
Their records are my Recompense –
The answers when I pray.

(26 January 2013, Provo, Utah)

 

CHARACTER PSALM

The power of the Holy Ghost
Occurs as an event –
“It came to pass” a passive voice
For works made Evident.
Our true potential is not seen
By Others or by us –
Intelligence is manifest
But not so Obvious.

“Outdated” – “Immature” – or “Young” –
“Irrelevant” – or “Old” –
Such criticisms indicate
That Some cannot behold
The real significance of Souls:
The diamond in the lump –
The genius in the manic mind –
The kindness in the grump.

(17 February 2013, Springville, Utah)

 

TOGETHER PSALM

This Life’s too short for all our Love –
We have to die for more –
The networks of Relatedness
Peek through the Mortal Door.

Our Love’s too great for one Estate –
A Broken Heart can’t hold
The records of Acknowledgment
That Generations told.

The Volumes of our Ancestry
Yield everlasting Ties –
Translation is the Microfilm
On Revelation’s Eyes.

Invited to perceive in Part
The whole infinity –
Our Mothers – Fathers – wait in lines
To gather at the Tree.

(10 March 2013, Provo, Utah)

 

SUNNY PSALM

Wilt Thou redeem my soul from sin
When Spring is try’n to shine?
Relieve me from the winter weight –
The snows of my decline?

(12 March, 2013, Springville, Utah)

 

TILAPIA PSALM

I thank Thee for the Fish
Who sacrificed its Gill –
Its swimming in the Aqua Dish
Of River, Pond, and Rill.

Am grateful for the Plants
Who oxidate the Air –
The circuit of the Nightly Breath
Delivered Everywhere.

(14 March 2013, Provo, Utah)

 

COUPLE PSALM

This kind of Love specific is –
Most private space we know –
Not common – nor publicity –
Not twisted into show.

(15 March 2013, Provo, Utah)



SINGSONG PSALM

I like these Metered Rimes –
They fit me like a Glove –
They give me space and form to think –
To finger-paint the Love.

Rime is Form – Form is Time –
Time is Line – Line is Bond –
Perambulated binding Words
Here – After – and Beyond.

(21 March 2013, Springville, Utah)



LYRE PSALM

The world is a harp
The earth was the Cross
The cords are the strings
The stakes are the Posts.

(22 March 2013)

 

ROD PSALM

The mists are thick – the darts are sharp –
The Path has barbs – the Way seems warped –
But I know that the Tree is near –
So I press on into the Clear.

(23 March 2013, Springville, Utah)

EASTER PSALM

We take our little bit of Grief –
We sip a tiny drop –
But He who is the Living Fount
Drank all the bitter Cup.

Atonement means replacing pain –
His Agony for ours –
From weakness to Eternal Worth –
Our beauty from His Scars.

We face a smaller Agony –
A temporary death –
The expiration of His life
Contained in tandem breath.

Our suffering is minimal –
Our groan a minute piece –
Compared to magnitudes of ache
From which He deals release.

(31 March 2013, Springville, Utah)



FAIRER PSALM

All Beauty testifies of Christ –
The clearest sweetest mote
Is echo of His Signature –
The Epic that He wrote.

I have to annotate His work
And cite His Master piece –
I have to document the source
Of His dear Elegies.

(8 April 2013, Provo, Utah)



WEATHER PSALM

The Atmosphere’s a Satellite
With telegraphic Lens –
It magnifies the Mountain tops –
Or minimizes them.

(30 April 2013, Provo, Utah)



DAG’S PSALM (to Dag Hammarskjöld, 1905-1961)

My Life has been a Pilgrimage –
A Journey – on the Way –
Confirmed for me by man-of-peace –
Whose given name means “Day.”

From Wilderness to Mountain Grove
Through cool and torrid Zones
To Villages and Fortresses
To Circles set in Stones –

The Path leads to a Promised Land
That I can’t always see –
But I move forward Step by Step
Because the Road “chose me.”

The Star Lines keep my gaze on track –
Defining Whom I Seek –
The Will to Walk affirms the Course
That guides both Strong and Weak.

(2 June 2013, Springville, Utah)

  COLLABORATION PSALM (with Annie Williams)

Every morning has a rainbow –
And Sunrise is its name –
Every moment has a riddle –
So – poetry’s the game.

