2017, Selected Poems & Psalms

 

            NIBLEY PSALM

 

The Chair is the square –

Perfection, Power, Will –

Earth – Body – Truth – Standing –

Epic ode of days –

Matter – Insight – Synergy

Rock

 

The Crown is the round –

Circumference, Wisdom, Skill –

Heaven – Spirit – Light – Movement –

Lyric song of praise –

Desire – Delight – Energy

Orb

 

(1 January 2017, Sunday, Springville, Utah)

 

 

 

            WONDER PSALM

 

Eye hath not seen –

Nor hath there been

The like of Worlds to Come –

Where we become

The Kingdom Come –

An unimagined scene.

 

Ear hath not heard –

Nor is there word

To tell the Beauty there –

Where we will see

As we are seen

And hear what we miss here.

 

(9 January 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            BLANKET PSALM

 

Swaddle me in Thy sweetness –

Encircle me in Thy gaze.

 

Cradle me in Thy kindness –

Recover me with Thy praise.

 

Rescue me from the wreckage –

Deliver me from the night.

 

Gather me for Thy garden –

Envelope me in Thy sight.

 

(28 January 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            DRAMA PSALM

 

I dreamed I sought Beauty –

Fantasy, or fact?

You entered on stage left –

How was I to act?

 

Prompted by whispered lines

I guarded your name –

We played our roles in time –

And then Beauty came.

 

(28 January 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            TIME-OUT PSALM

 

“Thank you!” said the babies

In the Sacrament –

Gratitude went viral –

I knew what they meant:

 

“Thank you to the Savior

For the Bread and Cup!”

One by one each saw Him

With their eyes lit up.

 

Adults should be quiet –

Grown-ups must not speak

Lest they miss the message

From the small and meek.

 

Suffer little children –

Listen – learn from them –

Let their voices teach us

“New Jerusalem!”

 

(29 January 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            HUMORLESS

 

Comedy leads to a marriage –

Tragedy dies in force –

Mystery leads to detection –

Critique ends in divorce.

 

Marriage can lead to addition –

Death turns to translation –

Suspense resolves in connection –

Divorce: desolation.

 

I don’t believe in Skepticists –

And Cynics aren’t for me –

Suspicion is a hypocrite

Obscuring what we see.

 

I’d rather seek Humility

And Serendipity –

Eternal – Flexible response

That finds Community.

 

(2 February 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            HOUR GLASS PSALM

 

It’s not that I have left the World –

The World is leaving me –

It’s not that I have slipped from Earth –

The Earth is spinning free.

 

It seems that Time is pouring out

While I am moving on –

It seems that Life is upside down –

The Atmosphere is gone.

 

It’s not that I am giving up –

It’s like I’m going Home –

The lure of distant land subsides –

I’ve lost the need to roam.

 

It seems the days fall faster now –

And I am skating slow –

It seems that everything I knew

Is turning into snow.

 

(6 February 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            DISTANT PSALM

 

I wept as if I lost you –

Though you were never mine –

How could the grief be true, Love?

There was no valentine.

 

I could not see your visage

Without a sense of joy –

Was gladness just an image?

A dream that I’d employ?

 

The Promises were many –

Appearances were less –

Yet hoping was sufficient

To give me happiness.

 

As if you were an Angel

With hands inscribing light –

As if you were a Messenger

Too brilliant for my sight.

 

(6 February 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

            MIMESIS: DICKINSON J441/Fr519

 

These are my lyrics for the One

Who wrote so much for We –

As symbol of our Gratitude

For graceful Poesy

 

Her Musing is transfigured

On Heights we can’t perceive –

In light of Her – Dear – poet friends –

Please graciously – receive

 

(8 February 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            “THE DEAD” PSALM

 

Slow snow, light ghosts, full moon –

Sounding-board firmaments

Must loom cool tones – one loon

Changes the continents.

 

Night posts good cheer to Joyce –

May charity be thine –

“Lass of Aughrim” – the choice

For Houston’s valentine.

 

(15 February 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            POET’S SONG

 

I met a woman with a mark

That veiled her face from lurking eyes –

Protected her from prying stare –

This ruby was her lucid prize.

 

She had a voice of pear tree blooms –

Her wisdom was an interface

Of wilderness and wondering –

Her tone a room of inner space.

