My Sweet Columbine

A columbine bud

In sweet alpine air

Through holly shrub green

Amidst aspen fair

In sparse rocky earth

Her roots clinging tight

Against all odds

Blooms purple and white

A frost tinted wind

Whipping through her leaves

As it bends her low

And her spirit grieves

So rugged she is

As columbines are

Her defiant bloom

A purple white star

My sweet columbine

Sink deep in my soil

My garden awaits

You’ll bloom without toil

I’ll water you well

And feed you with care

Grow in my garden

Your beauty to share

Choose me columbine

Forsake your harsh life

Enter my embrace

Release your great strife

You’ll grow in my heart

Its warmth given free

My sweet columbine

Bloom only for me

Shadows

Shadows of things yet to be
Drown my mind in fear and fright
Illusions of misery
Darkened dreams and starless nights

Shadows of past sins I see
Haunt my soul with blackened spite
Tossed about a stormy sea
Foamy swells of endless blight

Shadows of faith live in me
Unmindful of freedoms right
Shackles of eternity
In my mind are binding tight

Shadows of gospel decree
Sparking a flame, burning bright
Hope, a fleeting memory
Surges back into the fight

Shadows of the bloody tree
Where Christ received no respite
The clink of nails, counting three
Through hands and feet driven tight

Shadows pierced his heart to see
A spotless lamb, pure and white
Water and blood cleansing me
Flowing from His heart contrite

Shadows in tomb lie unseen
Could not hold past third day’s light
Angels rolled the stone to free
He who conquered hellish might

Shadows may still torment me
Until life’s day fades to night
Rulers no more, will they be
Broken by the cross’ smite

Oh, Love Divine

Oh, love divine where do you rest?
On softened lips or beating breast?
You come and go but never jest
Lovers’ embrace with you is blessed

An ancient wind upon the land
Will not obey the grasping hand
As gentle as the silken strand
Yet strong enough to bend a man

A spoken word, a gentle brush
Cause hearts to flutter with the rush
A crooked smile the mind will hush
Her sparkling eyes will bring a blush

But do you live within the pain?
In hearts denied as spirits strain?
You flow with tears in pouring rain
The silent weeping bears your name

You blur the eye, wet the pillow
Bending branches of the willow
Carve her name on frosted window
Yet hides his name in dark shadow

Though patience fails and curses spoke
You live within the lover’s hope
That pain will flee and love will float
On frothy sea and bitter note

Oh, love divine, you soon will rest
And find our hearts have passed the test
That you so cruelly transgressed
Upon our spirits so distressed

The sun will shine, the clouds depart
And soon the valley mist will part
Love that once stung will soon impart
A ring of gold that binds our hearts

Selfish Desire

Armed with a bow
His arrows at hand
Each one dripping with the emotion
Of his selfish desire

Tragically miserable
He hides behind a mask of fear
With a childlike maliciousness
Afraid to reveal his pain and sadness
Unable to show any humanness
He deftly raises his bow
Takes aim at his prey
To destroy an angelic love
Fulfilling his ruthless lust and
Satisfying his selfish desire

He is Cupid amuck
Baby-faced
Spiritually starved
Smirking at beauty

He is unable to conquer the demons
Of his earthly lust
And cross the barrier
To sublimate them
So he remains trapped in
The lowest realms of his sacred centers
Where, instead, he happily obliterates
Love personified as absolute affection

And there he lingers powerless
To transcend his path to illumination
Unwilling to know unadulterated love
And unity of life
By virtue of his selfish desire

With Love

Life is but a fleeting moment, dancing across the pages of time.
But, my darling, how our love keeps us immortal.
Ah, how true love is like that…it heals the wounds that scar our souls,
the madness that we are driven to through our ephemeral lives upon this bruised and battled earth.
When you make love to me, you make me forgot the weakness of my spirit.  With the back of your hand you touch my cheek, and make me whole.

With you, I am home…
And there is nowhere else I ever wish to be.