Voice of the Stranger

God speaks, and God is to be heard, not only on Sinai, not only in my own heart, but in the voice of the stranger. Thomas Merton

Holy night,
human speech ceasing,
leaves whispering, praising
marsh-reeds swaying
in the gusty breath of God.

Throughout the hot day, lusting
tongues lashed; verbs clashed
through the busy lanes. Fear filled us
as we sought the hidden path.

Just listen
to the night-
song of dark meadows;
spring-swollen showers,
tears of passion,
engorge the sterile land.

Oh, hear the stranger sing
through these dry, city streets,
tell tales of strange
and ponderous deeds,

songs of frogs
who, once loved,
became kings!

(6 Feb. 2014)

After the Massacre

“The real point of the contemplative life has always been a deepening of faith so that our union with God is experienced.” Thomas Merton


Close to the ground
there is darkness.

Deep shadows 
fill the spaces,
trunk to trunk.

They cling, 
spread wide roots, 
hold on, 
resist 
the savage pull 
of night

while high geese
shout praise 
light lifting
strong wings.

Trees nod, 
and raise high branches
to faithful God, 

positive flame
making bright 
hidden day.

(12 Dec 2012)

Air Show

Cloudless thunder                                                  

splits the sky

as white planes rise

on red fire.

Vertically

to apogee,

they rocket

then fall

screaming

back to ground-

zero

to soar again in glory

as the cheering crowd

shrieks for more!

From my backyard,

I see small birds reel,

made awkward  with fear

when the fighter steeply banks

just past my line

of defiant trees. 

The afterburner’s thrust

can both exhilarate

and annihilate.

Proud simians,

faster than eagles

dropping like

thunderbolts,

we are perfect

raptors -

we are masters

of gravity.

(3 May 2014)

Ego-trip

Locked inside

where only I can be

lonely cries echo,

deafening me.

I peer through sockets

through skull

and soft flesh,

blood coursing

nerves enmesh

electric thoughts rocketing

through bone-strapped brain,

lightning revealing

God's face once again.

With muttering thunder,

the sad world declines

back into empty

personal night.

(22 May 2012)

Colorado

rushing, wildly running

through narrowing gorge,

plunging ever away

from what it was –

calm pond

silent spring slipping

time’s bond --

descending cliffs

flowing, always flowing

gathering all the waters of the west

to become the Colorodo –

carver of canyons,

life giver, death dealer

river of earth.

(8 October 2015)

The Inward Man

Day after day the outward man crumbles and breaks down, and the inward man is born and grows in wisdom and knowledge. Thomas Merton

Leaf-bare,

swaying, slave

to the storm, I wait 

for the gale 

to drive me down, 

dismember me

scatter my shattered limbs 

across winter’s ground,

while deep inside

my cambrian core

life persists! 

I’ll survive. 

Beyond my limit

I will arise!

(28 March 2012)

St. Sebastian

Slender arrows,
pierce me through.

I wanted to forgive, 

but too quickly 

they flew.

My mind fades.

I rise to You. 

**

(12/30/2011)

Image: St. Sebastian, Andrea Mantegna 1456-59, Kunsthistorisches Museum 

(viewed at the De Young Museum, San Francisco)