Poetic Faith

“Suspension of Disbelief” by Rick Ladd

 

we fellowship of fools
asleep in blind faith
born of lazy beliefs
a pernicious affliction
predisposing we headless
we heedless enablers
abetting the surrogate
customs of turpitude

it takes work to believe
what minds will not grasp
conscientious commitment
legs rooted like treetrunks
in rich moral soils
those are the stalwarts
the clear title heirs
to creeds of the poets

a muscular reading
without preconceptions
discovers the secrets
of verses arcane
intellectual liturgies
mapping the methods
of minds who create
different paths to the truth

___________________________________

“That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment,
which constitutes poetic faith.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge

 

 

From my book Ephemera

Tailings

“Heart Wave” by Adam Brett

 

abandon what cannot be kept
of the valuable fraction
for two thousand years

land’s end a conceptual
folly for land never ends
it just dives on its whim
beneath oceans the real end
is water incessantly slapping
intending to renovate faith
formed of bedrock and truth
left unmarred by philosophy
leavings of sand and stone
steadfast sufficient with gravity
footfalls for passage of men
who believe in the unanswered
answers that consternate
unwilling skeptical hearts

here at water’s edge froth
oversimple convictions
cool improvisations by
affable atheists fluid of
reason in wave after wave
of procession recession
progressing regressing
yet ever so fluent of doubt
in the ebb and flow language
of moonrise and tides
foaming arguments surge
then collapse under weight
of their very creation

for two thousand years
of the valuable fraction
abandon what cannot be kept

 

(From my book Pieces of Wine)

Matters of Faith

“Waterloo Bridge – Sunlight in the Fog” by Claude Monet

 

fog sits on my eyes
it obliterates truth
every place I can look
a miasma of gray
hides the blue of the sky
and the green of the sea
but I know they are there
the blue and the green
and the knowing makes
all of the difference

(originally posted December 2013)

Hello Gravity

 

“The Falling Rocket” by James Whistler

 

we infer the invisible
entity gauging its
quiet behavior by
watching the telltale
of sensible things
learn the steps of the
dark matter dance
from the heat of
the beat of a starblink
the menace of shivering
hearts is bespoken by
glowering ice in the eyes
when impalas explode
from the brush a near
grass-bellied tiger
may thus be deduced
subatomic components
are theorized by chaos
of Hadron collisions

the force that is God
and as I so believe
exists over and under
around and within every
presence and absence
discerned in that arrow
of time the momentum
of entropy perfect of
order preceding the bang
of creation proceeding
hence thermodynamically
into the vast multiplicity
worlds within worlds that
contain our existence

so what then to make
of those episodes now
and then once in a while
on occasion that drop me
near terminal speed
in a wirra of downfall
no crisis of faith
says I firmly to me
merely gravity
having its way

 

(originally posted January 2014)

Case for an Open Mind

“Open Mind” by Barbara Van Rooyan

 

(originally posted here February, 2014)

 

assertions of truth
stem from one of two roots
knowledge or belief
both are equally sworn
either one can be wrong

Was I?

“Abstract Ghost #2” by Nancy Merkle

 

I used to believe
old photos
held ghosts
was I a fool
or have I
become one

Convictions

“Crucible” by Robert Pope

baked in resolute heat
courage pours from a crucible
precious mettle

Sleep

 

Image from pinterest.com

 

 

sleep with belief
let the faith become
bigger than the fear

sleep with courage
banish the monsters
to melt on the moon

sleep with the truth
quiet clarion for
justice to prevail

sleep with the peace
soften the mountain
for the coming calm

 

 

From my book Onionskin

Observational Theology

“Creation”
Digital Art by Jaison Cianelli
From cianellistudios.com

every last detail
speaks to the eye
shape and color
dimension and
movement the
odd transformation
the violent nature
that sometimes lays
cleave to the calm
life and death
move with tandem
persistence in
passage among
inorganic creations
though never alive
nonetheless undergo
constant change
between points of
existence demarked by
beginnings and ends

every last detail
the living and lifeless
corporeal features
comprising the
manifest quantum
the extant extinct and
the yet unrevealed
bear and share
divine intricate
patterns of purpose
remarkably evident
only to eyes who
are willing to see

Articles of Faith

“Power of Faith”
Painting by Leonid Abremov
From redbubble.com

speak not of beliefs
human words
are but fire
the flames giving
voice to chimera
true testament
stands upon deeds
all the evident essence
of what one believes
found in how one
behaves among
conscience or crowds
books may teach
the mechanics of
doctrine but man
woman child each
and all create creed
every life a complete
definition of faith