 

She saw the deer when she was young –

She sifted sand in ancient sites –

She lifted children and her man

Through desert days and starless nights.

 

Her words were charged with diamond light –

Her wit was wry – her logic keen –

She walked between the earth and sky –

She viewed a world that few have seen.

 

(20 February 2017, Springville, Utah)

[to Patricia Gunter Karamesines]

 

 

            FRIEZE PSALM

 

When Opposites twist out

And Innocence turns in –

Then clothed in prayer and dressed in light

The “Lets of Snow” begin –

 

Tell secrets to the ground –

And whisper “peace” with skills

That sound with increase Glistening –

Thus listening Distills.

 

(24 February 2017, Springville, Utah)

[see Dickinson J283/Fr254]

 

 

            SHINE PSALM

 

To live for Light – what would that mean?

To make God shine? To make Him smile?

To pipe the organ? Chord the keys?

To string the harp’s harmonic style?

 

To live in Light – where should I stay?

Would I be pure enough to wear

The weight of glory? Greet the day

And take His name upon me there?

 

(25 February 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            GEMINIANI PSALM (to Francesco)

 

O, Muse of mastery –

How great thy progeny

As father of the string quartet –

Viola’s advocate.

 

Thy manuscript was robbed –

Betrayed by craven loss –

Thy life decreased by servant thief –

Thy song abridged by grief.

 

Play on in Paradise

With cadence skilled and wise –

Extend thy hand across the Veil

Reprise thy music’s stolen grail.

 

Transcribe the melody –

Recall the harmony –

Restore the missing notes and signs –

Redeem thy holy lines.

 

(2 March 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

            GEMINIANI SALMO (in Italian via google-translate)

 

O, Musa di padronanza –

Quanto è grande la tua progenie

Come padre del quartetto d'archi –

l'avvocato del Viola.

 

Il tuo manoscritto è stato derubato –

Tradito da perdita di Craven –

La tua vita è diminuita del ladro servo –

Thy canzone abbreviata dal dolore.

 

Gioca su in Paradiso

Con cadenza abile e saggio –

Estendere la mano attraverso il Velo

Reprise graal rubato del tuo musica.

 

Trascrivere la melodia –

Ricordiamo l'armonia –

Ripristinare le note mancanti e dei segni –

Riscatta le tue linee sante.

 

 

            HOUSE HUNTING

 

It’s Eden I am looking for –

Not just an earthly home –

I miss the deer and birds and trees –

The hillsides we would roam.

 

It’s Music I am yearning for –

Not just a Sunday choir –

I miss the words and tunes and joy –

The feelings they inspire.

 

(7 March 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            OTHERHOOD

 

Your prayers are the answer to mine –

Your songs accompany

My wagon on the desert trail –

Your thoughts – in harmony.

 

(8 March 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            DESK TOP

 

A lady-bug in lavender

Is lost in infinite –

The purple furrows hide her spots

And tangerine-ball tint.

 

And even mountains fade away

Behind the lilac rows –

Deciduous and solitaire

A single maple grows.

 

(9 March 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            SLUMBER TIME

 

A casket is my narrow couch –

A cozy narrow beam –

A plank for drowsy groggy waves

Of beta delta dream.

 

(12 March 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            “CHRIST IN A RED ROBE” (to Minerva Teichert)

 

Beige – Cloud – Grey – Cast – Gold – Sky – Blue – Edge

Air – Halo – Aura – Nimbus – Pearl

Fair – Shadow – FACE – Gaze – Blue Bird – Haze

HAND RIGHT – Wide – Vermillion Sash – Gilt

Hands – Reach – Red Robe – Sleeves – Scar – LEFT HAND

Flock – Sheep – Scarlet Waist – Goats – Crowd – Down

Countenance – Crimson Torso – Crouch

White – Wool – Beseech – Rose Folds – Hide – Brown

Visage – Ruby Knees – Grovel – Crush

Shoulders – Cerise Fleece – Astound – Cauls

Chartreuse – Tint – Pink Garment – Arms – Ground

Hues – Maroon Raiment – Subdued – Fist

Head – Carmine Hem – Crawl – Twisted – Guilt

Signed – Veil – FEET – Dark – Hush – Shroud – Resigned

 

(15 March 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            TIDINGS

 

Quadruple dimensions of Time

Once in a while appear –

Our Clocks can spring forward – fall back –

From time to time each year.

