Your Love

To what shall I liken your love?
Still as  silent water
Stretched in sleep beneath your trees,
Reflecting sky and forest shadows,
Filled with life, fish and water fowl,
Insect and all pond dependent life.

Nesting birds enjoy your love
From generation to generation.
Your love,
Supple as the bending reed and strong
As the weeping willow is strong,
soft as downy chicks,
Woven and soaked into the fabric
Scaffolding and soft warm flesh and skin
Of all you have made.

This one love begins and ends with you.
We are born to enter in.

Loves we have derived from your one love,
But they are false and lead to death,
An immitation that cannot sustain the part,
That offer plastic chiton and exoskeleton,
sharp edges and corners,
Stone pride, slashing hate, burning anger,
hasty sketches
For the sinusoidal,
curvacious beauty only your love has made.

Nuturing love, naturally from you,
It is who you are, making us thankful,
secure,
Who you are,
Making you vulnerable
To our twisted borrowings,
Our killing derivitives.

You chose that route,
Our love crossed you,
But you are the greater love,
Stronger than death.

We watched you rise
From our sorry grave,
Rise and rise
As your tsunami
Swept the world.

You say you will return.
In whose love
Will you find us living then?

Easter From The Far Side Of The Moon

I can read and write, but first mind is dark,
So small my God in my understanding
Among the destination stars that mark
The night sky, crowded with angels landing
And ascending in casual traffic,
Intergalactic guardians intent
On serving Him, everywhere the graphic
Cross symbol raised for those who will repent,
Enter the mysterium of power,
Resonating, irresistible love,
That word again, for this love doth flower
Galaxies from atoms, from couples, trove
Human populations whose swift wheels turn
By resurrection loves renewing burn.

Evensong

We are slain by fear of death,
Yet death died for all in Him,

In Him we rise when morning dawns.

Wind rises, falls in forests dark and thoughtful,
Evening vespers in the leaves of trees,
Singing like the sea.

A choir of voices in the stone chapel
Worship the Lord of new day,
Day that is past and tomorrow that shall come.

Be with us tonight as we sleep

Be with us tomorrow as we rise

We sing amen upon this day,
Thank-you and amen.

Tonight as we sleep,
between the alleluia and the alleluia,
fill our sleeping dreams.

Building A Church

Come, stone upon stone, then lay the timbers,
Freshly cut cedars from the hills around,
Pause in the labour, gaze on the harbours
Calm waters from this hillside looking down,
A church on a hill, we build it with love,
Come, you are welcome, we all volunteer,
Worship with hammer and saw, ragged glove,
What skills we possess are all welcome here.
Now lift up the tall walls, and brace them square,
Then we'll hoist roof beams with a hired crane,
Roof members uniting high in the air,
Church members uniting, pray for no rain,
Hammering shingles with unbroken praise,
Steeple bell ringing, our faces ablaze!

Easter Victory

Some war is not rapid-fire, nor cyber,
Nor martial arts, breaking bones, strikes of pain,
Nor greater grit, tougher moral fibre
Wins the battle, victory to attain,
A cross on Golgatha stands forever,
The tomb is empty, the stone out of play,
A battle was fought and won that never
Fired a bullet nor blew cities away,
Death sank cowering in utter defeat
A kingdom descended, a city of light
Darkness scattered in glorious retreat
The risen Redeemer now throned in might
Death bloody killed, prison served, justice done,
Let Easter peaceful dawn, no firing gun.

The Dove And Whitsuntide

                 
Falls white dove Father-sent on gentle wing,
Then Whitsuntide  with tongues of Spirit flame,
The upper room baptism, ennabling,
now fearless in faith preaching Jesus' name
Wth no silver, gold, they give what they can
The blind and the lame, sick and heart broken,
All healed, and so the fledgling church began
Under holy words of power spoken,
The foolishness of preaching bearing fruit,
The world drawing swords of persecution,
Who cut the leaf, but could not touch the root
And stem of Jessie, Sweet Absolution
Ran with gospel birthing one holy bride,
White gowned, many membered, rising world wide.

To The Renegade

O wanted man with a price on your head,
You know too much, this is not a mere game,
The bullets are real, the targets are dead,
Fled love and forgiveness  when revenge came.
War craft and hubris cannot withstand
Corrupt injustice's spreading decay,
Offended you hide, your guns close to hand,
peace, sweet sleep a salvation away.
Wanted dead by death squad powers of state,
All bound by death's fear, in drones do they trust,
Deserted by all but your own private hate,
born of righteous indignation and lust.
God's grace is greater than good mixed with sin,
Refuge His mercy, let Him draw you in.

Morning Devotions

They follow you in quietness and peace.
We see their foot prints  wetly drawing on
To climb the grassy hill among the trees,
The dew, grey frosty mist and breaking dawn.
Each breath a prayer a praise, a wonder song,
The night of sleep now over, morning come.
All birds and flowing waters sing along,
Defeated shadows to the light succumb
With hooded hearts and folded hands they pray,
While rising sun plays lightly in the trees,
And still they bow and bless the coming day,
Friend and foe alike their intercessories.
Unsung your living saints, your prophets, kings,
The cosmos with their morning anthem rings.

Of Five Smooth Stones

There are Words that lie in wait,
Prophetic Hunters covert in copses,
Camouflaged silence
Waiting to be whispered,
Ready to bring down the sky,
Salvation in a blinding blink,
New birth after the rushing water,
A cry of hope and fear,
The bloody indignity.

Not all the words have been spent,
The purse is still full,
In this world
There are  giants left to kill.
A flash mob slinging praise
Shall bring down the glory
In the great Dumbfounding. .

What Is Christmas 2012

Christmas is the celebration
of an assault of love
upon a universe that did not know,
not enough to care.

An attack on Christmas
is an attack on the very foundations
of eternally amazing love.

The deep isolating unfamiliarity
of outer space,
its cold unfeeling fact
is all that is left
without the assault
of Christmas love.

Meditate on the love
that brings our only
salvation.

Christmas is the time.