(11 June 2013 Provo, Utah)



PAPA PSALM

The World of Faith still Turns in Light
In spite of Evil’s grasp –
The Muses are Elijah’s Sprite –
The Breath in which we Bask.

The Brooding Swallow shifts its Wing –
The Scroll begins to tear –
The Weather Cycle rolls in storms –
Reacts to solar flare.

The moody Terra lifts its weight –
The Core resumes its stir –
The Nether Nations congregate –
No hand can interfere –

For Someone I have never met –
But I have ever known –
The Watcher of the Fatherless –
Invites me to His throne.

(16 June 2013, Provo, Utah)



SUBTERRANEAN PSALM

The Miracles and Messages
Are flowing underground –
The well-springs of Beneficence
Seem nowhere to be found.

(22 June 2013, Springville, Utah)



  OVERFLOW PSALM
(for Elray Christiansen, Tucson Stake President, 1975)

If Jesus is “the Thirsty One” –
This Water is for Him –
I run to bring a spilling Cup –
Near empty from the brim.

The Clarity and Purity –
Susceptible to Form –
Slops as I race to succor Christ –
Remainder – now lukewarm.

He takes the Mug and sips the Drops
Made meager – I’m in Tears –
“Best drink I’ve ever tasted!” vows
And smiles away my Fears.

The Beauty that I hungered for
And sought to Qualify:
To take His Name upon my Soul
And guard that new Supply.

(23 June 2013, Springville, Utah)



AMELIORATED PSALM

He gives us Water – clean and fresh –
Instead of Vinegar –
Provides a piece of Living Bread
In place of Bitter Herb.

He lends us Feasts – instead of Fasts –
Redeems us from our Debts –
He Crosses over ev’ry Sea
He Passes Over death.

(28 July 2013, Springville, Utah)



MOTTO PSALM

Clearly different – completely kind –
Wholly independent – clean mind –
Fully diligent – boldly mild –
Meekly confident – God’s Old Child.

(29 July 2013, Springville, Utah)

TARDY PSALM

To be a Foolish Maiden
Whose Lamp is running Dim –
Whose Oil is insufficient –
Who cannot Honor Him –

Is worse than Native Blindness
Because it came by Choice.
Lord, help the Fading Lanterns
Who wanted to Rejoice.

(2 August 2013, Springville, Utah)



MARTHA PSALM

The Spirit hopes to visit us –
But we are often out –
Pre-occupied with busyness –
And even if He shout
We would not hear His messages
Beneath our Daily Din –
Please! set aside the Pots and Pains –
Invite the Stranger in.

He wants to show us how to pray
Instead of murmuring –
And He can teach us what to say
To aid the Suffering –
So! welcome Him within your Walls –
Then take the time to hear
Most Delicate of Dialogues
He feeds your hungry Ear.

(3 August 2013, Springville, Utah)



ARMOR PSALM

I am my Father’s daughter –
He loves me – and I – Him –
He is a daughter’s Father –
I love Him – and He – Me

(9 August 2013, Springville, Utah)



CONFERENCE PSALM

Lord, am I
Out of line?
Out of tune?
Out of touch?
Please, help me
Get in line!
Stay in tune!
Be in touch!

Am I weak?
Am I cold?
Am I sad?
Make me strong!
Give me warmth!
Teach me glad!

(8 September 2013, Sunday, Springville West Stake Conference, Utah)



SYMPATHY PSALM

Can my tears for a Sister’s loss
Make weighty burdens less?
Her load infracts emotion’s dam
But not my own distress.

A proxy for my Brother’s Sleep –
Her Husband’s Long Goodnight –
We bear the basket to the vault
Of Presence out of sight.

(8 September 2013, Sunday, Springville, Utah)



KENNEDY DIRGE (for MAK and the Kahne family)

“The whole world was weeping”
And then my sister died –
Your father showed up just in time
To comfort when we cried.

If Bards and Muses wrote
In free pentameters
The sorrow of that tragic year
Would overrun their verse.

Tulare – Marinette –
Dallas – and Washington
Are toponyms of dreadful loss –
Woe’s assassination.