 

Front-back – up-down – right-left in Space

Augment chronology:

One, past and present visible;

Two, possibility

 

Of future and subjunctive modes

Unseen; Three, perfect tense

Progressive’s aspect; Four, single

And plural counting sense.

 

String formula requires ten –

Relations keep the score:

First, active-passive subject roles;

Next, concrete-abstract core;

 

Last, body-spirit meta-phones

Declare “Thy will be done.”

Thus Time comes “to be as a type” [1]

Of God’s begotten Son.

 

(17 March 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

[1 “Letter of Eugnostos” in the Nag Hammadi Library, quoted in Barker, Margaret. Temple Theology. p. 26.]

 

 

            SPRING

 

And now the geese are flying south –

And snow-melt swells the creek –

The longer days are telling time –

The shorter nights are meek.

 

(19 March 2017, Mapleton, Utah)

 

 

            HYMN-ILITY

 

Meekness means pleasing Jesus –

Especially with voice –

When we sing, we make Him smile –

“Alleluia! Rejoice!”

 

When we praise, we make Him shine –

His blessing resonates –

With a countenance divine

His presence consecrates.

 

(19 March 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            CANNON CENTER IN “E”

 

A feast of phò’ – a fantasy –

An enchilada plate –

A slice of sweetbread gluten-free –

A panoply of fruit.

 

Fiesta fare – variety

Of flavors, savors, taste –

A gustatory smorgasbord

Displayed for tongues to test.

 

Nutrition’s nest – a providence

Of vitamins – a dance

Of carbohydrate energy –

Of protein’s confidence.

 

A banquet – Nature’s sacrifice

Of animals and plants –

A sustenance of elements –

A gourmet’s complements.

 

A menu of delicious meals –

A healthy diet plan –

A carnival of calories

To nourish maid and man.

 

A pantry place – a fancy space –

A canon of cuisine –

Digestion’s cornucopia –

A culinary scene.

 

A luxury of fountain drinks

Accompany the food –

A glass of water clean and cool –

A prayer that God is good.

           

Please bless the kitchen and the cooks –

The larder aliments –

Please bless the cafeteria –

Its daily sacraments.

 

(23 March 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            ESSENCE PSALM

 

He is – He was – He is to come –

The enth of everything –

He lives – He breathes – He lives to love –

The Son of Heaven’s King!

 

He does – He did – He doth return –

Creation’s quickening –

He hath – He had – He will have saved

Us from the Tempter’s sting.

 

(24 March 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            LEXICAL CATEGORIES

 

What came first? Nouns and Verbs.

What second? Adjectives

And Adverbs – modifying forms.

What came third? Function Words.

 

What came fourth? Speech and Text.

What came fifth? Finger Signs,

Pantomimes – conversation modes.

What followed these? Designs.

 

What came sixth? Sound and Sight.

What came next? Eyes and Ears.

What came seventh? Feel, Touch, Smell, Taste.

What came eighth? Hopes and Fears.

 

What came ninth? Prose and Verse.

What came tenth? Print and Pen.

What eleventh? Typewriter Keys

What came twelfth? Texting Zen.   

 

What came first? Truth and Light?

What came forth? Moon and Sun

And Star and Earth and Article –

Pronoun and Conjunction.

 

(30 March 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            APRIL SONNETINA

 

I drive the longer way to see wee lambs,

New calves, spring foals with legs unfurled, and fields

With green-fur rows. Fresh snow-melt fights the dams

In Hobble Creek, whose wind-bent trees are shields.

 

I walk the neighbor path to breathe the dusk,

The twilit atmosphere of shade and glaze.

At dawn, lake birds ignore the plows of dust

And clean-shorn ewes unscatter in the haze.

 

(6 April 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            TRIAD

 

And now abideth faith – hope – love –

Now charity is center space –

Abiding down – across – above –

Faith and hope make patience’ place –

Hope and true love bring purity –

Love and great faith give charity.

 

Though with the words of Gods we speak –

With human eloquence find fame –

The lack of charity makes weak –

Though words of angels praise the name

Of He who painted wheels of light –

God’s much loved Son could not appear.

 

He bled from every follicle –

His body wept from every pore.

