Earth

Earth.

I sense beneath the skin of ground
a mighty heart in rhythmic beat,
feel its vastness and its strength,
a pulse of life beneath my feet,

Sense an exhalation of breath
scud the clouds and sway the leaves,
form the ponds, rivers and lakes
from deep communion with the seas.

I feel its wind song in my heart,
a slant of light inside my brain,
inhale scents rich like heady wine,
absorb the soak of steady rain.

Know it holds me in its arms,
hear its blended sounds rejoice,
and to the songs of bird and breeze
In simple praise add my small voice.

It holds me, sustains me, gives me life,
richly enfolds me all around
and will still hold me in its arms,
even when I am in the ground.

Yet deep within my heart and mind
I sense a greater, cosmic force
behind and through and in it all,
the one great true eternal source.

This Ocean, So Deep and Vast

This ocean, so deep and vast,
Is rarely calm or quiet.
Rippling wind, zephyr and gale
bring troughs, crests or cliff-pounding roar.
What can we do who are held in its tide
but take courage and surrender to its flow,
knowing that in stillness and storm alike
richness and beauty abounds.
Let then this immensity
take me where it will.

Frog Song Haiku

evening chorus,
ecstatic cacophony
of frogs praising rain.

I Know the Renewal in the East

I see renewal in the east,
the water rising from the sea,
the rain that falls from tumbling cloud,
the bright new flush from seed.

I see the momentary eastern blaze,
the transient dew of dawn,
the setting sun's fading glow
reflected in the morn.

I watch the river's rush and flow,
the rapids running free,
the current and the torpor,
the dispersal into sea.

I feel the dapple and the dark,
the sunshine and the shadow,
slanting columns, backlit clouds,
laughter, love and sorrow.

I sense the weight of night,
its embroidered velvet mystery,
the trek of stars across the sky,
the incomprehensible eternity.

Come, Hold Me

Come, hold me,
for the world is so mingle mixed,
so contrastingly, proportionally fixed-
pain flooded, beauty buoyant,
achingly sad, fleetingly joyous,
poignantly littered, pathos strewn,
touchingly tender, savagely hewn-
for under this blue, beauty-laden sky
we laugh, labour, mourn and sigh,
seek answers to an unknowable why,
see much to make the tender heart cry-
so hold me. Make all seem bright.
Tenderly grant me your sweet respite.
Bathe me in your wonder and light.
Momentarily wash away the night.

The Gossamer Heft

Love is the chart for this twisting track:
the weight we carry upon our back,
a burden and a source of pain,
a leaden load within our pack.
Love is buoyant lightness and gain:
a zephyr touch, eyes that adore,
a torch to guide through darkest night,
feather wings to rise, glide and soar,
the gossamer heft of transforming light.

I Hear the Music

When these limbs were strong,
when ears were young and clear,
when each day was unblinkingly bright,
much grand music I could not hear.

Now they hear a vast symphony
from stars traversing the night,
and these declining ears hear "alleluia"
from vast pinpricks of cosmic light.

They hear it too from a drop of dew,
hear it from the falling rain,
hear it swell and hear it fade,
hear those motifs return again.

They hear it from a falling leaf,
hear it from the forest floor.
from soaring tree and fallen log
sound melodies that I adore.

They hear it too in baby's cry,
from rosy cheeks and shining hair,
hear from love's deep bond and union
songs with harmonies bright and fair.

They hear this beautiful, symphonic world
filled with the magic of sound.
Hear it swell, rise, crescendo, fall,
echo, harmonise and resound.

They hear it too within my chest,
they hear it from each tiny cell,
hear in the twisted helix of DNA
a great song rise and swell

and though these limbs no longer spring
these fading ears hear the throng
and raising my voice I cry aloud
"I hear the music! I sing the song!"