Creation’s presence flitted past,
A brief flutter of flight,
Truth is in its wings,
But, I cannot find a place to rest,
Always moving to discover,
What beauty is mine to have.

My life is lived yearning,
Unsure of what truth is lived,
My soul slowly dissolving,
Hoped for laughter,
Turning to a downcast spirit,
Catching only its own light,
Glimmering briefly,
Soon it’s dimmed.
Where I have flourished,
Hope is far away.

My restless heart,
Creating answers, seeking hope,
Ends with questions,
Truth is an elusive dream,
With the tragic gap between words and love,
Love’s search must end at its beginning,
So truth can find its home,
Resting in its source,
But, its beauty lived in my heart.

Forgiveness is a word that terrorises hatred,
Our world is full of random acts of anger,
Expressed in the daily killing and the maiming,
Witnessed by the tears shed daily,
In countless homes, jobs and churches,
We seem hell bent on destroying,
Everything that can be called beautiful,
Our first work is restoring,
Broken pieces,
With forgiveness as the balm.

I see the inflicted pain at work,
In the daily destruction of good souls,
Waking to pain of a world broken by violence,
Words that could be chosen for healing,
Are sacrificed to the brief tingle of revenge,
Why do we hate when love is always a greater reward?
Forgiveness is the comforting word that knows pain itself,
It’s the sound of when we say, “stop!”
It doesn’t allow hope to be quashed,
Seeking the broken pieces,
Scattered in the carnage,
Forgiveness is the bond that holds life together.

Grant me forgiveness today,
Give me the lasting joy of offering hope,
By not joining in the clamour for blood,
Instead make my life a healing balm,
My words a soothing sound,
For the broken lives encountered each day,
My broken heart,
Broken open in plain sight of everyone,
Open to give and receive forgiveness,
Each day a small victory for hope.

From the shadows of a parched life,
My soul a desert of broken vessels,
Spilled out on the thirsty ground,
Cracked, broken and leaking,
I sought to drink water that could revive.

I went to the deepest well of understanding,
To find my source;
I visited a place that is seldom seen,
I called it “Still”.

“Still” was there while the earth thundered around,
“Still” had its own sounds,
That drifted in with Creation’s voice,
A whisper in the wind,
The call of the morning birds,
A call to hope born from “Still”.

“Still” was waiting to touch my lips,
To give my life a voice,
“Still” wasn’t lost in humanity’s din,
It is a gift from that deepest well,
That is waiting to bring life,
“Still”, “Quiet”, “Listen”,
Three close friends for my journey.

I didn’t recognise the first tears,
then I saw that she had been weeping,
For me a chance encounter,
A simple purchase,
That took me to a broken marriage,
The deep sadness of love quashed,
Life now lived in loneliness,
I never would have known,
Except I took to the time to ask,
About the moisture glistening on her cheeks.

Shocked by the sudden sobs,
Big men don’t cry is our belief,
Yet here is a big man crying in front of me,
The poverty of brokenness,
The fears that surface every day,
Robbing life of sleep,
The daily fruitless search for rest,
I never would have known,
Except I took the time to listen,
To the everyday frustrations of a wounded soul.

What lies behind the eyes we see each day,
The deep sadnesses of broken promises,
Dreams hoped for.
Love’s deepest desires.
Pain that is truly heard by another,
Is the gift that all can give,
Rest is offered in compassion,
Today I will seek to know,
I will take the time to listen,
So that pain is heard and given its voice.

A jumble of words is organised into a pattern of sentences,
Their breath speaks to the deepest parts of my soul,
A sunrise is transformed into paint splashed on a canvas,
My heart sings with the pleasure in how it is captured,
A cacophony of noise is joined together in a series of notes,
Inspiring my spirit to take on new challenges.

Two heart’s longings are brought together in an idea,
Energy is combined to overcome our deepest need,
Viewed from a realisation of what is hungered for,
The whisper of words, the captured image and the musical notes,
Come together to create beauty born from an idea.

My ears turned to the sound of love,
A creative flood of words,
Returned to my heart,
Words that spoke in soft tones,
Searching for a shared meeting,
That sought to discover,
That unique quality in my friend.

Love is found in the beautiful surprise,
Of an unexpected visit,
The understanding is immediate,
Words become unnecessary accessories,
To the language that is unspoken,
When discovery becomes knowledge,
Of the truth that is shared together.

What future was imagined?
Splintered into a million drops of vapour,
Leaving nothing that can be grasped,
I question what was reality,
The drops of moisture remind me,
With the beads that collected,
Of dreams broken and tears shed,
And, what can never be remembered,
In the same way again.

Broken dreams are etched in my heart,
Forgetting is my heart’s desire,
Memories that keep me awake,
Regret is an easy refuge,
To evade the blows that were the breaking,
Remembering is the anxious,
Pursuit of Why?
Never to dream is the only way,
To never be broken again.

I learned to be still,
An unwilling student,
The lessons were brutal,
My world was frantic.
I thought I was the teacher,
Stillness needed a few lessons from me.

But, to stop and listen,
To cease the idle chatter,
I faced the truth,
That I couldn’t go on,
Forced flat on my face,
Sobbing out my pain,
I was forced to be still.

In the stillness came a voice,
At first I didn’t understand,
I tried to get up to hear better,
But, I fell on my face again,
The voice spoke to me once more,
Rest my child, learn from me,
Listen and be still.

My soul began to open,
Broken by the harsh edge of life,
Jagged edges – shaped by brutal words,
Fragile at every point,
In the stillness I learned to open my heart,
To a God who spoke trust and hope.

