2015, Selected Poems & Psalms

 

            SOMNIA

 

Drink deep from the waters of sleep –

Make wisdom tangible –

Slake sweet from the fountain of dream –

Make vision touchable –

 

Sodden with sleeping –

Dripping with dreams –

Soaking with slumber –

Building with beams.

 

(4 January 2015 & 5 July 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            GOSPEL PSALM

 

Folk-work practical –

High-art beautiful –

Downright human –

Upright divine –

 

(5 January 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            DEBILITY PSALM

 

The Son of Man had weaknesses

Because He chose to live

As mortals do: to learn, to grow

In righteousness, forgive.

 

He had the best of all of us –

The Son of God was strong

Because He chose divinity –

Shunned ev’ry sin and wrong.

 

He parted curtains with His hand –

He made the waters stream –

He called disciples from the Sea

And taught them to redeem.

 

His genesis was miracle –

His exodus was death –

His deuteronomy was love

The back and forth of breath.

 

(11 January 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            PARENTHOOD VERSE

 

All mothers be like Mary

Conceiving God’s dear Son –

All fathers be like Joseph

Protecting every one.

 

Mother of the Son of God –

Father of Creations –

Template of our families –

Pattern for all nations.

 

(11 January 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            “DON MATTEO” PSALM

 

“Forgiveness is Resurrection” –

No heart can thrive without that gift.

The burden of resentment’s curse

Would hobble every cell He lift.

 

Laving that which needs to be washed –

Laying hands on my vernix scalp –

With weakness as my coat of skins –

Protecting strengths with mending help.

 

Forgiveness is Restoration –

No hurt survives once we let go –

Good will shall liberate and bless

The victim and the villain both.

 

(21 January 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            TEST

 

“Please men, or please me?”

“Please them, or please Thee.”

“Your wish, or my will?”

“My way, or Thy weal?”

 

(24 January 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            ONCOLOGY PSALM

 

You live with courage every day –

You face the pain with smiles –

No matter what, you find a way

To make it through the trials.

 

You answer fear with simple hope –

Your faith is like a tree –

You grow and do your best to cope –

Your life inspires me.

 

(25 January 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            GIFTED

 

I gave you beautiful ears

To hear inaudible sounds –

I gave you delicate eyes

To see invisible bounds.

 

I gave you sensitive hands

To heal incurable pains –

I gave you durable feet

To walk incredible plains.

 

(29 January 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            PUBLISHING PEACE

 

I was named Mountain-Gazelle

Nearly sixty springs ago,

Born to River-Falling family,

Born for Mountain-Tower family,

In northern camp near Great Water.

I have completed three rounds

Of migration in the compass

Of four essential directions.

 

The Holy One has guided me.

I have finished the tri-fold braid

To the North, East, West, and Southern lands.

 

(3 January 2015, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            DECALOGOS

 

The Poet is a Maker schooled in Light –

The Maker is an Architect of Sight –

The Archangel a Webster, tooled in Lines –

The Weaver is an Artist who Designs –

The Artisan a Translator who Learns –

The Translator a Painter who Discerns –

The Painter is a Curator of Life –

The Curator a Treasurer of Truth –

The Treasurer a Guardian of Words –

The Guardian a Poet of great Worth.

 

(4 February 2015, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            HAIL PSALM

 

The Deaf whose ears He caused to hear –

The Blind whose eyes could see –

The Sick He blessed – the Lame He raised –

The Prisoners set free –

 

The People who were healed by Him –

The Multitude He fed –

What grief they must have felt for Him –

What tears they must have shed.

 

(5 Feb 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SCOURGE PSALM (Matthew 27: 26-33)

 

In common hall – they mocked – they put

A shaking reed in His right hand –

They stripped – they bowed the knee – they spit

On Love they could not understand.

 

They smote His head – a spiny crown

The sign of His infinity –

His amplitude descended down

With comprehensive dignity.

 

They broke His back – so Simon bore

The cross of their ignominy –

His Name inscripted on a plaque –

Upheld – His royal charitry.

 

(24 March 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SYNONYM PSALM

 

We all lay down our lives – like Him.

He resurrects us all –

We all arise and live again –

Reversal of the Fall –

 

We all must bear the cross for Him

To understand the weight

Of all He paid to ransom us

From Earth’s probation state.

 

We all must bow our knees to Him –

Confess His perfect name –

We walk in His similitude –

Almost – if not the same.

 

(7 April 2015, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            EMILY’S BIRTHDAY SONG

 

I love you more than April skies;

I love your shining azure eyes.

I love you more than blooms in May;

I love the funny words you say.

I love you more than springs in June,

And more than stars, or sun, or moon.

I love you more than bright July;

I love you when you laugh or cry.

I love you more than August rain

Upon the desert, hill, or plain.

I love you in September sands

With San Diego’s ocean strands.

I love you in October’s gown

With Glinda’s sparkling tin-foil crown.

I love you in November days,

And thank you for your thoughtful ways.

I love you more than Christmas gifts;

Your creativity uplifts.

