Poems of Nature, Life and Faith

THE LILACS Is it possible to tell Of the smell of a lilac? Is it early morning chimes Clothed in dew, Or songs from a steeple In the air Is it the look of a rose, The taste of a pear? The first kiss when a youth A red bird in the air Emotions on fire From the union of love Or a bird in a tree Touched by a sugar bee A flowered vine on a trellis, The croak of a frog, The peepers at night Or a rainbow in the sky A baby’s first laugh A proud mother’s sigh. Could Shakespeare have said Or the moon on a tide Could the smell of the sea – There are many lilacs to be. ---------- I AM JUST HERE TO BE As I stand here by the shore, With the wind and with the sea, I know just who I am, And that I am just here to be. the snow-capped curling waves That lap up by my feet, Beat a soft soft song to me Of secrets and of the deep. And as I look to the shores Of the land across the bay, I know that I belong To a world that is rich and sweet. The smells of the fresh sea air Wash the worries from my mind, And the sun-speckled blue-green water Brushes my soul soft as the wind. As I stand upon the shore Of the bay so sweet and silent, With the salt air lapping at me Softly softly as the foam, I know that at this moment Life is all that is can be; And I know this is just right, And that I am just here to be. ---------- O’ EZEKIEL! The trials of life reached deep in to my bones, And I felt alone, alone. My faith was shaken to its inner core; I feared that courage, for me, Would rise no more. When from the rumbling, crumbling of my bones, Before fear fully crushed my earthly home, There came rebirth of spirit’s strength, Like waves within a gathering storm Rise higher, until at length they mount and crest on rushing winds. And so my spirit slowly gathered force - God had heard my cry “I’m lost, I’m lost!” The bones that crumbled were then molded back, Restored by Godhead love that reaches to us in the depths; Most when we feel that life itself has left. --------- THE MARSHLAND AND I The grass was still as I strolled toward home Across the marshland plain. But when I turned and looked again It was alive as if aflame. The sun had dropped to a sunset spot And its rays streamed across the land. The luster of the greens was such That they seemed to move and brush Across my naked skin and sigh. My feelings climbed and melted in to the sky; The marshland was I. --------- MY MOTHER The world is my mother and My mother is the world. I have drunk from the breasts Of the sea and the land, The ripples in the water And the sun on the sand. The woodlands I call home, The rivers are my paths; I bathe in the lakes and Lie down in sweet grass. The sounds of the brooks Calm my sleep in the night, The mountains impress on my Soul their wonderful might. The birds teach me songs And the winds sooth my mind. I am surrounded by motherhood In all that I find. -------- COMMITMENT O’ to entwine myself within love’s halls To feel both free and strongly bound, To welcome feelings of great kind That take me off at times To sweet corridors of my mind. No more to live Just I alone But feel that I have found my own best home. To this great task I now enjoin myself Not to fear or falter on the way Less both of us fall out of fate And rise but short of heaven’s gate. So when life’s struggles come to us Ever to pledge beyond our single selves, Always to persevere in doublet bonds, Always to forgive and live once more, Never to tire of warm embrace -- And thus find our own great place.