Redwoods at Dawn

House Amongst the Redwood Trees: photo by Frank Schulenburg, 2012

Shafts of night rising

from earth, climb past my front door,

shade my window, vault

past the high arch, lift

the sky with narrow rings of

never-ending green

as golden morning

crowns with light; excited birds

sing out graven night.

(11 January 2014)

Golden-eyed Day

Golden-eyed day

blazing through trees

swaying,

mockingbirds and blue-jays

clinging

to dancing branches, singing

as feathered forms

flash darkly past

and gone in a blinking.

But silence remains:

empty chairs

waiting.

(13 June 2011)

Refuge

Fog hangs in bright tents
contagion enfolds
blighted white mist
like driven, lost souls.

But curtains enclose
our dim, soft room,
and lanterns guard
against fog’s ashen gloom.

So build high the fire
to warm us this night;
we'll silently wait for
dawn’s thin, brittle light.

(29 January 2011)

Edge of Extinction

*Reinertson, Neptune's Daughter, Ceramic photo credit:Scott McCue* Edge of Extinction Ceramic Sculpture by Lisa Reinertson Pence Gallery Davis, CA April 26 - June 14

When the pelicans fall
my throbbing heart will erupt
into hot rain, cloud-burst
to drown your dirty towns
fill your black lungs
‘till, clean at last,
you will feel
the pelicans’
pain.

(7 March 2013)

You Speak

"I am myself a word spoken by God. Can God speak a word 
that does not have any meaning?" Thomas Merton

You speak

and I breath the air 

that you imagine,

smile, and like the calling bird,

I rise to the sun!

But when my selfish soul

swells with self-

sent hell

you wake me, 

and expel me

from my troubled sleep.

Oh, I yearn for that day

when forgiven and

by your love

subsumed,

I'll steadfastly abide

in your constant light.

(2 February 2012)

Elegy for Jeanette

“Every moment and every event of every man's life on earth plants something in his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men.”  Thomas Merton

The moment you died
I felt a breeze rise
tussle of wind
tumult of 
transfiguration.

Nothing is the same.
since your soul
broke through.

My eyes sting
with tears
with grief
with the sharp seeds
of ecstasy.

In the beautiful box
you lay, wrinkled brow
withered hands
pampered
by white silk,  
thrall to the embrace
of never ending
grace.

And so I leave you
in this shadowed place.

Gaping and dumb,
I can say nothing
but “fare thee well,
oh great soul,
and to heaven
quickly flee!”

(24 January 2013)

Demons

Lurking just behind me

may be demons

hideous, mis-shapen things

creatures from hateful waters,

horns and clutching claws

waiting to carry me off, 

sinner that I am, to my

just reward.

Maybe.

But more fearful by far

than Satan and his kin, 

is the evil that lurks

within.

Show me a man

who is absolutely sure

of his own saintly precision, 

and I'll show you

a man in desperate need

of exorcism.

(15 March 2012)

Caïn

L'action délicate de la grâce dans l'âme est profondément perturbé par toute violence humaine . Passion , quand il est excessif , ce est faire violence à l'esprit et sa violence la plus dangereuse est celle dans laquelle nous semblons trouver la paix . La violence ne est pas complètement mort jusqu'à ce qu'il cesse de nous déranger. Thomas Merton . Pensées dans la solitude.


Comme un vent délicate
ta grâce en forme de mon âme infantile
rempli mon vide
avec la forme angélique

et je étais belle
et la bonne

jusqu'à ce que, jaloux de votre amour ,
Je ai tué mon frère .

Maintenant, je crains l'abîme
qui se ouvre sous moi
la tombe
de mon péché - flétrie âme.

Pour vous je prie
pardonnez-moi! me ramener
de la paix engourdissement
de négligence , vide
jour .

(1 Février 2013)