Matthew 17: 1-5

"As They Looked on, a Change Came over Him"

Which
one Heaven,
which one Earth,
each’s seeming the
mirror reflection of the other,
each’s image and likeness
and raiment
transfigured as on
Mount Tabor – strikingly
white, blinding the
eyes of those who from the
waters and clouds
the voice of God
heard…

Song of Solomon 2:1

“I Am the Rose of Sharon, and the Lily of the Valleys”

“I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance,” ^*
and thus defines the essential
appeal of Jesus, His compassion and
His mercy, and why so many in
the crowds would press around Him,
clutching at His garments,
as if His words were falling
upon good soil in the heretofore
barren desert of their ears,
and multiplying in each their hearts
a Rose of Sharon – beautiful
in hope, and in purity oblivious to
mortal anxieties and fears.

“Ephphatha”*

"Open Up"

Down, down deep
into the depths I plunge,
sounding for the bottom in fathoms
dive to expunge.

Down, down deep
the water courses over me, in
protective rush of foam
across my eternity.

Down, down deep
my body points in arrow flight,
single in its purpose, its
object out of sight.

Down, down deep
a veil awaits, through the
eye of a needle the thread of a camel
still to navigate. **

The Lives of Leaves

The lives of leaves,
If ever they could be adequately
Described, lie enciphered
And deciphered
Before me in each
Their final rest, displayed
And splayed, but from
Creation’s inception
Having been touched by the
Hand of the Master,
And so in the Lord’s
Limitless grace, their colors
Now allowed to nestle –
Quilted and counted
Like loaves and fishes at
Tabgha, and in factors of seven
By the shores of the
Sea of Galilee multiplied.

Outside Elizabeth’s Door

(Psalm 91)

And thus they spent
The whole night
Sheltering under God’s
Sweet wings, burrowed deeply
Into His bosom, taking
Refuge in His pure
Petals from whatever the night
Demanded or would
Bring … thus glorious and
Pre-ordained, an
Hydrangea innately served
By instinct, knowing
Since the seven days of
Creation, Yahweh
Had deemed it His proxy, to be
A safe shield for bees.