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Neowise

Comet Neowise over Mount Hood

Whose Will decreed this landlocked sea
Framed falling sun with glint of green?
What plan determines stone’s design,
Or star’s hot heart, or shadow’s sheen,

Or that we mark, as clever beasts,
The passing haze of comet’s fall,
And are that glaze of dream made flesh
That sees the need of Plan at all?

I know, I know… No Plan at all
Is said by some to be The Plan.
But what then are all shimmered thoughts
That seem to measure more than Man?

Look not behind but far afield,
Beyond the limits of our sight.
It cannot be that All that is
Is only night on deeper Night.

But should such Night be All that is,
And All as purposeless as Stone,
The Heart still sings the body’s chants,
And moves His Light within our bones.

Perhaps this pattern that we live
Is deep Dark between two Lights;
Is but some spell cast to amuse
The Face beyond our blinded sight.

Yet what Dark mind could feel a gleam
Of pleasure from such turns,
Instead of parsing shrouds of Night
From our countenance of burns?

The countenance of Comets
That the sky at night assumes
Mutes all mathematics learned
On the continent of tombs.

For to stand within a meadow
And sense the swell of wind
Is ample compensation
For the Gift our days rescind.

At length our modern marvels
Are but smears of haze on slate
That we note with small attention
As we step between the Gates,

And dance, to some faint Music,
Along the path of life’s retreat,
That ancient, ageless Minuet
That rounds our sleep with sleep.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • John July 23, 2020, 8:57 AM

    Masterful writing… reminds me of …”Invictus”.
    Thank you

  • Lance de Boyle July 23, 2020, 11:12 AM

    Reminds me of the Lord ripping Job a new one.

    “Gird your loins, Buster, and let’s speak Man to God. Just who the heck do you think MADE this joint, huh? Tell me if you know….” etc. and so forth.