Gifts

“Sawmill” by Claude Croney

 

birch and beech
gave their flesh
to the sawyer
whose water-wheel
mill cut rough
medium craftsmen
composed with
a vision refined
by fine finishing
hands into objects
that pleased
antiquarians
timeless wood
legacies bearing
warm smooth grained
affections of ancestry

(originally posted in November 2013)

The Cycle

 

“Three Generations” by Jennifer Vasquez

 

 

parents gave me life
a wife gave me manhood
children gave me wisdom

 

 

(originally posted December 2013)

Adage

Engraved Grain of Rice

 

with bent needles
and pins monks
can carefully coax
Himalayan reliefs
from raw grains of
hard flattened rice
teaching truth
of large joys
to be found
in the smallest
and simplest of
gifts life presents
to the humblest
the poorest who
nonetheless carry
a wholesome deep
faith in themselves

(originally posted January 2014)

The Gift

 

“Lean on Me” by Anthony Falbo

 

 

a man came alone
to seek and save who were lost
sweet redemption

 

 

From my books Onionskin and Riverthink

Riding the Arc

“Arc 2”
Graphic by Joseph Grippi
From hamiltonauctiongalleries.com

journey the curve
between flashpoints
beginning and end
of the taut chord that cuts
a small segment
from the circle that scribes
all existence

put strain to the climb
with determined deliberate
exertions of youth
take no pause risk no
backslide fend off
the distractions of ease

attain the sweet apogee
apex incarnate of purpose
rewarding with heights
giving outlook for survey
of past and of future
take stock of the present

step careful along
the declension
here sit surprises
the likes of which
rattle and ruin such plans
as were made on the rise

ride the arc
eyes open and earnest
appreciate having been
graced with God’s
intimate gift live it well
and we all three
may meet at the end

Essence

“Essence of a Man”
Digital Art by Devalyn Marshall
At fineartamerica.com

what is love but a gift
unwrapped raw and real
the denuded whole of you
unhidden truths opened clean
lay revealed in your
supplicant palms
not just skin
but your muscles and sinews
your organs and bones
cradled softly
presented on pillows
of what you believe
and how you’ve been hurt
unembroidered by pretense
scraped free of imposture
crude uncovered boxes
displaying mistakes
all your ugliest sins
your most ill-founded judgments
this honesty
candid complete
can convey all that love
wants to thrive and endure
or else time now or then
will dissolve it like so much
untenable heartless hypocrisy
pulverized
vanished in tears