As if His pain had never been –

Revival comes when we repent.

As if He never suffered death –

His scars will fade as we progress.

As if He never shed His blood –

His body heals when we seek good.

As if He never had to leave –

His heart is healed when we believe.

 

(14 April 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            MYSTERY SONNET

 

Life fills the vast mirage beyond the sea

Of space that no one knows but them and Thee.

Who are the distant souls on countless spheres

And what is their inherent destiny?

 

Are they the beings that the bards beheld,

Transcribed in legend’s visionary years?

Am I to hope for those not seen and seek

For evidence of their domain? What deeds

Are sealed on earths as in their firmaments?

Will my heart turn to them and theirs to mine?

 

Are they the Music for my lyric verse?

Are they among the people that I prayed

For as a child? Do I love them in spite

Of blindness to their days? Do they know me?

 

(14 April 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SOUND PLAY

 

Phonetic fun – fanatic fare –

Ridiculous resplendent rhyme –

Which words will stitch into the wear

And tear of text that counters time?

 

(14 April 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SABBATH TIME

 

What impression the Sacrament

Must make on little ones –

They see that all receive the meal:

The parents, daughters, sons.

 

They are included in the feast –

They take and eat the bread –

Their thirst is slaked with water’s taste –

To Jesus they are led.

 

They see the Presence in the room –

They hear the hidden choir –

They taste and drink the Sacrament –

They feel the Spirit’s fire.

 

The music filters in their hearts –

The prayers impress their minds –

Eternal truths begin to grow

In heaven’s pure designs.

 

(16 April 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            OVERS

 

How canst Thou take such as me, Lord?

Do lowness – loneliness –

My lowliness – my littleness

Disqualify Thy boon?

 

How can Thy promises apply?

Can poetry – philology –

My pretty words – my eloquence

Alleviate my bane?

 

How can our covenant be kept?

Thy magnitude change me?

Thy mercy – marrow – make me mild?

How canst Thou love this child?

 

(18 April 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            APRIL HAIKU

 

Wee lambs – new calves –  foals

Legs unfurled – lake birds plow haze –

Shorn ewes unscatter

 

Fields in green-fur rows –

Fresh snow-melt fights the creek dams –

Wind-bent trees are shields

 

Neighbor path breathes dusk –

Twilit atmosphere of glaze – 

At dawn the clouds hush

 

(20 April 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            THE CALL

 

Come unto Him? But where is He?

Come, follow Him? Where has He been?

Come, be like Him? What is He like?

Come, take His name? What does that mean?

 

His essence shines in every thing

As crystal window’s evidence –

The light of Him is all around

In every daily circumstance.

 

(22 April 2017, Payson, Utah)

 

 

            SERVICE

 

To make the world a better place

Requires a will to give

And fill the earth with fellowship

No matter where we live.

 

(29 April 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SUNDANCE TRAIL

 

May I be

Strong as rock

Pure as stream

Clear as light

Fresh as tree.

 

(1 May 2017 Sundance, Utah)

 

 

            HARP AND FLUTE

 

Sparkling of snow –

Rippling water –

Trembling leaves –

Rushing of wings –

Beauty I know.

 

(14 May 2017 Pleasant Grove, Utah)

 

 

            FREEWAY COMMUTE

 

The brook of cars –

The melt of miles –

The rush of trucks –

The flood of lanes –

The creek of wheels –

The storm of tires.

 

(16 June 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            HOPING PSALM

 

The darkly glass is lightening –

Obscurity is brightening –

The clouded wind is listening –

The turgid wave is glistening.

 

Heaven and Earth –

Sky and Sea –

Above, Below –

Thou and Me.

 

(18 June 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SOLSTICE SONG

 

The days begin their slow retreat –

The nights begin their climb –

The darkness inches into hours –

The sunshine losing time.

 

The quadrants of the calendar

Afford variety –

Bisecting spring and fall into

A counting symmetry.

 

And should the light decline too soon –

Each season will return –

Divine design is relevant

While solar systems burn.

 

I try not to resent the change –

I focus on the yield –

The fruits and blossoms recompense

The shadows in the field.

 

(29 June 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            BREATHER

 

A gift of cooler days –

A week of milder heat –

The end of June has been a boon –

Benevolent retreat.

