Painted on expansive sky
Darkness climb refrain
For all I have
For all that’s yet to come
For all the possibility
Which I can not yet see
And most of all
For the love I give
And am given freely
The love pervading all
On this and every day
The grace we share through love
No flutter on the water
No ripple in the wind
No fish or whale
To breech the sea
No gull on wing
To cry the air alive
No colour falls to eye
In this world
Of nothingness
In stillness
Drifted I
Aboard a ship
No sails were set
Devoid of all intent
My mind awash
In listless thought
No acts of love
From feckless heart
Yet all the while
And deep below
This ship becalmed
My spirit spare
A current
Ran unseen
It swirled
And tossed
It mustered
Forces unbeknown
Which bubbled to the top
This beauty
This pain
This anguish
This love
This cacophony of being
That is I
That is experience
That is action
Tension of light and dark
Tension of right and wrong
Never grey
Never muted
That mud of fear
That mud of anger
Gripping at my heart
Gripping at my mind
But I will not
Go under
But I will not
Lie down
Or die
In the silence
Of living
Without venture
Another
Another
Another
How many layers deep?
I see only the next
Unpack another
See another
Unpack
Another
Until I don’t want
To see anymore
Unpack anymore
Dig anymore
Intentional purpose
Inexorable decay
Dynamic tension
Eternally entwined
Allow the night
To enter frame
Count out seconds
Three by ten
Capturing
These timely glows
One from headlight’s driven thrust
Unfurls along the river’s edge
Another rises up
To meet the clouds
Escape from streets
Illuminate
Monochromatic textures
In untouchable dimensions
Which I nonetheless
Touch
Driven to despair
By the shepherds
Of fear
Reeking of the violence
Wrought by anger
And the platitudes of righteousness