All Now to Gain

Our world spins, revolving round the sun, as we keep moving, believing,

Grieving much of what we have left behind, weaving hope into the future,

Never deceiving now, receiving truth unadorned, naked, wisely perceiving,

And we’ll not back down, throw away life’s crown, play the part of a clown,

For we’ve been nurtured at God’s breast, furthered in maturity, encouraged,

Flown high to heaven’s perch, thrown low to hell’s gorge, to live full life,

And not without strife, yet no longer rife with pain, all for us now to gain

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Softly and Tenderly

Softly and tenderly I hear your voice again,
And has it been so long and I so very wrong?
Slight enticements led me away day after day,
Until your face was but a shadowy memory,
And your choice voice but vaporous whisper;
But now how clear I hear your song over me!
Softly and tenderly I hear your voice again. . .

Love Rescue Me

I am blind and I am lost; I am bound and I am tossed
And I am crying out of the depths, ‘Love rescue me!’

First since the devil did appear to sear the heart of humanity
And lay low the children of Adam and Eve in perpetual insanity,
Lies upon lies have washed o’er the souls of men and women
With demons howling, sapping all our strength God-given . . .

And I no less than my forefathers in weakness pass the days
In an insufferable haze and maze of confusion and despair,
Waiting for repair of spirit that can come only from above
In love divine descending as an heavenly dove in serenity . . .

I am blind and I am lost; I am bound and I am tossed
And I am crying out of the depths, ‘Love rescue me!’
And I am crying out of the depths, ‘Love rescue me!’

And now do the pages turn as ages pass and all the angels sing
‘Alleluia,’ but I am waiting for mercy and grace in this space
That’s been given me to be all that I can be for what I can see
And more, to adore the only One who can surely rescue me . . .

And I am crying out of the depths, ‘Love rescue me!’

I am blind and I am lost; I am bound and I am tossed
And I am crying out of the depths, ‘Love rescue me!’
And I am crying out of the depths, ‘Love rescue me!’

With All the Bells of Heaven

As I’m reeling from feelings of uncertainty and anxiety,
You come to turn my mourning into dancing, prancing
Like the deer across the mountain slopes of your love
From above, even as you give me a newer song to sing
Long into the night free from the fright of every blight
With promises of more than a share in unending care,
So how can I not sing in the comfort you bring to me?
And with this, joy wells up with all the bells of heaven!

Happier Days Are Coming

Happier days are coming, blooming within the soul
Of the one who waits expectantly with living hope
And expectation in anticipation of fresh joy untold
With bold confidence that happier days are coming,
Looming large on the horizon as prayers bear their
Weight in heaven above, from where all blessings
Flow as sacred wind blows, rushing in with answers
To supplications made in humility with the ability
To believe, relieving distress and dismay with rays
Of bright light flooding every part of the heart now
. . .
Happier days are coming, blooming within the soul
Of the one who waits expectantly with living hope
And expectation in anticipation of fresh joy untold,
So be bold! And hold on! Happier days are coming!

Plea to My Son: Wisdom Living

So many times in life I thought I knew what was best
And I wore the vest of pride in stride with arrogance,
And I tried with all of my might to make it all so right
Only to fall into the dark night of the soul with a hole
In my heart and my mind bound against sound reason,
Collapsing into an awful season of tumultuous unrest,
And all the while there were blessings untold for me
That I could just barely see in the distance but would
Not touch in my insistence to forge ahead with plans
Of my own that were sown in isolation and darkness;
And, oh, how I wish now that I could go back and bow
To sense and sensibility, to rewrite my past in lasting
Joy and peace with a new lease on life . . . but no, son,
This I cannot do and so I sue myself in the court of life
So rife with pain and such little gain from such insane
Decisions and I hold my history in derision, my child;
So I say to you, do not walk the same path I’ve walked,
But be sober-minded and clear-headed and do pray
Before you say what you think you want and then leap
Without looking! Read the book of your own father
To learn and burn not with zeal but hear without fear
Wise counsel offered and open your eyes to see gifts
Already bestowed in your life and do not thrown away
What has been so freely given to enliven your fantasy!
Sense and sensibility under the cover of prayer, my son;
Take the higher and better road; yes, the better road!

Flowing Into One Another … Your Love

Oh I prayed and thought you didn’t hear, my Shepherd so dear;
So I screamed and fell, yet you still felt so very far away.
I cried, lamented, and my very soul was gripped in abject fear;
In oppressive darkness I laid down with my own ending so near.

Ah, do we embrace before ere we touch? Sweet kiss
In the Eye of the Mind before lips ever meet?
Like the oceans and the river and the mountain
Springs, do we flow into one another, fulfilling?

You awakened me from my deathly slumber and enabled me to see;
You moved in the night in heavenly light, and answered my plea;
You opened my eyes, breathing in me life in timeless eternity,
So your Spirit rushes in, and in your love is my only safety.

Ah, shall we laugh and cry like the wind and the rain?
Play like the moonlight across sweet mountain lake?
Shall we belong to each other, both giving and receiving,
Never living apart, no more than branch without tree?

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Note: First published in June 2015, now republished due to some renewed interest as well as for the enjoyment (and inspiration?) of new reader-followers. Blessings to one and all!

Double Tanka on Friendship

You find your real friends
When you are going through hell
It’s easy to tell
They are just around the bend
And only love do they send

Fake friends can’t be found
In pain they are not around
And they make no sound
They leave you to stand alone
And with no love to be shone

Waiting is the Hardest Part

Waiting for you is the hardest part,
As it tears at the fabric of the heart
That is already in the clutches of love
Above all else, my dove, and it makes
For an excellent bout with doubt,
Wondering if he is really worthy,
Asking if there will be only disdain
Such that this waiting is but in vain,
Pulling at his very spirit to abstain;
Ah! But have we come this far in life
So rife with pain to throw away gain
Of love to be found in the sound
Of our two hearts beating as one?
So shall we meet and seat ourselves
Neath the same sun with love begun
And discover together if our destiny
Lies along one common path or two;
But waiting is still the hardest part,
Tearing at the fabric of this heart . . .

Such Beauty in the Dangerous Beautiful

Look up at the moon and soon you will be enthralled by her beauty,
But then imagine dying as you’re lying on her bed of cold rock . . .
Gaze upon the awesome magnificence of the lion at a safe distance,
But then consider being mauled in your insistence to draw near . . .
Mountains are majestic but also so often dangerously undomestic;
Ah! What is beautiful can be so bountiful and so very inspirational,
But dangerous to the venturous, killing those willing to draw near
To what they hold dear in that same beauty that demands no duty
To die for what they can eye safely from afar, like a star in the sky;
Some beauty is mostly ghostly and simply cannot be held closely
But only admired in an almost lonely manner like what is holy . . .
Be wise in what your eyes see and the sudden rise in your heart
To claim some prize that was never meant to be possessed by you;
Admiration and appreciation does not demand your possession;
Be discerning and ever learning to calm the burning in your heart

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Note: Originally penned on December 1, 2016, now being republished due to some renewed interest as well as for the enjoyment of new reader-followers. Blessings to one and all!