Poet to Reader

Deep inside my silence
words glow like burning stones
plunging to dark waters.

Share with me my holy fire!
With joyful shouts,
we’ll flood the hidden rivers.

But if you leave
I cease.

My words die
without your eyes,
molder to
faded stains.

So come into my heart
and sing with me
this mystic chant!

We’ll be madmen,
hunting diamonds in the dark.

to the center

Photo: Brian Federle, "Night", 2014


the

beat

steady;

constant hum,

music of days to

night fading; the right note, only

song you know; sum of your days, falling, falling to night.

so

go

to the

center, to

the black place to wait

for Him. Don’t call out in fear for

there’s nobody there but you and He, so simply be

and

hear

how His song

fills your darkness with

light; smile at Him, your familiar

bright friend, and no longer will you fear your emptiness.

(23 Dec 2013)

Kentucky

Image: Fancy Farm, Kentucky

Summer steam

washes us clean

like a warm bath

as we wade through young fields, 

new corn waist high 

to where blue sky 

meets the rustling green sea.

We navigate by dead-

reckoning to the red barn. 

Wary of snakes, 

with flailing stick you flush 

out the tall, quick hares.

Feathers flashing, quail

burst heavenward at 

our clumsy approach, 

but in the dark barn 

we find 

forgiveness.

God's own light streams down 

into fragrant stalls

as wise eyes

regard us.

We reach out to touch.

They nod, 

first in warning,

then with bright approval.

(6 Feb 2012)

At Caritas

I gaze

through the undergrowth

into deeper woods.

Redwoods rise,

limbs link tree

to brother tree,

climbing high

to the bright

coastal fog.

Walking out

I see the three,

still as lawn ornaments,

frozen in motion,

stunned

by my sudden form.

They stand and gaze

and reassured

by my stasis,

at last with lazy gait

back they move

into the nodding

trees.

(3 May 2016)

Starling Flight: Murmurations

Starlings whorl, 

gyre curls

rise, turn, drop

to airy knot

rippling mist, round

folds, cloud 

undulant

when, without warning,

they light and draw a tight

line of night 

on thin wires.

The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere

“The gate of heaven is everywhere.” Thomas Merton

I can hear your soft breath,

gentle strains of music

the easy breeze

nudges the curtains

and peace flows

across my skin

like cool water.

But soon impatient dusk

will overtake bright day

when the sun dims

in the dark grip

of eclipse, and ancient

terror thrills even

the most

comprehending mind;

for this is when

metaphore

overtakes fact,

and unknown stars glint

in the afternoon sky.

We never knew

they were hanging so low,

diamonds in deep

caverns,

new light!

(27 Nov 2012: 21 Aug 2017)

Cliffside

Cliffside, Photo by Brian Federle, Oct. 2014

Down the trail

to where the gravel ends,

beneath the indifferent gaze

of giants, engulfed in emerald shade,

swiftly drops the forest

to the singing

creek.

after blue day

night rises

from dark soil

slowly filling

the space between

slender blades

spreading ink

over windows,

eaves, still trees

until the earth

becomes one

with the
stars.

(10 May 2016)

Rockville Road

soft sweep

of gentle hills

fallow fields

famished

for black seed

worked earth

glistening

in late rain

listening

to songs of

spring

as every

narrow

furrow

waits

(20 July 2013)

Binary

A young child falls

and, laughing, rises to

his mother’s arms.

Rivers of youth

cut canyons

from ancient

bones.

(16 Nov. 2011; Rev 2/15/2017)

It Happens

 

I can see it coming,

small in the distance

just a spot at first,

but I know

it's coming for me

sure-air, clear

cross-hairs

frame my soul,

zero-in

on my languid pen

til, joyfully I bolt

for the house, tear

through dark rooms,

turn on my dim light,

and breathlessly wait

for the poem

to strike.

Christmas Eve, After Mass

The light from the tree

throws gold on my

dark wall.

Night lurks, but

thin windows

keep the wind at bay

as day flows faithfully

to day.

So we wait

for the exuberant sun

to spill reckless warmth

over the grateful Earth.

Life is a prize,

a gift of great value

gold given by the eastern king

to the newborn

child.

So receive it!

Your faith

has saved you.

(24 December 2010)

They Seek You in the Storm

They seek you in the storm

riding high above the lightning, striking

the yielding earth with your fire.

In fields of the dead; in

seeds flung deep -

the generations unknown,

they seek you

in the stars

coldly staring,

your imagined face

in the emptiness of

interstellar

space.

But I know you. 

Lurking

in my lonely night,

alone, I seek.

(31 March 2014; 8 Dec 2016)

Survivor

My busy day paused,

gassing up the car,

I waited as the gallons flowed

and clicked to a stop,

and ready to go,

I slowly drove

toward the busy street

when the sudden crush

of limb and leaf,

held me on the edge ­—

wondering

how a dying tree’s 

green embrace

cradled me

in my shattered car,

unscathed.