A Heavenly Instrument 9/7/07 I think I heard God’s voice tonight Through a heavenly instrument Singing strophes of such delight That all the veils of night were rent As beauty stole upon the heart And peace to human hearts was lent. Such stillness gathered in the air A music to bring the high Gods down And move the mortal mind to prayer And we in consecration grown To witness such divine event.

Questioning Soul Healing now a slow and peaceful rest Free from the onslaughts that define the day I turn to the welcoming arms of night To sleep half-conscious as my body lay Questioning in dream that complex time When truly what I am I cannot say Or even what shall be clouds my thought. I have become a wavering dot, a stray Persona wrapped in an enigma's cowl No longer can I voice the soul's desire, And the Presence in my heart that came to stay Is dimmed now, for what do I aspire?

Love^s Hour.htm Love's Hour I love you as the earth reveres the sun, As the sea receives the blessings of the moon And flowers bow their heads when day is done. Though all that beautiful is must pass too soon Not so my heart from sorrow's sleep awake, Once thought that nevermore would beauty deign To enter this house and in its bosom make Anew the wonder of love's hour again.

Remould This Dense Resistant Clay It was not a time for singing or for song. Tears like burning solder stung my eyes, I dragged myself unconsciously along Beneath the deluge of the monsoon skies. One came upon me like a brazen thief And snatched my joy as from an open purse, Pain as I had often known, and grief As he lifted poems still in my soul, and worse Stole the muse that long had guided me. I walked uncaring in the pelting rain As a swimmer drowning in an angry sea,

Taste of Immortality As a worshipper of beauty stands Enraptured by all that he beholds So with the mystic and the saint, The visionary for whom the moulds Of mind are broken by the light. Here on earth is loveliness That shall not wither as the rose By human acts of carelessness, For close now to the soul of man A beauty indescribable Chooses its hour of descent Containing the impossible, Radiant, perfect an

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