 

(1 July 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            MORAE

 

Thunder growls –

Timpanogos bare –

Cubs berry fat clouds!

 

(July 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            DIANA

 

You match my heart-beat –

Echo my strong vital signs –

Breathe in harmony –

Your pulse – the voice of choirs –

Your song my whole life-long line.

 

(July 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

            ANCIENT PATTERNS

 

Music < > Dance

Dance < > Verse

Verse < > Music

Result: PRAISE

 

Angels < > Stars

Stars < > Names

Names < > Angels

Result: SEALING

 

Tongue of Angels –

Gift of Tongues –

Language of the Gods –

Interpretation of Tongues

 

Temple – Template – Timber

Poetry – Psalms – Lyre

Meter – Measure – Ruler

Altar – Circle – Fire

 

(5 July 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            ROSENBLATT RELATIONS

 

Author < > Reader

Reader < > Text

Text < > Author

Result = POEM

 

Builder < > Dweller

Dweller < > House

House < > Builder

Result = HOME

 

(10 July 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            PROMISE RING

 

You are my appointment –

My date with destiny –

You are my arrangement –

My future history.

 

You are my alignment –

My stellar compass view –

You are my investment –

My later interview.

 

You are my proponent –

My loyal advocate –

You are my redeemer –

My active predicate.

 

You are my endorsement –

My valid signature –

You are my endowment –

My faithful amateur.

 

(13 July 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SWEET HOUR

 

Prayer is not a wristwatch –

A necklace – or a ring –

Prayer is an endowment

That covers everything.

 

Prayer is not a jingle –

A list – or recipe –

Prayer is an engagement

That gives a guarantee.

 

Prayer is not a duty –

A habit – or a chore –

Prayer is a communion

Beyond an open door.

 

Prayer is not placebo –

A charm – or amulet –

Prayer is a reunion

We never will forget.

 

(14 July 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            THRESHOLD

 

Love is the door that demons can’t enter.

Hope is the circle that has no center.

Faith is the year that has no winter.

Truth is the tree that serpents can’t splinter.

 

Peace is the dream that dragons can’t conquer.

Joy is the jewel that weapons can’t temper.

Light is the breath that hate cannot hamper.

Life is the gift that death cannot alter.

 

(14 July 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            GONG PSALM

 

Only a God can say “I” –

Singular person head –

Deity’s prerogative –

Gamelan godlihood.

 

Only the Lord can be First –

Spinning the gears of tone –

Jehovah’s initiative –

Singly He can atone.

 

Only a Dalang can sing

Similitude’s refrain –

The court, the battle, the tree –

Heroes redeem again.

 

A Deity’s realm resounds –

The temple court is sky –

First in the cycle of rounds –-

Only God can tell “Why”?

 

(17 July 2017, Provo, Utah)

[To Alton Becker]

 

 

            SCAPE PSALM

 

The sea of time is silver –

The breath of life is bright –

The cresting waves delivered

With die-cut agent light.

 

(19 July 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            EARTHLING

 

Stable creation –

Mountains that move –

Continents cruising –

Valleys above –

 

Strong fragility –

Oceans of calm –

Slow velocity –

Motions of balm.

 

(26 July 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            NAP SONG

 

Sodden with slumber –

Soggy with sleep –

Why is my body

Swimming to sleep?

 

(27 July 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            PLEAS

 

Please grant me wisdom for my eyes

And kindness for my heart –

Please great me visions for my life

And fineness for my art.

 

(29 July 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

            WOMAN

 

She washed His feet with tears –

She dried them with her hair –

Anointed them with myrrh-made oil –

Appointed Him with care.

 

(29 July 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            HIDDEN CREEK PSALM

 

Prayer means weaving light –

Our will meshed with Thine

Whether silk or cotton strands –

Whether wool or twine.

 

Fabric of all life –

Dialogue of breath

Whether subtle or aloud –

Whether warp or weft.

 

(5 August 2017 Kanab, Utah)

 

 

            WESTSIDE

 

A swan – I glide into the rest –

I sail into a stream

Of Conscience-ness – I meditate –

I contemplate – I dream.

 

A vision shines – through eyelet points

Of light in veils of time –

A swallow flies into the folds

Of fields where furrows rhyme.

