SWALLET PSALM

SWALLET PSALM

I saw in dream a citadel –
A mountain castle Tor –
A strait and narrow grass-lined Path
Led to its arching Door.

I walked the line without a doubt –
(Like Montezuma’s Well – )
The Gate contained Another World
Where new Musicians dwell.

The inner space was lined with rows –
The concourses were long –
And All were tuning Instruments
Preparing for His Song.

An irrigating spring of life
Passed to the other side –
Where watercress and maiden-hair
In mottled shade reside.

The creosote was breathing scent –
The sycamore was firm –
I paused to take the medicine
That flourished in the berm.

(6 May 2010, Rimrock Arizona, common meter)

QUILT PSALM

QUILT PSALM

Thou Art the Part that means the Whole –
Thou Art are the veiled Gestalt –
Thou Art are the Body for the Soul –
The Might that may Exalt.

Out of Small things proceeding Great –
Out of the Dust a Breath –
Out of the Earth a grander Fate –
The Life that hampers Death.

Thou Art the Symbol and the Sign –
Thou Art the Sacrament –
Thou Art the delicate Design
That Love can Represent.

Into Thy Covenant we Come –
Into the Promised Land –
Into the Fulness of all Time –
The Power of Thy Hand.

(23 March 2010, Provo, common meter, 8-6-8-6)

COMPOSER PSALM

COMPOSER PSALM

These words are waiting for the tunes
That voices will provide –
Without the music they are null –
Mere tokens to confide.

Thy melodies – with harmonies –
Will make them come alive –
This reticence is silent sign
Until the notes arrive.

(13 March 2010, Provo, Utah)

TIMPANOGOS PSALM

TIMPANOGOS PSALM

The sky shone through the Chandelier –
The Tree of Gold held Light –
Reflections flickered on the Dome
Ineffably as sight.

The Life shown by the Holy One –
A Pharos for our feet –
Is glimmering with promises
Indelible and fleet.

The Lamb shorn by Mortality
Is crowned the Lamp of Kings –
The shimmer of His Shepherding
Investitures all things.

(27 March 2010, American Fork, Utah)

RECOVERY PSALM

RECOVERY PSALM

I walked along the Galilee
A year ago this way –
The moon was playing lost and found
In clouds of silky whey.

I paced the shore of rippled silt –
Light lapped across the bay
As lunar Levitation sank
Into the cusp of day.

(25 March 2010, Provo, Utah)

DEVOTIO MODERNA

DEVOTIO MODERNA

What motivates the gulls to fly?
The food, the view, the air?
Or do they hasten south to flee
The winter’s atmosphere?

What motivates a soul to pray?
The words, the peace, the fear?
Or are we heading home to meet
The Master’s tender care?

(21 October 2009, Provo, Utah)

SAFE

SAFE

His every cell was torqued with pain
As He partook the cup –
His back already torn to shreds
As He was lifted up.

His agony was so complete
It left no hurt unturned –
His empathy was infinite –
He perfectly discerned

The anguish of humanity –
Inequity’s deceit –
The widow and the fatherless
Redeemed by His “defeat.”

(11 October 2009, 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)

DIANA

The moon betimes is minuscule –
Her ministry is meek –
Yet clip by clip she magnifies –
Compounding strong from weak.

She rises from the rim of dusk –
She navigates the bay –
She lingers over sleepless rooms
Before she slips away –

Administers her molten balm
To Mercury and Mars
And shares a silver sustenance
With all the hungry stars –

Then exits into morning’s edge
Above a swanless lake
In sunlit practical descent
For every creature’s sake.

(14 October 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

SARAH’S SONG

I am coming into Beauty –
Although the Bloom is late –
Growing in the Loveliness of
How God can create

A Universe from dust and ash –
A Paradise from flight –
A Family from man and maid –
From desolation, Light –

The Asters are the last to fade –
God’s garden has no weeds –
The aspens glimmer in the glade
With gilded global beads.

(7 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

HOMEGOING

As if by ambulance, the path
Came rushing fast at me –
The disappointments disappeared,
And One I could not see

Was bearing me with urgent speed,
Before it was too late,
To meet my Destiny at last –
Without the least delay.

(3 October 2008, Provo, Utah)

PROMPTING

The choices with the least impact
May have great consequence –
Three inches in a switch-point track
Provide significance –

Small hinges on a lengthy gate
Will make the fence swing wide –
The little steps we walk in faith
Will magnitude decide.

(19 September 2008, Aspen Grove, Utah)

REUNION

Our DNA can recognize
The places it has been.
When we return it to the scenes,
A spirit rushes in.

We often sense a deja-vu.
We somehow feel at home.
Our ancestors extend a hand,
When to their lands we roam.

(August 15, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)

CATCH AND RELEASE

At last my poetry has come.
At least my verse arrives.
Without compulsory restraint,
The language bobs and dives.

I have a river in my heart,
An ocean in my brain.
So, I go fishing with a line,
Releasing what I gain.

The lake of images is full.
The trout swim deep and fast.
The little minnows of the mind
Are in my hands at last.

(August 15, 2008, Pleasant Grove, Utah)