lights

I put up lights yesterday
clipping plastic to eavestrough
red bulbs dangling beside ladder
--------------hooking frustratingly

one clip won’t hold weight but fifty clips
--------------keeps them all in place
one helping the other

I found electrical current
to run through them all

shining in the darkness

Irma preaches

reddish curl at cheekbone
accenting smile
in eyes
on mouth
in voice
in body language

open to the spirit
taking a silent breath

and

singing her song – God’s song
in that sing-songy voice

a song to inspire
and aspire to
to never tire of

listening to the song above
beneath
all other songs

and smiling
in our own responsive song

Advent Poem 1 - snowy morning

white world emerges
------------out of messy November

flakes drift and cling desperately onto all surfaces
blessing and covering dark branches
------dirty streets
--------------------littered lawns
as we ponder another advent
symbolic
waiting
---------hoping
-----------------praying
--------------------------working
for a lovelier ------whiter world
and I stare at the reflection of snow filled window
on glass coffee table
beside pink knitted toque
bound for Kenya

Zechariah

struck silent
--------dumb
----------------mute

he doubted

priestly pride
pulled out
rug-like

months of mouth holding in
wondrous words
--------------that soothe like raindrops or
--------------sting like blowing sand
until birth of beauteous boy and
voice returns

pride turned into
prophesy
------------praise
---------------------preparation
peace

Sarajevo

a tangle of dark hair atop pale face looking for a smile from
a mother who is too anxious to give any thing the floor is cold
and people wear jackets all in one room - the whole family stuck
there - afraid to go out afraid of the shelling and the guns
two years old and never been outside - in one room all his
life - a life of fear of war and its carnage, a life of not knowing
sunshine or flowers or the beach or the park or grass or trees or

space

When will this end or doesn't it?

1993

the news

white sheets soft still
blonde thatch of hair
eyes closed in peaceful sleep of
a child.
bed dwarfs the boy as he lies
arms relaxed--------- even

mother's hand grips railing
white knuckles showing as she
hears the words echo in the antiseptic room

1994

men of song

blue shirts and ties
not uniform
but united
-------------standing together
one purpose
one aim
one direction
backdrop
-------------cross of shattered colours

sincere singing starts
eyes intent

all these men

men of law
men of medicine
men of families
men of business
men of classroom
men of numbers
men of God

the sound of integrity

May 2011

riverbank advent

bare blackness of trees
skeletal branches
spying on half-frozen river
creeping along between
white banks

saying “so long” to November’s cold warmth
and looking forward
to what?

Ah…Christmas
dreaming white dreams
of soft snow salvation for
the world

once a year the carols come
peace on earth built into
society each December

lights cover trees and tinsel silvers
bare blackness but the waiting
goes on--------- past the 25th
for sureness deeper than
gifts under a tree

1986

Crucible

cold air crackling light
life of
lung

clinging to shreds of
life
-----slipping -------away

scarf blocks face from
reality
walking white snow without
knowledge of

black center of
-------------------bullet
hung by hot
noose
of hate ambition

hanging
---------killing
-----------------death

1985

no visibility

wind
--------searing streets
belt snow stinging
--------blinding
driving
----zero visibility

mind filled with
icy thoughts
------------blowing
cutting vision

people disappear in
---------------------haze
------------------------of
snow and wind

1989

from the choir loft

portrait of sadness?

she----motionless in wheelchair
beside pew
white hair matches
white sweater draped over
shoulders
brows furrowed in attempt to
understand English words

he-----also with white head ---sitting
in pew beside her
eyes shine with tradition
stoic eyes
mind wandering past and present

no --- joy

for their hands
------old and spotted
------showing pain toil and
tenderness of younger years are
joined in love and trust

1983

through the window

Wild pink rose
coastal
delicate and random
sings colour in
the green making
love to the countryside with
waves of warm
affection

Wild waves roar the
rocks on shore
beside
strong and
powerful shines rawness
on the scene, passionate
splashes of violent
love, there is

Completeness in the scene through
the windows of car feeling
roses and waves in
the world of our lives.

