advent wings

Keep looking at the face of love

See yourself

Reflected in my eyes

To measure by any other law

Relights the age-old fire

And cause that deadly phoenix

Again to rise

Its wings will beat you down

Its breath will kindle storms

Its flight obscures the light

Its eyes will pierce the night

And break your dawn

Keep your gaze on grace-filled wonder

Eyes of surprise

This advent season

Fill your soul

With the bread of heaven come down

And let yourself again be found

By a humble manger

My wings will raise you up

My breath blow away your storms

My flight will give you light

My eyes will pierce your night

And release your dawn

The God within leans …

advent wondering

God

I ask for grace-filled wonder to slip through the cracks 

I know I am surrounded by wide-eyed wonderment, so much that’s wonderful

But often don’t see or feel or know it any more as an ever-present reality, in the midst of worn-out cares

I pray for more light and more love in the swirling of the seasons

Backwards is a darkness that so swelled, but then receded at the appearing of the perfect child

I desire wider eyes each year with which to see the child as a man

I do not need to look, for the child is always there …

But, can I follow the Man?

What will happen if I do?

What will happen if I don’t?

I turn and turn on the knife-edge of choosing

In setting my face towards the warmth of sun, I know that you do not want me to pass through this season’s dark passage without lamp or map or the company of others

Your delight …?

The grace-filled seed of wonder that slipped through eternity’s fingers to the wide-eyed wonderment of a waiting world …

Here

Here

Is a vast mountain range

And colours of dying

And falling

And such steady steady rain

Here

Are silent waters

Kissing the shore

And ships waiting to carry

Such heavy loads

Here

Are a people whispering

So quietly

That they cannot be heard

Figures always on the move

Here

Is a still point

Where beauty breaks

Across tired faces

And weeps silently unseen

And here

Am I

Seeing the city

Seek its’ own

And so violently lose the stranger

colour of autumn

cold stillness

try

really
i tried
the strain
the effort
the sinking
in hands
and arms
pushing
pulling
panic-ing
as evening
dims
into night
night is silent
and day
sheds
no light
really
i tried
and no-thing
changed
nothing was
carried by the
wind
to my weariness
until .... I just
stopped
... waited
and a hue
of golden glory
rushed up
from the
earth's
inner core ...
and there you were
dripping with
strengthen
for your ascent
home

this is where the sisters lay

this is where the sisters lay
under soft soft earth untrod
such sunken rest, to kiss you
and enfold you, wrapped at last
in eternity's blue hue

this is where the sisters lay
under crosses white and grey
wind whispers through long grasses
birds call from the tree tops tall
as the garden waits for more

this is where the sisters lay
their prayer now a silent dawn
names, dates, an age recorded
for the living with fresh flowers
cut, laid, a simple act enough

this is where the sisters lay
arms folded under great weight
pressed down, disintegrating
soul departed, spirit freed
shadows lengthen into me

‘Who is this that grows like the dawn, As beautiful as the full moon, As pure as the sun, As awesome as an army with banners?’

Photo: John Larkin 

set against the velvet night

she sheds a sliver light

upon your path

causes you 

to ebb and flow
...

exerting her pull

she reveals

and then she covers
with her fullness
...

let her tide of love

cover your shore

tonight

before morning
dawns

...
let her light
shimmer on your surface 
and sparkle 
in your depths
...
o
how she
waits and waits
to silently show 
herself 
in degrees of 
lightness
...
and then she
turns
...
o 
my love
weep now at the beauty 
of the sight
and for how so very 
short 
is the night

Why would any soul in the world want to escape the Beloved?

When He is the shining centre
Of the universe's dark heart
When He speaks and darkness disappears
When He heals the earth's split core

Why would any soul take flight
From the pure promise
That is the Beloved?

And yet we run
And yet we hide
Behind unlovely veils

But the Beloved always sees
Always blesses
Always seeks to wear
Even our un-lovliness

Why would any soul in the world
Want to hold on to the torn shreds
Of a fading life
And not return home?

"Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." *

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart." Steve Jobs


no reason
no shadow
no stone in the shoe
or heart
not to start


already naked
already lost
already free of the snare
of possessions
to care


follow your heart 
follow the star
follow your desire
it'll only be looking behind that you'll see 
how it was the fire

The Many and The One

"Many people  ... don't think they are loved , or held safe, and so when suffering comes they see it as an affirmation of their worthlessness. The great question of ministry and the spiritual life is to learn to live out brokenness under the blessing and not the curse." Henry Nouwen



Many are counting the cost but there is only One seeking the lost

hope for a tree when it is cut down

For there is hope for a tree,
         When it is cut down, that it will sprout again,
         And its shoots will not fail.