 

(7 August 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            NOTES

 

Tame as a Dog – Foraging Doe –

Of Grazers the Greyhound –

Slim as a Sapling – Sleek as Grass –

She covers the high Ground.

 

(10 August 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            RENEWING

 

True faith in Jesus Christ –

Repenting – Change of Heart –

Baptism via Sacrament –

Pure gift – the Holy Ghost.

 

(13 August 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            DEBT

 

Thou has given me much knowledge –

What wouldst Thou have me give?

To whom and where wouldst have me serve?

How wouldst Thou have me live?

 

(16 August 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            INCLUSIO PSALM

 

Chiasmus is arpeggio –

Glissando inverse chords –

On earth as heaven formula

Reflecting pool of words.

 

The lines of verse are strings of lyre –

The words are notes and scales –

The poets sing with angel choir

Where melody prevails.

 

Iconic presentation lines

Like cords as taut as nerves –

Engraving truth with poetry

In forward and reverse.

 

(21 August 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

            ‘ANAVAH PSALM

 

Humility means coming down –

Like God – to be on earth –

A condescension mutual –

A song of praise through birth –

 

Humility is eye to eye –

Attentive modesty –

To speak, to shout, to testify

With gentle clemency.

 

(12 September 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

            KAPPORET  PSALM

 

The wonder of the world is Wise –

The Tree of Life is light –

The altar of the Earth is truth –

Pre-set with sacrifice.

 

The Spirit Gifts are placed in pairs:

To heal and to be healed –

To speak in tongues, to understand –

Reveal, to be concealed –

 

To know by faith, to see His face –

Translation, prophecy –

Administration, miracles –

Discernment, verity.

 

The Temple is the treasury –

A house of Bread and Wine –

The Holy Place dispenses health –

The fruits of Branch and Vine.

 

To some are given all these things –

To all are given Three:

The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost –

Faith, Hope, and Charity.

 

(1 October 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            CONFERENCE CONNECTIONS

 

Breath of Language – Breath of Life –

Feasting on the Words of Christ –

Tongue of Angels – Gift of Prayer –

Words of Wisdom everywhere.

 

(5 October 2017 Springville, Utah)

 

 

            AWE PSALM

 

I could have lived a hundred lives –

This world is so diverse –

I could have scribed a million lines

In volumes, tales, and verse.

 

I could have walked a thousand trails –

This earth has endless ways –

I could have known so many souls

In countless lands and days.

 

The part must represent the whole –

Metonymy tell all –

The finite constitute the full –

Truth reigns in great and small.

 

A little lifetime must suffice

To gain experience –

Eternity may be concise

Yet give significance.

 

(8 October 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SANTA ROSA

 

Wind-Fire breathes embers.

Wild gasps ejecting sparks

Heave galloping horses

With conflagrating hooves.

Destruction coughs fury.

Roaring ridges glitter.

Fierce Responders gather.

Ghastly ashes litter.

Sunrise dawn haze eerie.

Hapless broiling town moves

From voracious forces.

Bellowing flames eat parks.

Sonoma remembers.

 

(10 October 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

[The memorial verse “Santa Rosa” is woven with foregrounded phonological, morphological, lexical, and semantic details. The marked linguistic features constitute an iconic representation of the devastating wild-fires that have desolated several counties in California.]

 

 

            ACCOUNTING

 

Music is Math in Motion –

Dance – a Measured Devotion –

Verse – a Metrical Poe-tion –

Painting – Pulse of Proportion.

 

(10 October 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            THREE-FIVE TIME

 

Faith upon the Son –

Hope by the Spirit –

Love of the Father –

 

Scarlet for the Blood –

Blue for the Water –

Yellow for the Air –

 

Ethos for Honor –

Logos for Reason –

Pathos for Feeling –

 

Beauty in the Soul –

Goodness from the Heart –

Truth beyond the Mind –

 

Word for Creation –

Sound: Exultation –

Seal: Confirmation –

 

(10 October 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

            SANCTUARY PSALM

 

The sheen of a cathedral chair –

Not quite thread-bare upholstery –

Not sitting still but set apart –

A pillow for the hard-pew heart –

A couching sectional divan –

A folding catacretic seat –

A sofa bench with swivel arms –

A cushion for our charity.

 

(16 December 1996 & 10 October 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            ANTIQUE

 

A mountain in olive-wood table glass –

Sharp as photograph – river-reflected –

Outside is inside – mirror-inspected –

Above is below through overhead face.