I love you more than New Year’s Eve;

I love the goodness you believe.

I love you more than Valentines;

I love your “Kids Kards” cute designs.

I love you more than March’s charm;

I love your pencil-people farm!

 

(22 April 2015, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            IMPERISHABLE PSALM

 

From age to age, from door to door,

Eternity’s the port of call.

The glitter from a world afar

Is transit of a splendid ball

 

Across a star in templed space.

From sun to sun, from day to day –

A generation’s crossing place –

Beyond the veil – adorns the way.

 

Eternal life – the front of time –

Velocity – the spectrum’s goal –

The Doppler-Kepler bending rhyme

Advance us to Perpetual.

 

(12 May 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            PRIMAVERA PSALM

 

The buds are twirling into trees –

The sun invites the birds

To swirl their praise in cheerful ways

In noted fluted chirps.

 

Day is the way that worlds appear –

Life is the wife of Light –

Sunshine makes noon around the year –

Men see stars at night.

 

Most everything on earth is old –

Will we be capable

Of radiating Love through Time

In prayerful decibel?

 

(18 May 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            NEPHITE PSALM

 

He hears my cries by day and gives

Me visions in the night.

By day, I boldly grow in prayer

And send my voice on high.

 

Then angels come to mentor me –

And buoyant spirit wings

Convey me to the mountain tops

Where I behold great things.

 

Mine eyes behold great things too vast

For anyone to write –

And I have seen much holiness

That brings my heart delight.

 

Why should my soul be sorrowful?

If God doth visit me

In mercy, why should my flesh weep

Or linger in the lea?

 

(19 May 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SUPPER PSALM

 

Mortality is Fast Sunday –

A Hunger for God’s face –

A Thirsting for Reunions with

Our Friends in Holy Place.

 

And Life’s the Hour we abstain

From full Society –

And Death’s the prayer that ends the Dearth –

Then – Love’s Propinquity.

 

(24 May 2015, Boston, Massachusetts)

[Revelation 3:20]

 

 

            TRANSIT PSALM

 

Time is a Circle – and a Line –

Light is a Wave and Particle –

They turn in sparkling Rings of Life –

They speak in Name and Article.

 

(10 June 2015, Gilbert, Arizona)

 

 

            BIRTHRIGHT PSALM

 

The ones who wear Elijah’s robe

Share double portion of the soul –

Thus covered by the Holy One –

They find redemption for their Kin –

 

They search the books to gather names

And travel to ancestral lands –

Thus guided by the fam’ly lines –

They turn their hearts to paradise.

 

They seal the lives of kindred folk

In spotless words of crystal hope –

Thus first to save the fruits of love –

They pioneer the path to home.

 

The shepherds of the missing lambs

Lead flocks of resurrection bands –

Thus acting for the Lord of All –

They help reverse the blessed fall.

 

(12 June 2015, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            BURIAL PSALM

 

When Jesus washed the feet of His

Beloved Twelve – as Mary Him –

Though puzzled by the Ordinance –

They also bravely entered death.

 

Mortality is not the same

As immorality’s defame –

Unwieldy pride can rinse away

As meek disciples yield – obey.

 

(21 June 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            PRAYERS AND ANSWERS

 

Please help me to sing Thy Song –

I am weak – Thou art strong.

 

Bless Thy servants with wisdom

To outwit the wicked.

 

Our dear Heavenly Father –

I thank Thee for my health –

My home and my happiness –

More holiness give me.

 

In the name of Jesus Christ,

Pure name of Him. Amen.

 

(3 July 2015, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            WONDRA PSALM

 

A love that needs requital is

Inadequate for Art –

The audience is relevant

But cannot mute the Heart.

 

The love that doubts its worthiness

Or fears a critic’s scorn

Must walk above its weaknesses

To let the Truth be born.

 

(1 September 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            REST PSALM

 

I slept as deep as DNA –

Like waves of drenching rain –

I lumbered through a maze of dream –

Like fields of heady grain.

 

I rested sweet as innocence –

A newly lathered lamb –

I lumbered on ungainly feet –

Forgetting who I am.

 

I slept as though the world had stopped –

I woke.

 

(13 June 2010, Pleasant Grove, Utah; 12 September 2015)

 

 

            SACRED TRUST

 

We inhale Light – we express Truth.

Trees exhale Truth – They ingest Light.

 

(30 August 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            RE-COVERING EMILY DICKINSON

 

When Zeus was boasting Leda’s rape –

His mind was dull – His eyes were dim –

He could not see her clean escape –

Her Modesty – in spite of him.

 

He thought he held her by the hair –

He felt he had her in his hand –

But she still wore a garment fair –

A gown he could not understand.

 

While he was lying of her bed –

The Bird was gliding in the sky

And humming songs of Hope instead –

To which he could not make reply.

 

Her head was crowned with gauzy lace –

Her gloves were lamb – Her shoes were fawn –

A spotless veil set off her face –

She had her Eden apron on.

 

Her wedding dress immaculate –

Her ring a verse – her crown a poem –

Her dignity inviolate –

And every word was made at home.