“Though its roots grow old in the ground
         And its stump dies in the dry soil,
At the scent of water it will flourish
         And put forth sprigs like a plant.
“But man dies and lies prostrate.
         Man expires, and where is he?
(Job 14: 7-10)

where am I?
before expiration
inspiration
breathing in the breathe
of pure air 
your word wings
its way human-ward
heaven-sent
to carry me 
home

sown the wind : reap the whirlwind

For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up. (Hosea 8:7)


It says in an ancient book
that though you may sow with tears
you will reap with shouts of joy


but here
now


after 
the reaping
comes 
the weeping

evening crossing

it's late love
last light lingers
over the eyes
and heart

over
knees and breast
draw the evening up
like a blanket

to cover the cold
to expose
the day's remains
to God's rest

living on the edge

the edge
the edge of life

is it death
no breath?

is it despair
no care?

is it dejection
rejection?

to be led
to the edge

by the dark
o to be so marked


to be continued ...

unrevealed

the mountain stands
the waves break against the rocks
the clouds move across the sky
obscuring the sun
o covered countenance
we are dying
to see

there is no one to say simplify only complexify

there is no one to say simplify only complexify

add layer to layer to layer and grow old my dear

ah, the gulls call to each so far from the sea

i see them confused perching on tall chimneys

then flapping against the dying light of day

now there was a long war between the house of saul and the house of david; and david grew steadily stronger, but the house of saul grew weaker continually

news corp* cannot incorporate

bskyb

let it be

let it be

* 'global vertically integrated media company'

I do not have you close by

I do not have you close by

And you did not have yours near

Either

And neither are we broken

We are hard

We made it and lost it

Because we would not let

The self tremble

In the evening breeze

No

Moulded it into stone

Round and hard

Un-smash-able

Yes

Tired [we are]

Tried [we did]

Tread [soft now]

Love

Sweet-lipped waits

Waits and sighs

In the fading light

But our hearts have flown

We have reaped

What we have sown

We have buried our treasure

Deep within

And inside

Him

The unexplored galaxies

And our undiscovered space

Swirls on and on

lovelorn

Lorn means

lose

Lose is to be defeated

In a battle

Or to let go of one’s grip

Of the mind

Ah, angel

thoughts floating in space

Are not lost

Forever

Eternal Corrector

Is correcting

Returning along

Time's continuum

The love

You loved the most

And lost

Had no choice but to let go of

let

let the healing flow

let the fire fall

let the river run

let the light be all

let the poor be clothed

let the lost be found

let the driven rest

let the forgotten be renowned

let your voice be heard

let your yesterday go

let your tomorrow be today

let God's Spirit flow

the name of the Lord be praised

In the midst of mourning

In the depths of night

On the edge of despair 

At the dawning of light

The name of the Lord be praised

Be praised

The name of the Lord be praised

When life has no moorings

When your beauty has gone

In heartbreak's remembrance

As the wind whispers on

The name of the Lord be praised

Be praised

The name of the Lord be praised

With eyes that are open

With hands that are raised

In the fires of youth

In the embers of age

The name of the Lord be praised

Be praised

The name of the Lord be praised

Enclosed within a frame so slight that eternity may penetrate with light

Enclosed within a frame so slight that eternity may penetrate with light

These pores, gasping for love’s breath

But when denied, panics and sweats ensue

And seeps something akin to tears

When adoration not found, bends the fragile frame 

And weighs it down, down, down

It is true, says hand and arm and eye

We become dislocated so, and blind, when in this darkening world

Love finds us not objects worthy of devoted-ness

[We are demented now but no one knows]

kiss of life

Stripped of simplicity

She vanished into a set

Of complex relationships

Clothed in godliness

He suddenly appeared

Upon the defenceless earth

x

hush your mouth incessant incantator

as lies swell with words
as words get fat with hot air
as words are spelled out spilling into spiritual space
seeping down to seek out the dead and drag them from rest
...
hush now just hush
as the present splits past and future
and an unearthly light hovers over the two doorways
before the dark and deafening silence settles in

knight vision

extend your thought into time and space - a sharp sword with poems dripping off the end - like blood

i cannot lose poetry

to write a poem / like to say a prayer / is to throw a rock into a fast running river / resisting history's flow / purpose not yet known /and I unveiled in a whisper or a sigh / too busy / too late / too much of other things to sit and wait with trembling fingers touching lips / to trace the worded stirrings of the soul

constancy prayer

love
o descending stream
fill this empty vessel
find your home
in this one hollowed heart
hallowed by the clear crystal liquid
outpouring from on high

love

o descending stream

float my past and present 

sunken dreams
wash away the residue of sorrow

that I may live today

the glory of tomorrow

IMAGE

God is locked up

A prisoner of the mind

Made less than human

More than divine

God looks through the bars of the intellect

Treads on the shards of the wreck of humankind

And what does God find?

It is man who is the prisoner of the mind

... 

Love smoulders

And will not blow out

Though storms have raged

It's quiet now

And in the stillness 

Darkness fills

Spaces once inhabited
And light infuses

Every vanquished attempt 

To find God 

In humankind

Love is kindled

By the breath of every

Word of kindness

Every self-less thought

Every act of devoted-ness

And then life becomes a flame

...

