Life and Death

Upon hearing the sound
Of  horn, hoof and hound
Like mountain streams gone riverbound
Refreshing waters underground
In canyons deep where oceans abound
Done round and round and round
He ventured an stumbled like a funny clown
To the peopled Borough where the lights shown
Up and down the mounds
Over the hills and statued lawns
In distant floating nights and breezy chirping dawns
On his face were dew and sun
Guiding to the place and town
Of schooled and steepled vagabond
Where the only safe one
Was the rabbit on the run
The glory was great and wine ran freely
Kisses like roses, fragrant and silly
Those in tails and wedding gowns danced gaily
Rocking babies in their cribs slept well
Old ones rested and blessed the spell
With stories long gone and present to tell
So the spinning spun along in the dell
And all things seemed well done and said
When on the green the fox turned red
Startled by the black sound of a gun
Well before it's shout the race had begun
Come spring, come summer, come fall undone
For life and horizon
Origin and destination
Cursing , fighting and alienation
Creating, loving with much dedication
Toil, blessing and damnation
Prayer, song and coronation
Flowers, fowlers and commendation
Prosperity, fools gold , joy and lamentation
Of living, dieing and regeneration
Till the muted coo coo looked on without animation
In the pasture the cows lowed to slow the expectation
Time's point ever sharpening while dulling sensation
Shot an arrow from a distant quiver
Below Country and  town  began to shiver
Breath on his lips was fleeting and the clouds fickle
Southward Ducks and Geese looked down like angels
Upon each newborn calf, lamb and foal
The bell in the in the market place began to toll
With howling the windswept snow-squalls flew
Slowly hands of ice on placid waters grew
Then all was calm in his mind's landscape view
Of all he had been, done, of those he'd loved and knew
Till shades gone and scattered shadows shew
Now lain aside were cap and gown
As vacant white sleep lay quiet on frozen ground
Silently fly away, fly away, sight and sound
Far from his bosom, where he lay down 
With the earth his bed, the cold his blanket,
The snow his pillow, G-d his comfort,
And death his crown.

The Well of Night

The Well of night is frightening
The dark hides many things
To look therein is fearful
What is found there is terrifying
Inside the broken rings in rings
The sunlight breaks down upon the barrier
Reflecting on the surface of the pool
And gives me strength like a warrior
To carry on strong yet my heart is cool
I dare not peer into that place
For this strength is weakness that must pass
In that day far away but sure
When that season brings the rain
To wash away the dredge of sludge
To drain away the underwater pain
When night is broken and peace shall reign
There baby and elder, sick and unwanted
Large and insignificant to gain
Then I will lose myself in the clear blue sky
With clouds for resting cushions
And stars for companions by and by.

A Prayer for loved ones

Oh the pain, Oh the pain
For my loved ones
And their fading strength
Like a breath that I cannot catch
Like the fleeting moment that is past
As I climb a mountain of emotion
To the pinnacle of prayer
There I spy release from evil's lair
For my beloved ones tender and fair
To see them struggle against darkest night
Oh Lord fan the spark of life
His assurance calms my fright
I do not know where they travel
In His ship of peace can be no evil
I take comfort in this right spirit
Oh the pain, Oh the pain
of my loved ones ripped away
Their faces fade to black and white
Speaking softly in my night of their day
Showing me things I'd long forgotten
 They clap for me while I play
Silently they tread away
From my field of cotton
In their eyes a knowing look
Welled up with tears of joy
My heart is sad and lacrimose
With the longings of a boy
To be enfolded again in arms now lost
Where they are I cannot be
Where they be I surely go
To the deep black light of starry sea
When the sun shall wash away our memory
And we embrace at the end of day
Restored anew in Love's endless country.

Time and Being

The twisting cloudy mists
Of all that we seek to grasp
Slips away to become
That which we think we wanted
And when we find ourselves
In the place of our desire
A pebble comes to break up
Our reflection in the pool of vision
At that instant the crash of time appears
Violently to rip away part of our life and
For a fleeting moment we come
Face to face with our mortality
In the cold damp tomb of
Our now uncertain furture
No matter how we distract ourselves
In the flurry of life
A piece of us shudders
Waiting for the shock of death
To deliver us into
The still and roaring presence of G-d.