 

Invested in Eternity –

She wore her love in fresh bouquet –

And when her Gentleman could see –

She slipped with him into the day.

 

(19 September 2015, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            PLAN NOTE

 

The Babies come to Heal us here –

We hold them to our breaking Hearts –

Their Dust of Days so delicate –

It seals the shards of aching parts.

 

(24 September 2015, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            PONDER PSALM

 

We look for Christ – the Wholesome One –

Who heals us – keeps us safe –

Who brings salvation to us all

Through His invested grace.

 

Our mortal body – laid so low –

He raises from despair

To be like His – so glorious –

He changes us – so fair.

 

(4 October 2015, Springville, Utah)

[Titus 2:11; Philippians 3:20-21; Dickinson Fr117/J70]

 

 

            SUNDANCE PSALM

 

And so the Dance begins – at once –

The Pow-Wows and Quadrilles –

The Cha-Cha and the Minuets –

The Tap of toes and heels –

 

The Waltz above the meadow stream –

The Swing along the bridge –

The Clogging of the stately trees –

The Rumba on the ridge –

 

The Two-Step of the turkey clan –

The wary deers’ Ballet –

The Foxtrot of loquacious squirrels –

The sunset’s Gran Plié –

 

The Carol of the morning’s rounds –

Mazurka of the trout –

The Assemblé of well-spent leaves

In Reveránce devout.

 

(Sundance, Provo Canyon, Utah, 16 October 2015)

 

 

            MIXED METEOR

 

I’m not a clone of Dickinson –

I make no claim to ought –

I simply like her lyric frame

For plucking streams of thought.

 

Another year in Marathon

Is sprinting to the finish line –

Another day in Avalon

Is clinging to its clear design.

                                                           

You could hear a leaf drop –

I could hear a stream –

We could hear the wave-lengths

Of autumn-filtered beam.

 

(Sundance, Utah, 17 October 2015)

 

 

            HEBER PSALM

 

As if I were in Galilee –

A Sabbath Spirit came –

I felt the ripples on the Sea –

The essence was the same

As when I walked the Holy Shore

And viewed the Sacred Space –

As if I heard the soothing Voice –

As if I saw the Face

Of Him who called the waves to rest –

The One who won the wind –

The Lord who loved the world so much

He paid for all who sinned –

The Son who did His Father’s will –

The God who lived as Man –

The King who reigns in Righteousness –

The Author of the Plan

That promises more Happiness

Than I can now receive –

As if I were in Chinnereth –

The Spirit said, “Believe.”

 

(25 October 2015, Sunday, Heber, Utah)

 

 

            HOURS PSALM

 

The evening descended like a panther –

Hungry for stars – sipping the Milky Way.

Morning rose – a lily with gold anther.

Its temple face exposed with light supreme –

The mountain ascended like a mentor

Thirsty for falls – feasting on frozen stream.

In light of autumn – beauty was spent here.

Afton unquelled the quake of aspen day.

 

(1 November 2015, Sunday, Aspen Grove)

 

 

            TO STEPHEN HAWKING

 

Language is embodiment –

Speech is an echo or record of written incarnation –

Silence precedes sound.

We are written first –

Then we learn to speak –

The Written Word is universal and mutually intelligible –

Written language is encoded in our nuclei –

The Light enables first language acquisition –

The Light in every cell of us facilitates second-plus language acquisition –

Light and Language Faculties are synonymous –

We are scripture first –

Then we try to read –

Speech and song are the natural and spiritual expression

Of our genetic and genealogical endowment –

When we cannot speak or sing, we mime or sign

To write is to make and seal –

To speak is to praise and appeal –

Writing is thought –

Speech is prayer –

To write is to heal and reach –

To speak is to teach and kneel:

 

I EXIST – I ORDAIN –

I LOVE – I ENCIRCLE –

I CREATE – I SHINE – I SING LIGHT –

I REMAIN – I MAINTAIN –

I MOVE – I ENCOMPASS –

WE RELATE – WE LIVE – WE GIVE SIGHT.

 

(Springville, Utah, 28 November 2015)

 

 

            TUUVI PSALM

 

Hopi Quartet –

The Four Mountains –

The Four Colors –

Four Elements.

 

Cell foundations –

Four Directions –

The Four Corners –

The Four Proteins.

 

Combinations –

The Four Fountains –

Four Grandparents –

Four Witnesses.

 

DNA-Corn –

The Four Seasons –

The Four Aeons –

The Four Regions.

 

Sacred Reborn –

Four Dimensions –

The Four Ages –

The Four Fingers.

 

Fourth – Depth – Width – Breadth –

Forth – Length – Height – Breath –

Truth – Worth – Sooth – Mirth –

Hopi Quadrants.

 

(Springville, Utah, 29 November 2015)

 

 

            PREMIERE PSALM

 

It comes when we forsake the fear –

It comes when we forgive –

It comes when we forget ourselves –

It comes when we re-live.

 

(Springville, Utah, 1 December 2015)