Winter Haiku - Scroll VII Bare limbs, Stark canopies Deserted by the falling leaves. Snow banks A child's delight Hidden in these folds of white. Morning awoke Stiff and chill Battered by the storm-fraught night. Rabbit and seal, White on white Hidden by the day and night.

By the Deep Woods By the deep woods I sit apart, await Enlightenment upon these tragic days, Alone and yet so lovingly embraced By a timeless spirit's vast unhurried gaze. I have known compassion as I have known love And tenderness of souls who blaze the path That man may find in his heart strength from above And peace to heal the world's wanton wrath, Calm to bear this life's injustices, And persevere the plenitude of pain, To bear the agony of separateness That love on earth may found His splendid reign And children we of one divine delight Arise and conquer by the Godhead's might.

In The Mother's Flame-White Presence.htm In The Mother's Flame-White Presence 12/18/01 As one who walks into an eye of storm Where all is stilled and every sound suppressed, Or in the vast of space devoid of form Who entered in Her room was ever blessed. No mortal thought or word could scarce define The magnitude of love in which we stood For in Her presence all became divine And to the hungry soul She was the food That nourished the famished lodger in the breast, Adventurer and seeker of th

For Mary Helen Could I Forget Could I forget the glory of a smile That opened all my soul to unknown things, The aura of a grace I felt awhile, A voice the music of harmonious strings. Could I forget the new millennium – We meditated in Sri Aurobindo's room, Only an integer in the Infinite's sum, Remembrance of thee all my days illume. Could I forget the beauty and the grace That brightened all who came within thy sphere Or lose the vision of one perfect face, Eternal love allow to disappear? Departing in love, in love thou shalt return But now repose within our Mother's breast, To reach Her light my spirit's sole

Poet's Prayer.htm Poet's Prayer We will not ask of lesser Gods the Word Nor rend the breast when our Muse is fallen still, The True is from an inner silence heard And calm of mind and patient-seeking Will. Of words we have enough, enough of thought, The epic of the soul's advance is here In battlefields surpassing knowledge fought And realms the lonely vision of the Seer. Yet shall we pray the heart-inspired prayer To widen our embrace of life by love And if the mantra reach our burdened air Transcribe from rhythmed cadences above The lines that soar beyond the reach of time And join the singer to the Song sublime.

In Bodies of the Lord's Design The truth descending we must weave Into the fabric of our lives, Rework the pattern frayed and torn Of tattered self that yet survives Misuse throughout the centuries. Evolving garment of our fate, The soul in an outdated dress Knows the hour and the date When from the cosmic loom of life A new apparel we shall wear, Shed our costumed ignorance, Be done with all this masked affair. Clothed in light, by love renewed This human model redefine, A golden hue suffusing all In bodies of the Lord's design.

Sacrificial Soul I have walked among the flowers till my soul Was filled with all the beauty life can give, And I remember thee in fragrances Recalled in jasmine nights and rose-filled dawns. My soul took winged flight and soared above The blinding pain of vacant days and hours Alone without your presence and your smile, A haunted spirit in the void of night. I know that life holds nothing more for me Unless I give this loneliness and grief And more, the full surrender of my heart To the Mother of all lives who holds us close, Opening as the champak blossoms break Releasing from the petals of their love Perfume of offering upon

In Memoriam Mary Helen 2/7/02 Soul in Passing She blessed me with her eyes again And love's cup did overfill As sweetly did her soul attain Its rest and peace within His will. A mighty silence filled the room Her pained and laboured breathing stilled, A calm dispelled all mortal gloom, The heart with Mother's presence filled. I kissed her head, her face, her hands Repeating all the while His name As into those majestic lands Departing as a final flame Extinguished waxes brighter still, Towards Their Feet she quickly flew, Felt all life's pain to joy distil And by Their Grace the Quest renew.

In Thy Soul's Proximity.htm For Mary Helen – February 18, 2002 In Thy Soul's Proximity Soon the fairy buds of spring will break And gaily will the scented blossoms dance All Nature from unconscious sleep awake Renew with earth her many-hued romance. O comrade soul we shall not hear again The wren a-burst with song, the eagle's cry Or tread the airy mosses in the glen For you have flown the nest and life's awry. O spirit of thy inner self aware The world is still too cruel to cherish thee, But I have grown to breathe a vaster air For dwelling in thy soul's proximity.

Symbol of the Soul  Dec. 13, 2002 A lone bird soars in alabaster skies Ascending stage by stage the realms of light Planing now he rests, again to rise, Symbol of the soul in deathless flight.