the cross, planted; the garden, in darkness

My soul rises and falls
Rises to God and fails to grasp hold
And so falls

I remember the hard things as I pour out my soul within me
Of oneness and aloneness and singularity

In times past I blinked in the sun’s bright light
Then, the sun was high in the sky
Then, the sun illuminated all it touched

What do I say to my soul in despair?
Time is slipping through my fingers so please
Stand upright

I remember the cross, planted
I remember the garden, in darkness

I close my eyes
I begin to whisper
And a wave breaks over me

The Lord says, "It is enough now, enough"

I say, “My falling is circled within your dying.
Why is it so clear to me?
My vision increases, as my strength diminishes …”

Yes, I know there is a foe
For he is robbing me

What do I say to my soul in despair?
Time is slipping through my fingers so please
Stand upright

Prophecy

For Cyprian Norwid

There was no one
A human void left you voiceless
Save the creeping mystery flowing from your hands
The seeping history pouring from your eyes
Such starling Poetry blinking into daylight ...
Penniless and alone
You were right about only your son’s son
Reading you a right
Vanished in a pauper’s grave
The poet turns
The poet knew
The stones that I would step upon today

The people’s hands are indeed swollen with applause

vista

The landscape
is before us /
time and eternity
flowing from
our hands /
as the sand
slips through
various fingers

Today of all Days

Today of all days
Gold was discovered in a Cornish tin mine
Embedded in the stone
The sweat and strength of men with drills
Day in, day out for three years
Encased within the earth
No natural light, focused on the task at hand
Instructed to look for tin and copper
But instead struck gold

Today of all days
As we wait for the election dust to settle
The earth yielded her most precious metal

Today of all days
A rare shoot emerged on a Lancashire golf course -
Britain's rarest flower - The Lady's Slipper
The poilce have circled it with crime tape
Pass by every hour on patrol, have set up CCTV
To deter the Flower Thieves - that most evil bunch
Only today I learnt the existence of

When it blooms they will be circling round
To pounce on this most fragile of beauties
And rip her from her earthy home to trade
On the flower black market
But steps have been taken:

PC Duncan Thomas, Lancashire's Wildlife Officer
is reported as saying:
"People travel from all over the country
On what is almost a pilgrimage
To view the plant in bloom
And are often overcome with emotion at the sight."

Today of all days
A day when men decide who they are going to crown king
And play their games of power
The earth yielded one of her rarest of all flowers

carry over

let the music carry the sound
sound will carry the sadness
sadness will carry the memory
memory will carry the movement

cast back
thrust forward

as the river runs on
as the river runs on