Wedding Songs
     …The way of a man with a maid…                                                   
                                                       -Proverbs 30:19
 
                        -i-

On the first morning of our marriage,
You gave me raspberries in a white bowl.
Later we stood barefoot on sand
And let white sea foam wash about our ankles.

                        -ii-

We lay down among flowers,
The grass sweet and wet,
Your dress wet.
Horses came near under blue sky,
Treading down the sweet grass,
And your dress was yellow among the flowers.

                        -iii-

The whiteness of foam,
The smell of morning rain;
And as we walked on the sand,
My fingertips touched your sleeve.

                        -iv-

I come with gifts of milk and wine,
Silver shoes, and a bough of cherries,
And enter your garden of roses.





Deer Have Passed Here


Deer have passed here,
A doe, a fawn;
Maybe a buck,
Those tracks are bigger.
They come down in moonlight
To browse on green corn.
Silent as moonlight
They pass.

                                   -

   

I Am Told of a Certain Tree
                    …that they may have right to the Tree of Life… 
                                                            -Revelation 22:14
                  …If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink… 
                                                                   -John 7:38

I am told of a certain tree,
And a certain well:
That the fruit of the tree
And the water from the well
Are unspeakably sweet;
And I have tasted fruit
No man could name,
And water whose source
No man could tell,
And, having tasted,
I know of greater folly
Than to seek that tree
And that well.





Deer Come Down from the Hills


Deer come down from the hills,
Down the ravines,
Dry creek beds;
Grass dry,
Wind cold.
The high hills are colder,
Dusted by snow.
Your eyes are brown as a deer's.





Let the Stone Whisper to the Flower
                                          As the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride…                                                                
                                                                                                                               -Isaiah 62:5

Let the stone whisper to the flower,
The flower to the sun,
And the sun to the stars of heaven,
That Jehovah is come for his bride;
She bends her knee graciously to him.
The sun hides its face,
And all silvering clouds, all shimmering snow
Are darkness to the light of her raiment.
He calls her Zion;
He lifts her by the hand.
The stone whispers to the flower
And the flower to the sun
That his kiss is tender.
The table is set; the wine is served;
And the stars break forth in song.





I Sought You, Adonai
                And ye shall seek me, and find me… 
                                                                                      -Jeremiah 29:13

I sought you, Adonai, and I found you.
I sought you among the firs and the alders,
Among the stars of clear skies.
I found you not there.
I sought you on hilltops,
I sought you in clear streams,
In the gold and red of trout,
And I found you not there.
But in the clouded and starless night
When I sought you with tears,
When I knelt in ashes,
I found you; your finger touched me.
And now, among the firs and the alders,
Among stars and on hilltops,
In clear streams
And in the gold and red of trout,
I find you, Adonai,
I find you.