The Sea Is Singing

Since I have heard the music of the sea

I cannot bear to hear the voice of man

Mumbling discordant tones, for clear and free

The waves are chanting of a master-plan--

The earth a great Democracy of Love.

They sing the timeless lyric, "Peace, be still!

The God of Heaven watches from above

And wind and wave and man obey His will."

War drums will cease. The strength of wrong shall fail.

Wearing His shield, we shall erase the bars

Of hate and greed that right may yet prevail

And WORLD DEMOCRACY outlast the stars.

Above the clanging of the tongues of fools,

The sea is singing that the great God rules.

The American Bard

Hon. Men. World Peace and Unity Contest

So May the Goddess Speak

I am the Goddess--welcoming you home.

Your death-strewn pilgrimage is ended when

You see my arm uplifted. On my loam

You are a kingly commoner; all men

Are peers. No feudal lord, here, has a place.

There is an alchemy within my farms,

My shops and temples, that will leave no trace

Of hunger-specters--or of war-alarms.

With eagle-pinioned valor keep my hearth

A citadel for true democracy--

The chrism of whose love will heal the earth

And planet-far erect an Empery

Of Peace. So bid me live and wave unfurled,

My Glorious Banner over all the world.

Poet's Reed

Sonnet Sequence, First in Democracy Contest

The Goddess Speaks

I wear the robe of sorrow as I stand
Seeing the hope upon the war-etched faces
Of weary pilgrims; for within my land
They will not find the winged empyreal graces
Of which they dream. I hear the muffled clink
Of Judas-coins within my portals, where
They yearn to enter. Standing on the brink
Of apathy's abyss. I breathe the air
Of chaos. By your valor bid me live!
Free me from foes within! Democracy
Can heal all wounds and spirit-scars, and give
The light to build a world-wide sovereignity
Of peace. Then lift your thoughts above the clay--
And walk as brothers in the Master's way.

In a Gentle Mood

(To Thomas Jefferson)

Let others tell of how with star-tipped pen
He formed the structure for our liberty,
Then toiled to build with wise, far-visioned men,
The architecture for democracy.
But let me sing his love for solitude;
How music moved him when wild grasses stirred.
I would portray him in a gentle mood--
Love crowned his home and spoke the silver word.
The poetry of hills, smooth plains of blue,
The miracle of birth ... in dreams were spun.
How tenderly he led his "Patty" through
The "shadowed valley" back into the sun.
Then came the journey he returned alone ...
But knew love's triumph over death and stone.

Sing on O Sea!

Sing on! Sing on, O sea! your lyric swelling
To join the anthem of the spheres above:
"Lilies of peace will bloom, their beauty telling--
The earth a great DEMOCRACY OF LOVE!"

Cradled in arms of war, steel-hard and colder
Than winter's crystal eyes, my babyhood
Knew only sword-thin laughter. Then when older
I saw war leap in flames, and understood
Man's urge to God ... Storm-wild the sea was crying.
Fear-drugged, I heard it call, "I lead to peace!"
Then gently as mother lullabying
It crooned the melody, "Release! Release!"

Across hope-crested waves I came and found her,
The Lady of the Lamp, to welcome me,
Her torch held high illuming all around her
While lapping waters whispered, "Liberty!"
Here in her sanctuary, lilting laughter
Flows from my lips; I walk on living sod,
My paeans rising high to Heaven's rafter--
Freedom is holy, makes men kin to God.

O Lady of the Lamp of Hope, continue
To light the darkened trailways of the world:
Restore the fractured faith, the soul's torn sinew;
Bid God's vast reels of joy to be uncurled.

Barren Woman's Cry

O mothers, you whose sons are called to war,
The cruel talons also tear my soul.
Your boys return to wear a battle scar,
Are maimed and wounded; are not spirit-whole.
And you who mourn a grave in foreign earth
Beneath white crosses, gleaming row on row,
On reverent knees give thanks that you gave birth
To sons who bade democracy to grow.
I share with you the yearning for God's grace,
Beseeching Him to reach to warring zones.
Could I have felt a soldier-son's embrace,
My heart would sing above its anguished moans.
You walk in tears the path that Mary trod,
But hear my cry: Would that I might, O God!

The Relief Society Magazine
Sea To Sea In Song--APL Anthol.
Third in Eliza R. Snow Contest
First in MFCP Clinic Poems, Spring 1952

Spirit of Democracy Speaks

O puny men who wrangle, clink the coins
While greed and hate's death-javelins are hurled,
Would that you knew the strength within my loins--

My virile power to beget a world
That feels love's passion; where the dark abyss
Of race and creed is bridged; hope's flag unfurled.

I can erect a new Acropolis
Whose soul is peace. Then nail-pierced hands will hold
Your own that feel no more the saber's kiss.

Your sons will grow to men, live to be old;
Will sow and reap where now is Calvary--
Not be cut down in youth, their birthright sold.

All nations, join in one sovereignity,
And wave the Banner of Democracy!

Democracy's Acropolis

The path which leads to world democracy
Is overgrown with weeds because untrod
Save by a few great souls, who reverently,
Upon their knees, sought out and found their God.
The path was marked, its pattern plainly seen
When Washington met God at Valley Forge.
Again it led to fruited valleys, green
With peace, when Lincoln bridged the yawning gorge--
Connected earth with Heaven's power and might.
He heard his Pilot's voice. The ship of State
Was anchored safely; God's revealing Light
Guides surely when the helmsman's course is straight.
O erring man, again bridge the abyss,
Then build democracy's Acropolis!