The Soul to Find I dreamed a dream within a dream And could not tell, if truth be told Who was the dreamer of the dream And truly, if I dreamt at all. This living in another world No fabrication of the mind Could possibly convey the truth Of things I saw and words I spoke And those I met who were of this world. More than forty years have passed And still I feel the hand of God And hear a voice known long before This pres

The Ever-Present Grace There is a golden bridge that I must cross But this once wingéd soul is burdened now By endless repetitions of the past, An earthbound flame unable more to grow. When all is not united at the core We then become a fragmentary being Pulled by tides and undertows of time Incapable of wider thought or seeing. And though the sages clearly mark the path, Beset by forces formidable who prey Upon inherent weaknesses of self We tread with heavy feet the destined way. To find the magic key, unlock the door, Allow the darkened corners to be lit And know the ever-present grace descends As well on the unworth

Salvation Perhaps the sad misfortune of our days Is that we count appearances as true And to non-essential things confer our praise, Content with established ways forego the new. The reasoning mind that preaches truth with words Cannot distinguish the false from the real, For present gains and false security Corners God in its fanatic zeal. How easily the mass of men are saved Acceptance is the sole criterion Or confession to another of one's sins Salvation gain from dark oblivion.

The Dwelling Place of God I feel the early chill drift down On silent water, morning mist Like frost upon the autumn vines Lifts as day begins its rounds. The sun spills jets of orange fire And sets ablaze the tranquil lake Signalling the time to leave And fly to my ancestral home On a journey without end. Soon fifty years will pass since I Intrepid traveller alone Dared to leave familiar shores And sail

Nature Haiku Planting iris In autumn chill Two friends smile secretly. Returning home By lantern light Unsteady heart, shaking hand. In the desert Wild dogs howl Coyote moon's siren song. Now my garden Far from me In autumn sorrow falls asleep. A lengthy drought My plants succumbed And I have only half survived. White camellias In the night Ami

Song of Sacrifice Our song of sacrifice must rise beyond The temporal to fill the halls of time, And gratitude in simple concert lift The human spirit nearer the divine, Each moment in this mortal life become A hymn of offering, a chant of love, Joy's chorale that calls the soul in us To orchestrate the movements of our lives And harmonize the discords of our being. Music now a tool of mental make Must wake to harmonies and strains unheard Descending in the silent cavern space.

The Touch of Heaven in Our Hearts There was one conversant with all arts. Now she is gone who made me young again. Alone I face the future and alone Must live the present, knowledge to attain Of lives long past and loves to me unknown. Can we say that tears are useless if they wake Our grief to understanding and our minds Return to calm and let the soul partake Of vastness and the healing of the winds That carry the message of diviner love To the spirit seeking in a slumberous haze Something that it feels but knows no

The Dreams That Once Were Real I heard them in the stillness of the night A sound as if two angels merged in flight Singing above the sorrows of this world. My song was joined with theirs and though I might Be bound and held in gravitations grasp From out the body rose and looked on all The loveliness earth, the moon and stars And heard from distant spheres the Eternal's call. I met the Master in his house of light, Saw alabaster columns and marble pools, An air of God's perfection filled my soul, A knowledge came that I

My Debt to God We through the green woods walked alone, The gods of ray and beam upon us shone, What thoughts we shared as death upon her stole Are sealed within the chambers of the soul. I wandered through the fields of God that night When stars in crystal splendour wed the moon, Aware the days were few when from my sight Her spirit would be taken all too soon. O my beloved, a century of tears Shall follow in thy too soon passing's wake And earth shall bloom less bright than the years When beauty walked on earth for beauty's sake. O loving soul who blessed this life with love Now towards Her feet alone I must move And slowly walk

When the World Was New I can remember when the world was new And love descended on this blue-green sphere. He touched the soil and fragrant flowers grew, And whispered sleep into the poppy's ear; A time when soul expressed its fragrance too And life in all its plenitude drew near. The carefree rose needed not the thorn And daffodils announced the rites of Spring. It was a world of wonder so new-born That sorrow was an unfamiliar thing And heaven