but above all things truth beareth away the victory

Speak through the heat, haze and hubris
Sound just one word
Food for a wayward journeyer
Caught
Upon foreign planes
Within distant memories

I couldn't tell you why I went outwardly so far
When inwardly there was only one spot to stand upon
And weep
To remain so still within yet be moving and moving
Across fields and cities in sunshine, snow and rain
Tell me why I did not wait for the early morning dew?

Moments came and went
Fleeting little things so briefly alighting
I couldn't ever catch one
Not even once
But how, how could it be
With my candle and my cross and a bleeding heart
Could I ever be imprinted with evening song?

Definition enough, enough now
For a moment falls from the sky
Like a falling star
Full of death, full of belonging, full of fire
Tell me, how could it be that I should make
Such a trilogy a part of me?

Light wards was not above but within
Emanating from a pierced heart
And a translucent side
Rough wood catches me most nights
Between majesty and awakening
Beholding and flowering

And Beauty
Is asking
To be seen
Asking to be
Taken inside
And wholly loved

everything depends upon the rain

everything depends upon the rain
rushing, pouring, trickling, spitting
down, down
everything depends upon the soft drops
pentrating hard earth
finding the roots

everything depends upon standing outside
in the downpour
being soaked to the skin
and within
a deep well bubbles up
and laughs

everthing scorched
everything bitten by dust
everything withered
and dried up
soaked, soaked

everything depends upon the rain
the rain, rain
falling down, falling fast
falling between us
and within our hearts

Craft

Reflection: Practice your Craft and you find a faithful friend. Don't leave, ignore or sell out Craft. Don't betray Craft, for in doing so you betray yourself. Build your life around the demands and visions of Craft. Otherwise you will die before dying. Craft will then give you air to breath in the midst of foul pollution; hope in the midst of scattered dreams.

Text: Exodus 31: See I have called you by name. I have filled you with the Spirit of God in wisdom and understanding, in knowledge and all kinds of craftsmanship, to make artistic designs ...
Judges 6.34: The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet ...

Prayer: It is true in these days that your Spirit is given without measure, and that I am named and called by the Creator of the universe. I ask for wisdom and understanding to work through the gifts given to me. May I beautify your house and serve your holy name, like Bezalel of old. Please give me strength and grace this day to worship you and create in your image; as I am made, so may I make. Amen.

elemental

EARTH In the soil I cover myself
FIRE Rubbing sticks to make a spark
WATER And later in the warmth of the water
AIR I breathe deeply
LIFE Rivers springing eternal from within this earthen vase

Poem on the Passing of Pope John Paul 11

:and so it comes, the end
:deeply embedded in the beginning
:a line within the mind
:a deep fissure in the heart
:the knowledge of it flickering
:the flame extending
:as the candle slowly burns
:and the shadows lengthen
:and so it comes, the end

:life, a shallow sea to swim in
:before the disappearance into the deep

Touching the Lord

For Karol Wjotyla

Going – like a slow walk through a meadow towards autumn
Skin – a shrivelled leaf, veins showing through the papery veil that has been home
Soul and spirit pulling apart now
And the stronger the light comes
The longer the shadow is cast
Prayers mingling with quiet emotion
Reflections before bedtime
History gathering you in her arms, kissing your forehead
And whispering:
“Thank you, son – you made me well...”
Slipping away now
Someone reading to you like a loving mother of Christ’s slow passage home
The cross searing into every memory
Bound, like Him, led to a place you do not wish to go
What is the last thing you see?
The call carried on the waiting mourners:
“Stretch out your hands, my son, come follow Me...”

vain citadels not walled

what broke u down vain citadels?
winter underfoot and cold cold hands
empty eyes and a fierce wind from the east
to defy any notion of a loving god

what broke u down lost girl?
vanity vanity chirps the bird
cheap cheap mourns the flesh
melding with god knows what

what broke u down dreamer?
one figment too many rose up
to offer your destiny on past's plate
eat eat now and sleep as you wake

what broke me down?
winter, cold hands, empty eyes
the east wind, vanity, mourning
and today's dreams of yesterday