po'em, n. [Fr. poeme; L. poema; Gr. poiema, anything made, a poem, from poiein, to make]

Memory Harbour

2012-01-19T00:51:00.000-08:00

"No one creates ... the artist assembles memories ... The artist is a person who has developed observation and memory." Jack Yeats

Memory Harbour

Come to rest

Within the bounds

Of coastline behind eyes

Where waters lap

And waves unfurl

…Hush now

Recall the big

And the small

Remember

And call from the depths

What you lived

…But begged to forget

SCF

May God transform what I cannot approach

2012-01-11T17:30:00.001-08:00

May God put the final nail in the coffin

May it not be me

May God unsheathed vengeances’ steel knife

May it not be me

May God fill the gaping void left by manifold silences

May it not be me

May God ingest the swirling darkness of sin

May it not be me

May I choose to see

What does not, could not, ever, belong to me

The long drawn-out sigh *

2012-01-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

The long drawn-out sigh
Stretches across the centuries
Each generation stands on the bow-ing bridge of years
And points, with whitening finger, to vistas threaded through with longing
Time silences not one jot of desire unfulfilled

The long drawn-out sigh
Covers like the weightless air of morning
All who are born
Grow and suppress it if you will
But know that your deep pools of aching darkness
Ripple only once or twice a lifetime

[When one word fired forth from heaven's doorway - like a lover's arrow - pierces heart's haven and at last - the long drawn-out sigh - stretched to its uttermost - is gathered into manifold meaning's fold]

advent wings

2011-12-20T15:07:00.001-08:00

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 …

2011-12-17T16:14:00.001-08:00

advent wondering

2011-12-17T16:09:00.000-08:00

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

2011-11-09T08:21:00.001-08:00

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

2011-11-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

cold stillness

2011-11-05T11:16:00.001-07:00

try

2011-11-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

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

2011-10-21T12:16:00.000-07:00

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?’

2011-09-05T00:36:00.000-07:00

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?

2011-08-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

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." *

2011-08-25T00:11:00.000-07:00

"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

2011-08-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

"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

2011-08-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-15T03:38:00.000-07:00

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

2011-08-14T15:12:00.001-07:00

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

2011-08-14T15:06:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-24T02:50:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

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

2011-07-13T15:36:00.000-07:00

news corp* cannot incorporate

bskyb

let it be

let it be

* 'global vertically integrated media company'

I do not have you close by

2011-07-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

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

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

I do have you close by (mp3)

lovelorn

2011-07-08T11:17:00.000-07:00

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

lovelorn (mp3)

let

2011-07-06T15:05:00.001-07:00

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

2011-07-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

In the midst of mourning

In the depths of night

On the edge of despair

At the dawning of light