Ah, blessed man-woman trinity

Image of divinity
Flicker on

the thread is tight

Where the thread is tight

Heads bow

I do not look around

But within

I do not touch the surface

But go right in

Go to the site

Of ruin

Where the seat of remains

Glows in tender light

The pillars of defeated youth

Disappear into sorrowful night

The thread is tight

The silence penetrates

Deep into the ground

Deep to the soul’s solitary centre

Love, where the thread is tight

There is no sight

No sound

Except the wind whispering

Between the memories stacked

On the funeral pyre

The thread is tight

As the fire behind my eyes burns higher

As I scatter handfuls of ash

Across heart’s field

As fear, fallen and broken

Into countless, nameless pieces

Vanishes into charred ground

Fading light, advancing night

Love, the thread is tight

And where the thread is tight

Heads bow

Do not look around

But within

Do not touch the surface

But go right in

'the essence of human existence consists in human interiority' *

ah

...

the thread

is pulled

so tight

tonight

...

I must go

inside

to find

the light

The Gallery

The Gallery housed ideas

Empty frames

Blurred photos

And some degree of cleverness

Fiction circled

The deep of heart

Of darkness

And pretended

It wasn’t there

And there you were

Reaching from the surface

To the depths

And there was nothing

In this art

That would take you there

Nothing to show you

The transcendent centre

Of your self

Or the Light

Twinkling throughout  the heavens

Dancing upon your soul

Compline *

The bending

The bowing

The beholding

Words wind their way

And now to sleep

In the soft-folded arms

Of silence

And now to rest 

* The English word Compline is derived from the Latin completorium, as Compline is the completion of the working day.

Refraction

1

How the wind blows bending strong branches

Making a howl and birds to move – tiny creatures shaken from their perches to ride currents like surfers upon high waves

2

At the rusted broken down gate

I waited a while

Watching the fields unfold into distance 

But existence does not wait

She points me to the hills that I must ascend

The ancient paths that I must find

3

One tree

Full of itself

Stands

A symbol

Of Time

Blind roots

Reaching down

Into earth

Ageing branches

Straining towards heaven

sic incipit traegedia hominis moderni: here begins the tragedy of modern man

Here begins the fatal blow

As impact in the soul

The force dispelled the anchor

And now the ship cannot moor

Cannot but float aimlessly

The crew scans horizons

Engages in futile activity

Rest not a possibility

And so the pretense

That this is how it should be

But it is not

The ship now so lost

So far from the bay of sight

The bay of remembrance

The place that shelters

In an embrace of coastland

The line of your shoulders

Arms outstretched

Your body sunk into the deep

Becomes the anchor we cast away

Hope strikes the seabed

And is embedded in the soul

Harbour, home, high seas

Balance is restored

love is ...

kiss of life

waves break

upon heart’s shore

heart of many pieces

swells as the water rushes

onto the softened sand

and suddenly

there you are

washed up

naked startled

far from home

but then the

crows

a murder of them

to pluck out

quick-eyed love

to circle your translucent 

light

in flashing blackness

and here I am

a stone

under a glassy gaze

thrown up now

besides your

lifeless curled up form

a hole in your side

leaking liquid love

staining sand

with some transcendent

goodness

I’ll lie by you a while

I’ll decide to die 

to the hammer

blows of self

unite with you 

as silence 

like the evening

descends

I didn’t imagine

I’d rise with you

no

some white darting dove

broke through

the black flapping ranks

to brush a gentle

wing across our cheeks

it was like a kiss

you woke

and we both inhaled

the air of dreams

mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?

O silver-surfaced soul catching rays from eyes loving long after light and song have gone

"I will ..."

Live only unto your beloved on the Holy Estate so as to avoid the Dreadful Judgment

Hold on to what you have for better or worse, in riches and in poverty, in sickness and in health

Live together in love until the end

Excel

Help each other to be all that you are meant to be

Live life together now and that life will flow through you into the future

Know daily that love finds its Centre beyond itself

Give of your self and your soul will become richer

Fix your eyes only on what’s real and what’s important

Sow the seeds of eternal life in your heart ...

Offer your body as a living sacrifice because this is an act of pure worship

Do not conform to the pattern of this world

Be transformed by the renewing of your mind

Test and approve what God’s will is – it is always good, pleasing and perfect

Be sincere in your love

Hate what is evil

Cling to what is good

Be devoted to one another in love

Honour one another above yourself

Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor

Serve the Lord

Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer

Share with the Lord’s people who are in need

Practice hospitality

Bless those who persecute you, never, ever curse

Rejoice with those who rejoice

Mourn with those who mourn

Live in harmony with one another

Do not be proud

Be willing to associate with people of low position

Do not be conceited

Do not repay anyone evil for evil

Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone

Live at peace with everyone, if at all possible, as far as it depends on you …

And in the times when you cannot see, remember the words of the mystic:

“Be who you were meant to be and you will set the world on fire" ...

Just one last thing - remember every morning the poet’s warning: 

"Love will not be constrained by mastery; when mastery comes,

the God of love soon beats his wings, and, farewell, he is gone!"