2019, Selected Poems & Psalms

 

            GENERATIONS

 

Adam, our Father of language,

Dear Eve, our Mother of Life.

Father of brother and husband,

Mother of sister and wife,

Teach us to call upon Heaven:

Help us remain in the light.

Teach us to gather as families:

Help us remember and write.

 

(7 April 2019, Alpine, Utah)

 

 

            ALTERNATIVES

 

Exhilarated, not just exhausted.

Cross-referenced, not just acrostic.

Comprehensible, not just caustic.

Present, not preposterous.

Polygonous, not just dichotomous.

Rhinoceros, not hippopotamus.

Circumference, not just hypotenuse.

Apocalypse, not just hypothesis.

 

(15, 17 April 2019, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            EARLY PRAYERS

 

Heav’nly Father,

Thanks for Fam’lies.

Bless all Daddies,

Bless all Mothers,

Bless all Sisters,

Bless all Brothers.

 

Grandmas, Grandpas,

Aunts and Uncles,

Nieces, Nephews,

Cousins, Kinfolk,

Everybody

In the whole world.

 

(26 April 2019, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            OUR TRUE ETERNAL HERITAGE

 

Our true eternal heritage

As children of the Lord

Is – male and female – to become

Similitudes of God.

A man and woman are ordained

To marry in God’s plan.

Our families are central to

Creation’s mighty span.

 

Each spirit son or daughter has

A destiny divine.

Belov’d by Parents Heavenly,

Our natures are entwined. 

Before our birth, we learned of Earth

And Immortality – 

Engendered by their Perfect Love:

Our sure identity.

 

To have a body and progress

Through sacred ordinance,

We enter Temples of the Lord

And gain experience.

As heirs of life and covenant,

Our purpose is to seek

His light and truth and charity,

As children pure and meek.

 

(30 April 2019, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            PSALM OF DEGREES

 

When Jesus crossed the Brook,

And walked upon the Sea,

The Waters were the Veil he passed

To rescue you and me.

 

When Jesus knelt to pray,

When He poured out His soul,

The drops of Life from every pore

Were shed to make us whole.

 

When Jesus bore His trials,

Endured the smiter’s flail,

He overcome the infamy

In spite of Cross and Nail.

 

When Jesus breathed His last,

Forgiveness was His plea.

Compassion was His epitaph,

His healing elegy.

 

When Jesus conquered death,

He visited His friends.

He organized His Holy Church

For Love that never ends.

 

(19 May 2019, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            HOLLY

 

Your beauty is original –

You have an Only style –

Your loveliness is liminal –

Your virtue is a smile.

 

(15 June 2019, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            SEA SONG

 

The Eye of God was blue –

Or so it seemed to see.

The Hand of Him stretched forth –

Or so it seemed to be.

The Heart of God was full –

Or so it seemed to me.

The Mind of God was strong –

And so it seemed a tree.

The Soul of God was whole –

And thus it rescued thee.

 

(16 June 2019, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            POST-SOLSTICE LAMENT

 

The days are waning shorter –

The nights are waxing long.

Remaining hours relinquish

Diminuendoed song.

 

(22 June 2019, Springville, Utah)

 

                                                                                                                                                              

              SEEKER’S PLEA

 

Lord, open my eyes

And open my ears.

Please help me be wise

And comfort my fears.

 

Lord, quicken my mind

And soften my heart.

Please help me be kind

And set me apart.

 

Lord, lengthen my stride

And lighten my cares.

Please strengthen my faith

And answer my prayers.

 

Please help me stand firm

And help me speak up

And feast on Thy Word

And drink from Thy Cup.

 

(23 June 2019, Springville, Utah)                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

 

 

            CAPSTONE

 

Reading is the Needle,

And Writing is the Thread.

So as we read, we stitch and bind

Our Thought to what is said.

 

Writing is the Treadle,

And Reading is the Tread.

So as we write, we line the seams

Of Truth to what we’ve read.

 

(11, 19 July 2019, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            WIZARD

 

Trouble-shooting genius

Rescues once again –

Gratitude is specious

For such brilliant men.

 

(11 July 2019, Provo, Utah)

[For Taylor and the DH CSR team]

 

 

            CALLING

 

To name is invocation –

To call is to perform.

Apostrophe is drama –

To nominate confirms.

 

His name is our vocation –

Our calling is to stage

The Hero of the Action

In every scene and page.

 

(19 July 2019, Provo, Utah)

 

 

            CÁPUT CORPUS

 

The human body is a poem

With parallels of form and line –

With pairs of eyes, of ears, of feet,

Or arms, of legs – unique design.

 

The human temple has a pulse

Of systole, diastole –

Of weak and strong – of stress, unstress –

One heart’s iconic prosody.

 

Our mortal life is metrical

With long and short – with lax and tense –

Our daily life is musical

With loud and soft – release, suspense.

 

Eternal life is measurement 

With ruler, compass – plumb and square – 

The universe an instrument                                       

For justice, mercy – full and fair.

 

(26 July 2019, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            DECISION NOTES

 

Where would He have me go?

Or would He have me stay?

Translation to another place

Might mean a newer day?

 

(11 December 2019, Springville, Utah)

 

 

            REVELATION 10:7

 

Speech is the Sound of Light,

Pheme is the Phos of Song,

And Prophecy is Poetry,

An Angel’s gifted Tongue.

 

We see light with our eyes.

We hear light with our ears.

We touch light with our hands.

We speak light with our voice.

We seek the light in all our senses.

 

(19 December 2019, Springville, Utah)