Category: Poems

The Card Player’s Toast:

 

May the quality of our Hearts,

be like Diamonds in the sky.

And may we use the hand we’ve been dealt,

in service to others.

May we have love in Spades,

for one another.

For we are a grand fraternity,

all members of one Club—

playing upon a single table.

 

The (Spiritual) Fighter’s Motto:

 

“Eyes like an angel, heart like a dove:

my soul advances within God’s love.

Pity the fool who turns away,

embraces darkness, fights the Way.

The victory’s mine, I can’t be caught,

Satan thinks he will, but I know he’s not.

I have a God, my spiritual hammer;

He’s gonna cast him into an under-worldly slammer.”

 

~FS

There is only I in Sin.

Let us remove the I.

 

For if the eye sins,

pluck it out.

And where only I exist,

there is Sin.

 

Where there is you,

there is great warmth,

with me for u there is no Sin,

but only a Sun.

 

O, Lord we love You.

when we love the Lord,

we are complete,

O, we are like Sons.

 

Let us drop the I,

leaving Sin behind.

Let me love u,

with warmth like a Sun.

 

O, let us love the Lord,

living together each like a Son.

 

~FS

I called upon the name of the Lord,

but I called upon Him in vain.

For I was calling upon my idols,

and He did not come.

 

I fashioned Jesus from my own ideas;

built from Holy Scripture,

wrought in my mind,

through my pride.

 

I approached Him through icons;

‘not made with hands’,

stopping short at the image,

not looking beyond.

 

I called out, “Lord, Lord!”

I said that I knew You.

But I knew a different Jesus,

I did not know You.

 

I called what I thought was You,

but I did not know You.

 

Come to me, Lord Jesus,

teach me who You are.

 

I pour out my lusts,

I pour out my vanities,

I pour out my unlove,

in all of its forms…

 

Fill me with Your Righteousness,

Fill me with Your Peace,

Fill me with Your Justice,

with Your Purity, and Your Love.

 

Touch not my lips only with your burning coal,

but alight my whole body, and my whole soul.

 

Purify me with your Holy Spirit—

That I may know You as you are.

 

May it be truly You who come when I call.

 

~FS

Ashen ladies—

with tears of gold,

and graceful limbs,

dancing on the wind.

 

Arboreal ballet—

white limbed beauties,

stark and stoic,

noble and nimbic,

ephemeral,

upon a stage of cedar and pine.

 

I am intrigued—

show me,

wood nymphs,

your wild world,

aflame with vibrant mystery.

 

~FS

I had within me a tower of peace,

filled with Christ’s presence—

 

He was its walls and strength,

its core and cornerstone;

 

protection from the attacks of the world,

and the provocations of the enemy.

 

From within this tower of peace,

I’d scoff at annoyances,

which brought others to their knees.

 

But today my tower burnt down,

a horrible thing, so swift,

and so total was its destruction—

 

It began with the usual attacks,

irritations or minor offenses;

 

The types of things to ignore, I’ve learnt,

and view with some amusement.

 

A small fire lit by these offenses,

within my tower of peace;

 

but easily extinguished,

when I called upon the Lord.

 

Then a second fire ignited,

within my tower of peace;

 

it began in the usual way,

when things in life didn’t go my way.

 

This fire caught hold and grew,

flames quickly burning through the roof.

 

My tower became a volcano,

with fire all around—

 

Soon only smoke hung in the air,

where once had stood my tower.

 

In shock I viewed the damage,

this anger in me had waged.

 

In confusion I sought my Lord,

answers for what had been destroyed.

 

If Christ was in my tower, was its walls

and its foundation—

 

In despair, within these ashes I lay,

gathering my wits, beginning to pray;

 

In this darkness, I saw my Lord,

waiting, ready to rebuild.

 

Then I knew He allowed this fire,

as a warning to the wise—

 

not to go astray by slowly,

turning, this tower of His Peace;

 

into a tower of my pride.

 

~FS

There is a silence within,

that startles, and terrifies,

and can make us run, half-mad,

for cover—

 

seeking solace in loud places,

to avoid this unsettling quietude,

by any means we can find,

to distract us.

 

What is in this silence,

that so troubles us?

 

Is it an empty darkness,

uninhabited—

Lonely?

 

Or is someone in there,

we wish to avoid—

Haunted?

 

I resist, the urge to run,

I peer, timidly into the shadows,

I wait, listening for clues,

with breathless anticipation—

 

It is a strange silence;

smelling of the ancient past,

tasting of the distant future,

and feeling like a present place.

 

I have heard men speak of a hidden world,

a secret kingdom within,

joining heaven and earth.

 

And of a doorway, as the story goes,

which unites these two lands.

 

Within this silence, stands this doorway.

I believe.

 

And through this silence, we must journey—

To find our Home.

 

~FS

Power will come and will go—

wielded by this person or that;

 

But the colors of the trees interest me more,

as does the quality of your heart—

 

the love that you give,

the hopes that we share—

 

the forgiveness that can melt away all the pain.

 

What man wields power correctly?

Have we ever seen one?

 

Humility is man’s great weapon,

the one fashioned best for us—

 

the one least used, but most natural,

and most beautiful—

 

bringing false pride and foolish power,

to their knees.

 

Simplicity alights the world of men,

with colors bright—

 

shining radiant amidst the dull drabness,

of those seeking fame or fortune.

 

~FS

Lust—

a fire that burns low.

 

Pride—

a fire that burns high.

 

Anger—

a fire that burns the whole house down.

 

Feel these fires burn,

and let them pass,

consuming nothing but themselves.

 

While you, dear friend,

shelter in the calm,

within this storm.

 

And breath in deeply,

the little breezes,

which soothe the soul.

 

~FS

Swimming in the shallows,

using words—

 

Skipping across the surface,

missing depths—

 

Searching for relationship,

my mind—

 

Diving within my heart,

finds Christ.

 

Carried by His currents,

waves of peace—

 

Abiding in shared silence,

a Sea of Love.

 

~FS

I don’t want to be a purveyor of judgement;

a vendor of complaints.

 

Nor do I wish to do business in arguments;

making transactions in rights and wrongs—

 

Or assessing the value of others,

based on their utility for me.

 

Instead.

 

I wish to see into your eyes,

and have you look into mine;

trading in trust and purity,

exchanging understandings—

 

Making our livings

by love.

 

~FS