The Dying Flame
From haunting wind
To freezing rain
On window shear
And steaming pane
As silver moon
Through open blinds
Is straining light
In shadow lines
Across the face
Of silent fears
With swollen eyes
And streaming tears
That fall and snuff
The dying flame
A smoking wick
Can fire again . . .
And again . . .
They Slip Away
As weathered hands that clasp
Another one slips through the grasp with trembling
A clinching fist--they turn to sand
That runs between your fingers
To see the sight of birds in flight
I could not clip the wing
With open palm they took alight
Gone from my view
Lost . . .
In the blue of sky
Oh, that one would light upon my finger
But they slip away
They slip away
Love you cannot hold within your hand
Souls are not possessions
Wind-up toys with slaved affections
Love is born of freedom, not a brand
Open up the cage and let it go
Till you lose the strings you'll never know
You may be surprised at where it lands
Oh, that one would light upon my finger
But they slip away
They slip away
All good things will come to me in time
All good things will come to me easy that are mine
So I search the sky till one lights upon my finger
The Enigma
To explore the illusive enigma
We shed transcendental mind
And embark on a journey through time
Where we can divide by the speed of light squared
The treasure is more than the price of a star
More awesome to view than the birth of a planet
No wonder then that all eyes wait for the spark
That cosmic connection that initiates motion
The structuring physics assemble to form
The equations prepared there are endless
So fragile this power that governs the universe
Yearning to taste it we walk through the door into life
Deceived
I formed a lie I would believe
So perfect that I was deceived
I lied of sight
I lied to me
Then wondered why I did not see
I lied of sound
I lied of proof
Then wondered why I heard no truth
I lied of touch
Of smell and taste
Until awareness was a waste
To formed a lie one would believe
Destroys the way they would perceive
Still Life
Fixed in a frame of still life
Nothing moves
Where the faintest whisper
Feeds the fire with the fuel
Caught in a web of social ills
Habitual blindness
In a world so quick to measure
So slow to check the rule
We go round and round in circles
Like a fragile clock
Key wound
Till the final tick of the second hand
Runs down
Etched into stone
A flaw is reckoned right
Forsaking heart
Until the servant is the master
And law is more than life
We go round and round in circles
Like a fragile clock
Key wound
Till the final tick of the second hand
Runs down
Look to the heart
Turn it inside out
When our eyes meet
Let them speak
Can't you hear the sound
Attentions lock now
Don't hold back
Truth entwines us all around
We go round and round in circles
Like a fragile clock
Key wound
Till the final tick of the second hand
Runs down
Welcome to the ice age
Set to thaw
There come a new life
Where the truth in animation
Sheds darkness for the dawn
We go round and round in circles
The Odds
I studied hard, yet was surprised
I made the honor role
I did my best at work
Out of the blue was raised twofold
I showed a young girl tenderness
Amazed she’s now my wife
I made time for my children
And was shocked how much they thrived
I treated others kindly
I was loyal to my friends
To my surprise they like me
And on them I can depend
I tried to smell the roses
To pursue my hopes and dreams
I can’t believe how happy and accomplished
My life seems
I wasn’t born affluent
I had no silver spoon
My neighborhood was rough
You’d think my life would come to ruin
I guess some folks are lucky
They gain charmed circumstances
But how they came to me, against all odds
What are the chances?
The Inner Life
Hearkening to the tones of the inner life
Reverencing all of creation
The dreams that they kill I relive and reveal in my heart
The attainment of peace through the train of the mind
As I muse under the calming influence
Of a stilling voice that pierces to the center
Rhyming one in reason
With the purpose
In the season that we live
I feel the essence of life
Springing up fountains of eternal being
The achievement of love, and the knowing of why
By a glance of His all-searching eye He reveals my heart
The dark and the light
I believe in the acceptance of a divine rhythm to life
The quenching of times
The mirroring of minds
The healing of wounds
"When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,"
"the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;"
"What is man, that thou art mindful of him?..."
May truth linger in my bones
Caught attune to an emanating light
A face
The first and the last
Reflecting infinity
Find a key in the song of life
"I have said, Ye are gods”
And everyone of you
"Are children of the most High."
And his eyes were aflame in the image of life
Reach deep inside you
And draw out yourself
With the light that you'll find
Re-enter the eye
I've seen the light and the life of this world
Clasped in the form of enveloping love
In and through all us for so we abound
Eye be thou single, ears tingle
As creation echoes the sound
Now I see
In the green of the trees
The breath of a butterfly
Stillness of rocks
Songs of birds
Blue of open sky
The work of the artist
Reveals the artist's heart
He who hath seen these, hath seen Him
Amendments
A stranger washed up on the shore
His past could not recall
And so began his life anew
And good works showed to all
Yet curious investigated
Clues to hidden past
Found sinful days, and pirate ways
His heart sank in the blast
Am I the man that was?
Or now the man I am?
Past low or great, does it negate
The present self a sham?
His reasoning concluded
That the present mattered most
So everyday decided
His identity engrossed
With a blank slate
We recreate the self that we become
And craft our own identity
“Now” is life’s medium
Unsung
Love
Come
Chance
One
Heart undone
Life
Wants
Fate
Haunts
We her pawns
Against the attitude of time
Lost in the labyrinth of life
Love is a miracle we find
Time
Runs
Hearts
Numb
Soul unsung
Against the attitude of time
Lost in the labyrinth of life
Tied to the tumbling of the dice
Compass adrift in starless night
Love is a miracle we find
Circles
“I almost got it!” thought the dog
But then it got away
“If I run faster” reasoned he
“I’ll catch it--yes I may!”
So round and round he chased his tail
And so he spent his days
Each time he nipped he felt a pain
It drove him near insane
Then tired and worn while panting swore
“That crazy S.O.B.”
“There’s something smells about this tail--
It a conspiracy!”
His anger swelled as he jumped up
“I’ll try the other way”
His quest turned to obsession then
Instead of foolish play
The poor dog never found himself
Nor satisfied his needs
And so resumed his second love
To scratching at his fleas
What is Good?
An infant smiles and coos
Sounding to all the world, “There is good!”
A mother’s milk is food
Spreading through all the world what is good
It’s harder when all the news is down
Just sit up and take a look around you
At what is good
A child forgives so soon
Showing to all the world what is good
A father will kiss a wound
Proving to all the world there is good
It’s harder when all the world is down
When sceptics from everywhere around you
Asks, “What is good?”
A family works so hard
To love as it should
While stumbling, falling down
They would if they could. . . get up, and do
And God says, “This is good.”
It’s hardest when loved ones let you down
Just soften your heart a grace surrounds you
God is good
It’s harder when any child falls down
A power to picks you up surrounds you
And this too is good
Life is good
It is good
This is good
Too good for me
“And a child shall lead them”
Find the good
God is good
So good to me
