In the Hurried Lives of Men Sincerity must deepen then the Grace In plenitudes of force and might descends Into the very fibre of our race And the severed strands of peace and oneness mends. We call with stifled voice, with half-meant prayer, To an unseen God on heights beyond our ken, Unknowing as yet or largely unaware Of His presence in the hurried lives of men. We need the decisive turn, the childlike trust A faith that knows and love that freely gives, A release of all our being from the lust That drives our days and deep within us lives. O radiant Light dispel the mind-born mist That stays the hour and suffers the

For Thou Art Here Thou hast borne my aberrations, my revolts, My senseless turning from the luminous cave To dwell in sordid cities of desire, Outstretched to me thy hand to guide and save From self-destruction in the vital ways Or self-absorption in emotion's rule. Thou leadest me but never goad nor prod Employ in thy gentle training school, Forbearing all my wilful insurgencies, Rebellion and the lack of gratitude, My ignorance supplanting by a light Revealing the path in illumined quietude. My dissonances meld to harmony For Thou art here, my soul's infinity.

A Greater Music March 23, 2001 A far and haunting melody Like something caught at the edge of dream, A song of human destiny Came flowing in a golden stream. Before it all our music pales, Our harmonies seem a monotone, Our complex erudition fails And art an imitation grown And weak attempt to catch the strain Of a music from our higher spheres That falls to earth as a subtle rain, Fades and suddenly reappears. A tremolo on a silver string Draws the soul from its secrecy, A chant the astral choirs sing, A conch that blows on Triton

For I Am Man I have been lulled by the rocking of the sea And felt earth's beating heart beneath my feet, Dreamed of love in cloud-filled summer skies And welcomed winter's chill at fall's retreat. For I am man emerging from the child With childlike wonder ever guiding me, I seek to hold and longing would possess This earthly life and immortality. Yet am I error-filled, my life at odds With the light that ever entrance seeks At the closed and iron gate, the shuttered door, And rarely do I hear the voice that speaks Of higher aims exhorting all my soul To break the hold of body-mind and free The spirit pent and ever so rudely chained

The Evening of the Year The brown leaves hung unwilling yet to fall And chrysanthemums bloomed mid the wild drakes call As the first snow fell in the evening of the year. We were stunned to silence and our sorrow grew When they brought us word that her days on earth were few And darkness drew close in the evening of the year. And when our tears were spent and silence reigned We viewed our life as His alone nor deigned To look beyond the evening of the year. Casting out doubt we discarded the mantle of fear Drew gratitude round calling the grace ever near And passed beyond the evening of the year. Now time is foreshortened

Attack and Resolution 12/28/01 In a darkened bed of night cradled I slept With one eye cocked to check the evil being That haunted me, with sudden motion leapt From the shadows of my undiscovered self To pounce upon my breast, its stranglehold A firm and ever-tightening noose of hate. I fought and grasped those iron wrists, those hands So cold that threatened to annihilate The spark of soul and still its breath of light. As its grip intensified I knew, I knew the way to overcome The Fiend, With one last failing gasp I called an

Heaven-Bird Enfolded in our deepest dreams A soul embedded seeks release, A spirit-force whose radiant streams Reflect the vastness of its peace. A truth awaits, a puissant Word, A light within our body's cells, A sound within the silence heard, A music of far-off temple-bells Entices the mind from reverie Of idle, vain imaginings, From sleep to wake and waking see The heaven-bird on silver wings Rising from the breast of night, Resplendent in its Godward flight.

Traveller of the Night A sadness settles with the sinking sun, A light gone out and all the earth grown cold, The inconstant stars reflecting yield no warmth And cavernous night resumes its stranglehold. In unconscious dream or nightmare wanderings Where dark pernicious visitants abound We walk the shores of dark unknowingly And enter realms we were not meant to sound. When we into those nether worlds descend, Unaware of guardian or guide, Devoid of sight we cannot comprehend The dangers of the soul that might betide The traveller of the night in these fell deeps Where the Betrayer is often garbed as friend, His approachin

Earth the Chosen Softly the moonlight falls upon my eyes And round my soul the scented jasmine flows, I am smitten by these earthly majesties, Intoxicated by the deathless rose. I live for light, drink in the fateful stars And all my ardent wanderings incline To beauty that no mortal trespass mars. I scan the far penumbra for a sign That prophesies the advent of thy feet Treading again divinely sanctioned soil, A trysting-ground where man and God may meet And all the stumbling nether forces foil.

Upon the Spirit's Stance.htm Upon the Spirit's Stance A current of anger caught me unaware, Ripping through the nervous envelope Usurping calm and commandeering voice, A foul invective found unlimited scope. As quickly as it entered it was gone And I amazed looked closely and fell still Astounded at lost control, the impudence Of forces seeking human minds to fill And human forms to work their nether will. A lesson learned of constant vigilance To guard the secret dweller from attack And found our lives upon the spirit's stance, Instil the peace impervious to assault And open to God the sealed and sacred vault.