Beauty

There is a beauty seen
Of flowers, sunsets and other things
Birds, butterflies, cloudless skies
And rain

But all these pale, indeed, they fail
Before love in comparison
The soul of wisdom, the art of living
Beyond what painter or poet can tell

The soul is colored with feeling
Bluer than any ocean
In the eyes of a child, dreams of the wild
Reckless abandon of emotion

Laughter, freedom, the joy of play
The dance, the music while we sway
The appreciation of giving thanks
Feeling blessed by luck or chance

Faith there is a God above
And we are children of His love
Hope of the eternal, sighing
Heaven is not just for the dying

Every soul has known some part
Of beauty in wisdom, love and art
The feeling of light at the dawn of day
Beyond what mortal words can say

In this soul all swept with blue
Are images I have of you
Memories of every smile
From every tender loving child

Until death...yes, until then
We should be as those children
Whose beauty fills them from within
Spilling into the lives of men

Be that beauty, in us found
Like the music beyond the sound
Such grace the dance will find it odd
To reach and touch the face of God

Sunday in September

On a quiet Sunday morning
Cattle standing lowing
In the fields; behind the fencing
Bright cool light of dawn commencing

Across the hills;across the sky
Strands of pink cotton candy fly
Like ballooning spiders casting web
Tentacles from the sun are spread

A gentle wind, rustling leaves
Dances through the tops of trees
Sparking dew lit diamonds there;
Casting emeralds through the air

Maples, fluttered by the breeze
Send forth their helicopter seeds;
Gypsy fruit that congregate
Swiftly, as if they were running late

Upon the dawn and through the air
The slightest hint of autumn there
Soon the maples will turn to embers
Burning the edges of September

What joy and peace the morning brings
Like angel harps with sunlit strings
Until the whole of nature sings
While in the distance church-bells ring

Spring Magic

Spring leaf veined
Minnow's winding way
Tiny tadpole tails
Wriggling with life

Salamander darting
Sun to shade
Tiny child fingers
On dandelions

Blue sky canopy
White cloud curtains
Floating freely
In the breeze

Butterfly dancing
Barely afloat
Rising; falling
On flower-like wings

Have we forgotten
The nobility of trees?
The proud oak;
Humble willow crying?

Dogwood blossoms
And honeybees
Brown fertile earth
All but sighing

Lazily drifting
By the stream
Gurgling a lullaby
To the lost

Silent round stones
Echoing dreams
Over a carpet
Of velvet moss

Walk with me
Beneath the sun
While the web
Still holds some dew

Smile with me
Till day is done
And magic
Comes alive in you

Waiting

Waiting

Rivers of tears
The ocean of man
Salt and life
Of humanity

Pride and fear
We understand;
Love and the pain
Of calamity

Each becomes
In his own way
Faith, hope
And charity

A reflection
Of that
To which he prays;
Comfort or disparity

Empathy is needed
Where love exists
Build a bridge of souls
In the casting, reach

Sympathy for hatred, greed
Evil must enlist
Hearts grow cold
Without a voice to teach

We do not war
With flesh and blood
This is our battlefield;
Every heart and mind

We cannot kill
And be understood
Or preach a great ideal
To souls of humankind

Beat your swords to plows
Feed and clothe the poor
The destroyer destroys
The Creator creates

Is anyone listening now
Rushing off to war
As governments deploy
And Armageddon waits?