(14 October 2013, Springville, Utah)



FALL PSALM

Necklaces – neckties –
Hairbows – bowties –
Autumn is singing –
Summer clinging.
Temples climb higher
Than temperatures.
As the shackles break
Truth liberates –
When Age starts to shake
Youth hibernates.

(27 October 2013, Sunday, Springville, Utah)

 

STAFF PSALM (For Van Gessel)

A Leader would not seek the Pow’r
For which some folks would Kill –
You led us – never using Force
To implement your Will.

You had a Comprehensive style –
You cast a further Net –
You fed His Sheep – because you know
That Truth is not a Threat.

The Lord is not a Dictator –
He leaves us room to Fall
And rise again by Agency –
To Wing –  not merely Crawl.

Then pity the man Drunk on Gain
As he who swills old wine –

(3 November 2013, Provo, Utah)



WEBSTER PSALM

Two-thirds of Genius is Patience –
Three-quarters is Hard Work –
A different drum is not enough
To compensate for Shirk.

The Drudgery yields brilliant gems
That compensate the Grind –
The facets of atomic sense
That captivate the Mind.

(3 November 2013, Provo, Utah)



LIVER PSALM

The Morning after loss
Has such a gentle mask –
With silver subtle simple floss
That cushions every task.

The Mountain seems to call –
We answer wide awake –
The yoke of grief seems easier
For the Beloved’s sake.

The Meaning of this life –
Not certified by span –
Is testable in consequence
And light’s congealing plan.

(14 November 2013, Springville, Utah)



SCIENCE PSALM

T’was Life that made the Universe
And not that World made Life –
The ultimate Reality
A Kiss of Love and Light.

The Word and Wisdom unified –
Made bonds of trailing strings –
Set glory into every cell –
Engendered living Things.

Affinity made Matter’s Course
And not the other Way –
The Light came first and then the Land –
A Quantum time of Day.

The Firmament – the Water – Sand –
The Elements of space –
The Entities made plural Worlds
That doubt cannot displace.

(14 November 2013, Provo, Utah)

 

TOUCHDOWN PSALM

He should have lived a thousand years –
He needed no Applause –
Transcended Recognition’s curse –
Why – then – this Fatal Pause?

He could have cheered a thousand friends –
Eluding useless Fame –
Connecting Merit’s hungry goal
By carrying Christ’s Name.

(14 November 2013, Springville, Utah)



WHAT I LEARNED

Heavenly Father loves us all –
Poetry can be prophecy –
Brotherly kindness is profound –
The Lord redeems the desolate –
Death is a heavy illusion –
Intelligence is appealing –
The Love of my Life will appear –
Revelation by dreams is real –
Childhood longings hold future keys –
The Holy Land has destiny –
In spite of weakness God trusts me –
A painting can show us His face.

(15 November 2013, Springville, Utah)  



CHOICE PSALM

Every moment – every breath –
Has potential for Light.
How do we know that someone is blind?
Only the sightless know their dark.

Their line goes out through all the Earth –
Their words go to earth’s ends –
A Tabernacle for the Sun
Is set by speech He sends.

(30 November 2013, Springville, Utah)



LIFT PSALM

Atonement is an upward climb –
His strait and narrow path is steep –
And yet our following’s sublime –
He helps us run – jump – dance – and leap.

(1 December 2013, Springville, Utah)  



LIQUID DIRGE

Some water is worse than thirst –
Lugubrious fluid –
Cantankerous refreshment –
Odd – maudlin – metallic.

(10 December 2013, Provo, Utah)  



FIANCÉ PSALM (for Nicholas)

The Knight in Priesthood Armor stands
Beside the Grieving Maid –
Her father’s sudden Death creates
A place for Virtue’s Aid.

(10 December 2013, Provo, Utah)  

LAST SUNDAY PSALM

The whole House is a Harp again –
The Windows taut with Strings –
The Resonance stirs walls and floors
So Melodies have Wings.

The little songs are lullabies
To help the Angels rest –
Vibrations carry healing to
Harmonic humming Nest.

The hopeful chords roll out the Notes –
Glissandos grace the tune –
Arpeggios climb up the Scales
In staircases of rune.

The Blessing Spirit condescends
In solemn gentle steps –
The Anthem gathers fam’ly love
In perfect heights and depths.

(29 December 2013, Springville, Utah)