1986

moonsong

a seed swelling with moisture beneath
black earth -----cold and clammy under the
round, full moon white bright - dimness
a life latent, before time
before counting
afraid
new
waiting for...
green cracking birth
filling our lives
singing our time
with fruit ripe and full
dripping over chin and fingers
as we bathe in the
light of the
moon.

1992

storm clouds

when storm clouds gather
the spirit------dimming -
darking soul with
a lonely sunset

and
sad drops down like
piano blues in the
night

oh
let it fall
through throat and fingers
of feeling

and hear the flash of
the bright-----electric
voice of the
sky

1982

Your Love

My heart breaks on
-----the bank of the Rhine

singing a rhapsody of
warm
--------laughing
----------------wine and
solid---- steady ------castles

recalling
--------your love

1984

Summer Jazz

move
like summer cloud
wind shifting shape
across sunny sky

mix
like palette's painter
brush blurring colours
a new bright hue

shine
like advent candles
flames flickering finely
lighting dark December

create
like whale's high sonar
searching sea sound
new song

but move
fingers------feet
hands-------head
heart--------spirit

1980

down the path in back

poetry talk
----ambling down path in back
----like hunters without guns
----brushing in warm grass of friendship
----shivering in the pleasure of the hunt

people talk
----I picked a stick off path and
----tore green bark off
----it shaped in two parts
----like a boomerang but
----under the bark
----parts grew together with
----sweet smell of green

poetry again
----reciting and recalling
----lines to love and live
----down the trodden, yet fresh path in back
----and the setting sun warmed

1981

G. Timothy - friend

met your parents today
right there in Applebees
in the next booth

and I thought of those times
on Buckingham where
we watched a game or
melded minds
------------spock-like
------------in intense interrogary (if I can invent a word)
me captivated by subterranean
voice and deeper broader thoughts
that spread
like sci-fi tentacles
on the wings of a joke

the night was always chilly
when I got into my rust-covered omni
but I knew something that overcame cold
something about a friendship forged
with fearsome bonds

recalled in an afternoon encounter at
Applebees

Choir Tour (Umsiedler)

A sea of
----------faces fills
church and we
sing

---We sing of love but
can't understand the wrath that
silences the tongue

---We sing of hope but
can't cry the desparation that
whitens the hair

---We sing of strength but
can't feel the pressure that
bends the back

---We sing of joy but
can't imagine the pain that
darkens the eyes

And yet we
--------------sing
for open ears and
thankful hearts and
bind through the
spirit

1984

Reflections

Gaze the snowy moon
in the double pane of
Joy and Sadness and
see yourself in reflection

Window veils
real night of cold and dark
glimpsing moments of
restful memory

Moments mixed and
out of tune filled
with the hue of moonlight

1982

Luis' Office

neat stacks of items on desk smile
at severe suit hanging in corner
------------just in case
-------------------waves at intense player lacing skates
he'll need his stick resting along wall
passing proudly to
------------old team confidently playing
in the six old arenas
----of NNHL
--------------beauty and tradition combined
a legacy handed down to rows and rows of
caps and gowns encircling thankful
hopeful eyes, looking out at a huge stylized
H
--hanging importantly beside little
girl's handprint poem, patiently
waiting to ring golden school bell
silently
--------steadily
-----------------standing in the corner of
a neat, carefully arranged desk

2006

Tears

Tears tear the cheek
etching an ode to loneliness
that no one will read

Tears tear the cheek
of one alone
-------------and drop aimlessly
into the world of tears.

1981

Ode to Ruth B.

A hand
---------offers popcorn and jelly beans
bringing hearts
buoying heart

A voice
----------full of softest feathers
filling spaces
making space

Eyes
------brim with waves of sun
lighting corners
braving corner

A soul
--------sings songs of freedom
awakening lives
feeling life

2001

Barry's Marathon

lean, muscular legs carry
runner
along shoulder
pounding feet hit gravel as
rhythmic breath powers the
heart beating steady
------------and firm

piercing, steady eyes guide
teacher
through the maze of
questions, papers, laughs and tears as
confident words and gestures reflect a
heart of warmth
------------and light

moustached smile reveals
friend
creating strong bonds across
lines of fear and distrust as
an arrow-like spirit
reaches the target of
-------------love

2003