Cowbirds Cowbirds chatter, black winged clouds, Thousands, fruit that sits in branches, Flocks that wheel above in crowds If this planet were a tree And there were far and near observers Would we seem the same as these? Cowbirds chitter, wheel and curse, Descend and roost where they find room, Cowbirds of the universe In […]
The Way Stand straight up and then look down, It is a long way to the ground, Big we are the upright, proud, Deep the impact, long and loud Better not to be so tall That devastating is the fall, The arch of heaven curving near That we must stoop to enter, clear The narrow […]
I Saw a Baby I saw a baby at the stream, Perhaps or maybe not a dream, Who played with water, thrust his hand Into the pool, the golden sand And then scooped up a golden fish, This is my life, he said, to bless Or throw again into the pool, To swim from what […]
Come What May As the tree line on a prairie Rises on a darkened river, Human souls along the way Planted sparsely in forever Deep and welcome is that shade On a mountain stands a cross, The shadow is the flow of time, Who lies there, and who is lost If there is nowhere left […]
Permission The paper which I carried said that I Was qualified to board the plane and fly, But at the boarding station what I heard, Was: Monsieur would request of you a word: I tell you frankly, said and laughed Monsieur, I really don’t know what you’re doing here, You have not been so authorized […]
All That’s True I saw two trees that grew entwined, The pine tree and the beech tree twinned, As night and day are of one mind Though separate they grew as kin Roots the arms around each other, The pine tree growing evergreen, Close as if the two were brothers, The beech tree fallen autumn […]
That Well When I was a child of four Beneath the surgeon’s blazing light I walked along a burning road Sun upon me while I bled By the road I saw a pump, A handle to bring water up, Iron black in summer heat, I struggled near on my small feet Oh pump of iron, […]
I Saw a Baby I saw a baby at the stream, Perhaps or maybe not a dream, Who played with water, thrust his hand Into the pool, the golden sand And then scooped up a golden fish, This is my life, he said, to bless Or throw again into the pool, To swim from what […]
Hush The nuns of Puebla were disbanded One hundred fifty years ago In Mexico The dark Reform of Juarez came, O General, you put the nuns away In private life to pray or not to pray No convents, nor in clericals Would Bishops or their priests be dressed, Nor would as Father be addressed So […]
The Coldest Fire in the World Black Gum leaf is crimson black And on a branch a red winged hawk Dark becomes the autumn dusk Through the branches crossed and blessed Electric yellow in the west Mice go timid from their nests Down the yellow poplar tree Leaves let go, the hands float free The […]
Flame I tell you the trees were on fire Refulgent but never a flame, Ruby intense and a sulfur Lit from within by a name Like the halls of a palace of columns They lead to a room with a throne, Each with its top in the heavens, The arch of the spread of them […]
The Great Trees Mid-summer and the woods are dry Soil on hillsides runs to sand, Ancient trees begin to die Unless their roots are deeper than the roots of Man Dry the season and the air Draws out the running where it ran, Beasts emerging when they dare Drink from what lies deeper than the […]
Light from Light The ruby throat in air defers, Presents his forehead to larkspur, Walks as Christ on Galilee, Weightless goes as so did He Receives the pollen as a grace, A Eucharist on beak and face, Floating sign and metaphor, Convey to us: receive, adore Blood of wine, flesh of wheat, Wing of angel […]
In What Way do you Know of Death? He said: There is no afterlife, no God I asked him for his date of birth His time of death He knew when he was born On the basis of authority For he did not have full sentience then But as for when he dies He says: […]
Adoration A mass of people on a plain All those who live and ever lived Face the everlasting A plain of such immense extent That souls from the beginning to the end Will not fill it all Around them and behind them Refulgence of the everlasting Fills eternity We who faced the light-creating sun The […]
Disrespectful Flesh As I walked along the river In the spate of rushing spring, I gave it voice and heard it lecture: You must die by summoning Man, remember you must die As I must hurry down to rest, The burning of the sun must dry My curvedness, so it confessed You and I must […]
A Silver Fence A silver fence invisible A wedding couple will contain Although their rings perceptible Guard the fingers of their veins Christ the shepherd wedding guest Rings them in the sanctuary Where the Eucharist is blessed, The sheepfold of fidelity Rings of silver need require On the fingers of the heart Nothing round against […]
For Jerry My Host laid down a carpet of the softest leaves, He gave me those to travel on, I was fatigued, If they not fallen then it would be hard To walk along that forest pathway heaven-ward – Mostly poplar, gold and rust, and then some red, Crimson sumac leaves on which the sun […]
The Day Before They Fall It is enough to follow The autumn of the trees To know the heart is shallow And heaven will not please Although a time of ruin Might seem to be a curse, The happiness of heaven Would cause the heart to burst Enough to see in glory The deepest gold […]
The Invitation When I see the blazing of the redbud tree, The tulips filled with ruby and with ivory, The sunlight poured with lavishness inside and out, A moment then suspended is our churlish doubt, The naming for the banquet given out by One Who sets the goblets for us and pours out the sun […]
Don’t be Gloomy… Don’t be gloomy, we could be As cheerless falling from the tree, Scarlet, crimson, dark of gold Rich with browns of autumn mold Let the wind swing out, detach The wings of us the earth to catch, Do not grieve or boast thereof, It is more colorful to love We are born […]
Stars of Mercy What strange dreams, what nightmares! Aztec temples and cathedrals, Pyramids and blazing terrors, Fortresses, Great Walls And yet three horses graze at night Beneath the silent quarter moon, Rivers flow of endless light, Shine as smooth as stone For one such night I would give all The temples to the sun To […]
Horse to Ride She won a little horse in a raffle, A shapely bay to shelter in a stable, A quarter horse both spirited and agile Down what snowy trail will they canter, Where in the evenings of winter, The dusks of December growing denser? The warmth of the stable and the stall, The light […]
Wager On that day as dusk became He gambled in a deadly game, Indemnity for them or no: Here, see the flesh and blood I throw If I lose, their death has won, Forever yielding dust to dust, See the crown that I throw down: Pride and malice, greed and lust I am the gamble […]
