‘The Agony and The Ecstasy’ by Gail Kaye Naegele

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The Agony and The Ecstasy

I beg among the lonely hours
__oblivious to time and space
and pace beneath the Sistine towers
__where pigments paint my puzzled face.
Why call me to divine commission,
as if I am the King’s magician,
to turn blank skies to holy vision;
__oblivious to time and space?

I flee to hills of alabaster,
__where ancient gods sleep in soft stone;
there gaze at dawn from fields of aster,
__in sunlit clouds, behold a throne!
Benign, God glows in grace and glory,
his finger tracing allegory,
on clear blue skies creation’s story
__His vision of the towers shone.

With passion’s pulse I paint the towers
__as form and color mold blank sky;
a tempest tethered endless hours
__to paint the vision or to die.
Though my flesh and bones are aching,
for beauty’s cause the world forsaking,
for splendor by His love creating
__and as I paint I sing and cry.

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