Together our souls were stilled,
The teacher and the learner,
Creating the new creature,
Emerging from the shattered wreck,
In the stillness I came to see,
The rebirth of hope in me.

Still – For David

A breath of stillness passes by,
A whisper that is barely caught
I was still just now,
I heard a voice speaking,
Love and hope for those left behind.

A life passes sadly in the din,
Barely heard,
A small voice in a crowd,
My God cries out to me,
Be still and hear him now.

What does this life say to me?
I pray my soul is not deafened,
To the cry of the poor,
Not drowned out,
by a raucous busy life.

I took a moment to be still,
I heard a voice speaking,
I took a moment to be still,
I heard his voice speaking to me.

Laughter is community’s song,
Even the tone deaf can catch its tune,
It’s always sung best with others,
Even when alone it has an open invitation,
For others to join this song.

Laughter is a gift from the Creator’s community,
Life began with laughter as an idea was shared,
The sound of deep joy and loving what is good,
The song sung by creator and creation,
Inviting the whole world to sing.

I felt God’s warm breath on the back of my neck,
I knew he was close,
His gentle whisper in my ear,
Saying, my dearest child,
I have chosen you,
Your broken heart,
Was so that you could know more of my love,
It was the only way that you could hear me,
Once broken it could never be closed to me again.

Breath,
Listen,
Speak.

Healing has come,
Two hearts broken open,
Love is fully formed.

Truth is the soul’s main labour,
Connecting heart and head and eternity,
Truth lived brings laughter and tears,
Truth understood is shared intimacy,
Embracing with none of love’s regrets,
The longed for hello,
Not the regretful goodbye,
Truth is not clinging to a failed understanding,
Truth is the soul’s daily work,
The creative heart work of the true human.

Truth understood is a slippery thought,
Fully caught when it lives in my heart,
Then my soul reveals what was within,
Truth eludes what I thought I knew.

Truth lived is where my soul and heart connect,
Joined together in an awkward dance,
Reality seeks to tap its shoulder,
Interrupting its awkward rhythm.

Truth hoped for is my heart’s desire,
Connecting soul and heart and dance,
Seen by its audience to testify,
Truth joined and moulded with who I am.

A tightening surge rises from within,
Uncertainty, fearfully, remembering,
Breaks the imagined calm,
Too much, too fast, too soon,
Restlessness breaks in on every task.

Serenity is imagined from my soul’s mind,
Hopefully, trusting, relearning,
Reality is almost in sight,
Rest, slow down, wait,
A settling transforms whatever comes today.

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies draw flame;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves — goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I dó is me: for that I came.

I say móre: the just man justices;
Keeps grace: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is —
Chríst — for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

Where I “found” myself in this poem.

What I do is me,
all his goings graces;
God’s eye,
Christ – in ten thousand places,
Lovely eyes,
Father – through men’s faces.

I came to the still pond,
Walking with a limp,
Standing on its bank,
Feeling sorry inside,
I saw my face looking back,
With sadness in my eyes.
The pond could only mirror,
What was given,
Reflection’s response isn’t emotion,
Completely honest,
My story retold,
The mix of light and shadow,
Reflecting pain and loss.

The limp arrives,
When starting with only a goal,
Then the water’s sheen was broken,
By a ripple that dislocated,
Everything from before,
My eyes no longer visible,
Sadness spread through each small wave,
Washing on the pond’s shore,
Completely honest,
Each step wincing,
My story broken,
Light gave way to shadow,
Taken by pain and loss.

Only waiting can stop the wave,
Rest is my heart’s cry,
My soul’s sadness,
My limp,
Sadness in my eye,
I wait at the edge,
Till the ripples slow,
Emerging stillness again,
Each wave smaller than the last,
Each whispering honestly,
My story being reformed,
Breaking more gently,
My soul restored by light.

Wonder collapsed in perfection’s ideal,
Reaching for what was lost,
Noticing the flawed,
Seeing only what was missed,
Comparing it to desire,
Perfect became inconsolable,
With the heart’s yearning.

Perfect was waiting to be revealed,
Discovered in what was found,
Restoring what was intended,
A heart able to see,
Understanding what it owned,
Perfect came as a gift,
Joined again with creation’s yearning.

I was walking home from school,
When I was swooped by a magpie,
I tried to protect myself,
By waving my school bag over my head,
My feet were frozen,
The bird kept swooping,
I kept trying to protect myself,
I didn’t know what to do.

Finally, an older person came to my rescue,
I only needed to move a few yards,
This person helped me take those steps,
Protecting me from the swoops,
Until the magpie could see I was not a danger,
The magpie stopped swooping and I walked home.

Sometimes I still duck when a bird’s shadow passes.

When spirit connects hearts,
Bringing together the eternal and dust,
Spirit and heart embrace,
Creation springs to action,
New life begins,
Shaped by the creator,
With eternity’s voice,
Speaking endearing words,
Of loving intimacy,
Eternal and dust connected forever,
Home is found.

Formed from the formless,
Out of nothing it becomes,
Love’s shape is given a name.

An open heart that embraces life,
Is a yearning to see more,
Of the Beloved’s intention,
To create a place that can be shared,
By, hopeful trust,
Shared among friends.

A heart broken,
Is a heart that tasted life,
The yearning turning to aching,
Beloved’s intention thwarted by mine,
Shared places taken by selfish intent,
Broken dreams,
Lived with strangers.

A heart broken open,
To experience more of life,
Yearning and aching to understand,
All of love’s capacity
To feel it’s painful care,
Life’s fullness
Waiting to be shared.