Beauty

. Roofless Church The stone-hewn walls, No window sash. No pews, no halls. Burnt logs, damp ash. The roof, vanished. No organ flues. Shaped block, granite, And endless view. Above, hawks soar. No bells to...

. "It Just So Happens" Dark creatures prowl the islands of the mind On silent paw, as panthers in the night; Two em'rald eyes, and shadow intertwine To weave a myst'ry with the curved moon's light. We sail our...

. Speak Loud God's Praise ---to the tune of Ellacombe ("I Sing the Mighty Power of God") Speak loud the praise of God most high!__Give thanks for He is good!Let those who know His power to save__Be first to...

. Ode to the Dogs Puppy to playmate they bring us much joy whether sleeping or hunting for favorite toys. Mischief abounds while they teethe and make noise as we patiently groom their behavioral ploys. Rapid...

. Samhain Behind the turning leaves a red-breast peeks,In light dim-lit by mists on Samhain dawn;The earth is churned by drumming, grubbing beaks,Before the frosts are hard and food is worn.In orange...

. Underfoot Fescue and clover: A luxuriant carpet Fit for a king’s feet. . . Murder They take noisy flight, Leaving the harvest’s stubble To hungry field mice. The crows will not make a sound When they...

. Contemplative Days A sky of dim and pale display __Brings forth late autumn calm. "A restful peace," it seems to say; __My soul receives the balm. The faded leaves of golden tint __Which cover thick the...

. Smile “Nothing you wear is more important than your smile.” ---Connie Stevens I didn’t weigh your sway and worth__Until you left my faceDevoid of joy and minus mirth.__You left without a traceOf...

. Melancholy Hues (of Autumn) ---an ode The third of four trimesters of the yearsees summer flag. The mercury recedesand chilly grey replaces skies once clear,while on Earth’s tilted axis, Autumn feeds. From...

. Truth Streaked Across the Sky Truth streaked across the skyAlighting on a foreign strand,Where politicians buried itBeneath the lying sand. The truth was stranger than the lies,Too dazzling for the mind.The...

. Diners For single men alone, what impulse spurs us To find them everywhere? –the burned-out lights, the squat brick block, so many times repurposed, the worn, clichéd inside, lit over-bright: Plump rows...

. Raking Leaves The blaze of autumn's orange-gold is gone, And now it's time to rake the fallen leaves, __To clear the cluttered eaves, __And face a colder dawn. Those piles and piles of crispy, mottled...

. Solid Rock With open heart, but eyes shut tight, led by our feelings, not by sight, they are the rock upon which we once built the fantasy that the foundation that we engineered inside our mind as thoughts...

. First Pick Flamingo They used to call this player the flamingo; They chaffed and mocked; they were full of bravado. ‘Cause he’s the new kid, they didn’t know his skills He missed three practice shots,...

. A Brief Respite From murky depths, I rise, by duty fetched,And breaking surface in the waking world,I find my horizontal self outstretched,Exposed to view, like some old map unfurled. Upon this couch, I sink...

. Beryl Spring ---Yellowstone National Park Towering torrents of steam and mist Rise next to the side of the road, Beckoning drivers to park and trudge toward a cloud. Roars like the noise of jet engines...

. The Garden Dense boughs and variegated blooms __That once festooned a garden Are dying as November births __Pellucid forms that harden On them, my attic's roof, and grass. Now every morning when I...

. A Recruiter Tells It as It Isn’t Your World War One recruitment agent prays he finds you well. Your King and Country says we need you for a dalliance in France. In gay Paris, you’ll get to chat and...

. Homeostasis "When it is not necessary to change, it is necessary not to change."  —Lucius Cary, Viscount Falkland In general, everybody wishes things Would stay the same. An endless barbecue Of ribs and...

. The Ghosts of Altamira ---a meditation A herd of prehistoric bison; blood beliefs Depicted in concentric whorls with prints of hands. Stick petroglyphs which hint at ice age births and griefs, And spells to...

. Contra Computerdom I hold this fountain pen with thumb and fingers, burgundy barrel, gold and rhodium nib, Montblanc white-sea-star floating on its cap. German, this instrument, successor to the stylus...

. Simplicity “Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.” ---Sir Isaac Newton I smell you in the fresh-mown lawnAs linen billows in the breeze.I hear you...

. Elegy for a Cowboy Cousin An autumn wind is stirring strong across the dusty hills, As tumbleweeds leave skittered tracks within the sandy rills. The western sun is slanting deep through breaks in gathering...

. Loose Me! “Loose him, and let him go.” ---John 11.44 O loose me, Jesus! Jesus, set me free from all that binds my soul and blinds my way. Unwrap the shrouds of death that cling to me! Let every shade of...

. Song of the Spirit After midnight slightly drowsy, Contemplating writing lousy, While the script-score I redacted, Something in my head reacted. Dreamed I heard a stirring curtain, Though my mind remained...

. The Iron Road  Flecked with the dust of snow, the iron rails Lie still and undisturbed beneath a sky Of cloudless blue where eagles freely fly, Their wings outspread to catch the wind like sails. They soar...

. Passing Through a Graveyard Marred old friends whose breath has passed Are cold friends whose breadth I pass. Some I pray they pray for me. Some they pray I pray them free. Hewn in granite where was...

. Prayer as an Antidote for Unbelief Just imagine if, while you’re entreating the sky, You were met with the wink of a generous Eye. __A very grave disaster it would be __If all there was to your approach...

. Autumn I find myself possessed among the red (The maple) and the yellow (oak); possessed Of some distinct yet subtle joy inbred So deep within me, there so dear impressed Its merest hint the whole world...

. A Ballad of Bellport In stockings and slippers, A dress to her knees, She scans the horizon And takes in the breeze. She glances to Heaven, Peruses the seas. Reports of a mishap Have filled her with...

. The Good Life What is the good life that God is providing? What is the good life He seeks to impart? How can I know that I live in God’s favor? How can I know that I’m close to His heart? If in my life...

. S O S Keep the fleecy wolves from bleating. Hold the pack of jackals back. Seize the greedy grubbers eating Scraps from bowls of those who lack. Bar the charlatans from cheating. Quell the yak of quack and...

. Look Up Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn on a world split apart The prophet scorned the academic dress of those who had invited him to their Parnassus of the Ivy League. Why wear their garb, when he intended not to...

. Skellig Michael a remote island off the Irish coast A whispered, whistled wind resounds the echo Of the circling gannets’ raucous cry. While far below, the white noise, sea surge surf Collides with barren...

. The Walk Whether you call it a walk or a run, some animals tread on the water for fun, to flee, chase their food, or show off for their mate. Grebes, doing a dazzling dance for their date, slap their lobed...

. Tattered I watched a butterfly today, grappling with the barbarous breeze. She was suspended and entrapped under a canopy of trees. Her tattered wing was on display, a tragedy for all to see. Descending...

. Apologies at Antoninus Pius’s Table, 155 A.D. . I. Rome’s Glory “Arriving at this feast, how proud I stand that Rome endures to succor those who dwell here in this citadel and those whose hands till...

. To Melody, on Her Wedding Day And now the hour has come for you to fly, To leave your early nest and take the air For vistas yet unseen (though God knows where He’ll take you, as He knew in days gone...

Old Chestnut I’m the spirited girl with the chestnut hair, Common countenance pale, smile occasionally stressed, High forehead and wide, sculpted jawline square, A pert single chin, curving neck...

. Three Death Musings . 1 One day the conqueror worm will conquer me And therewith render life the Joker's joke. Ensuing laughter will then posit the Arch-ruse and waft away the Joker's smoke As I emerge a...