 

(21 September 1996 & 10 October 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            AUTUMN VERSE

 

Even the asters look haggard –

Winter falls promptly this year –

Golden, the aspens wear glory –

Easing the losses we fear.

 

(12 October 2017, Aspen Grove, Utah)

 

 

            SHIELD PSALM

 

The Self without the Savior

Is Sword without a Shield

 

The Song without the Music

Is Farm without a Yield.

 

The Wife without the Husband

Has Worth not yet Annealed.

 

The Man without the Maiden

Has Strengths not yet Revealed.

 

The Child without the Parents

Has Joys that aren’t yet Sealed.

 

The World without Messiah

Has Life but is not Healed.

 

(19 October 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            APPOINTMENT PSALM

 

Beauty for ashes –

Phoenix from fire –

Chrism from embers –

Comfort for pyre.

 

Temple from wasteland –

Soothing for scars –

Balsam for burning –

Truces for wars.

 

Structure from damage –

Promise for pain –

Order from chaos –

Iris from rain.

 

Healing for torment –

Wholeness for hate –

Presence from absence –

Lightness for weight.

 

Riches for ravage –

Gladness for tears –

Haven for Hades –

Freedom from fears.

 

Trusting from trouble –

Garment for grief –

Garden from desert –

Honor for strife.

 

Virtue for weakness –

Cover for loss –

Sweetness for bitter –

Goodness from dross.

 

Wisdom for worry –

Prospect for dread –

Action for anguish –

Life for the dead.

 

(19 October 2017, Provo, Utah)

[Isaiah 61]

 

 

            SACRIFICE PSALM

 

The death of His body

Allows the life of ours –

The spilling of His stainless blood

Provides a cleansing pow’r.

 

The breadth of His spirit

Atones the falls we take –

The sharing of His priceless word

Redeems us for His sake.

 

The depth of His nature

Prepares us for His reign –

The filling of the world with love

Removes each worldly stain.

 

The weight of His mantle

Inspires us to care –

The sealing of His temple house

Protects us from despair.

 

(22 October 2017, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            NOVICE PSALM

 

A choir sings for every child

Who enters earth’s domain –

A stellar mansion comes to light

To match the birth refrain.

 

They know our names become they come –

Before they learn to talk –

They recognize intelligence

Before they start to walk.

 

The poems exist before we write

As incarnation’s cue –

Engraved by Spirit prior to

Instantiation’s view.

 

(5, 29 November 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            THY PSALM

 

Thy Will, more wise than mine, be done –

Thy Way, more strait than man’s, is clear –

Thy Mind, more kind, benevolent –

Thy Hand, extended far and near.

 

Thy Hope, more bright than any globe –

Thy Love, more pure than any spring –

Thy Truth, more firm that any stone –

Thy Name, more sure than anything.

 

Thy Song, more true than mine, be sung –

Thy Life, more clean than ours, is real –

Thy Heart, more meek, beneficent –

Thy Psalm, remembered ever here.

 

(19 November 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            VEIL VERSE

 

The Other World is real –

This world a camouflage

To shield us from Accuser’s wiles –

The Devil’s bland mirage.

 

(27 November 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            COMPREHENSION VERSE

 

There is no one so lowly

His help cannot heal.

 

There is no one so lonely

His heart cannot feel.

 

There is no soul so lovely

His hand cannot seal.

 

(1 December 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            FAITH CHANT

 

Mountains climbing

Leads to verse –

Mountains moving

In reverse.

 

Mothers helping

Love disperse –

Mothers healing

Like a nurse.

 

Music is fuel

For the brain –

Engine of balm

For the pain.

 

(5 December 2017, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            MUSING

 

“Our mind has the image of God’s” –

Was made to testify –

None can imagine the good news

That His word can supply.

 

The “Music of Endorsement” binds

Reactions into one –

For one small moment hearts combine

In gospel unison.

 

(22 December 2017, Springville)

[From comments by Sterling W. Sill and Arthur H. King, as recorded in my 1983 journal.]

 

 

            POIESIS VERSE

 

The poem precedes the novel –

Function follows content –

The form succeeds the spirit –

Mercy hallows judgment.

 

(28 December 2017, Springville, Utah)