With Star-Loand Eyes

We who have loved the stars too long

To be afraid of night's still song,

Have, in its hush, with star-loaned eyes,

Glimpsed realms beyond the veil of skies.

Scimitar And Song

I Too Shall Return

Dark echelons of wild geese race the breeze.
In answer to a mute yet urgent call
They are returning to their emerald seas
Of northern marshlands, where the waterfall
Released from winter's boundaries fills the swamp.
Would I might likewise soar--My coronet
Be clouds and stars--returning Home to romp
Through meadows of the sky. I shall forget
That I am tethered when I see the light
Of my Primeval Home; unerringly
Swift-spiral upward, know the joy of flight--
Not long, not long till I am tether-free!--
How fragile are the chains of earth when I
See geese in ordered pattern mark the sky.

My Heart Believes

Love, are you lonely there below
Remembering still another May
We knew and shared in the long ago
Before God called and I went away?
Lift up your eyes, my dear, and know
That I am lonely as you today.

Though I am lonely as you today,
My yearning spirit no longer grieves,
For the Heavenly pattern I now survey--
The tapestry which the Master weaves--
With its golden threads illuming the gray.
My dearest, I call that my heart believes ...

Oh, dearest, call that your heart believes
That death is birth--Hear my triumph cry:
Nothing is lost that the flesh achieves!
Look up, for together, you and I
Will live our dreams, for Heaven retrieves--
Love, be not lonely there below.

To Higher Pastures

In the still morning
After a soft-voiced rain,
Let me hear the rinsed voices of larks
And, looking up,
See Pegasus in paling star-lanes
And know
That I may grasp the golden reins
To guide him to cloud-high pastures.

Let me stand tall upon a hilltop
And know there are grazing lands
Above the stars.

Faint Whisperings

In solitude I hear faint whisperings
From some ethereal sphere where once I lived
And loved and learned before I came here through
The door of birth. And oftentimes when I
Firm-clasp a stranger's hand across the miles
Or at my door, I hear the distant bells
Of some far Temple where we both have knelt;
I breathe the fragrance of the jasmined-air
Of a celestial garden; hear the song
Of an aeolian harp that once was strummed
By heavenly winds ... I hear faint whisperings--
Perhaps the breath of immortality.

Heaven Will Not Be Strange

I do not think that Heaven will be strange
To those who walk the beauty-lanes of earth,
Drink from love's chalice, keep the spacious range
Of memory lilied with the joys of worth:
A bride beside the altar, coral strands,
A baby's smile and clinging little hands;
The tenderness in eyes time cannot mar;
A son returning safely from afar ...
For souls who hear each white bell as it chimes
And listen to the singing of a star,
Step in and out of Heaven many times.

Chromatones

Kingdom of the Free

Walk unafraid and bear a joyous load,
Adventure beckons all along the road.
Fear not the trail may end, but know this truth:
The twilight hours complete the dreams of youth.

Then comes the night when from its chrysalis
The soul steps forth to cross the last abyss--
And finds beyond, a sphere devoid of sorrow;
For death leads onward to a new tomorrow.

The spirit, eagle-pinioned, stands upon
Celestial heights to greet the glorious dawn,
And sees the light of immortality
Illuminate the Kingdom of the Free.

The Lyric

Could I Awake to This

When I wake joyously
In that Far Empery
     When day has just begun,
Will meadow larks in glee
Play on their flutes for me
     And laughingly rivers run?
Will aspens, tenderly,
Sing hymns, while slenderly
     White birches greet the sun?

Will pine trees gently croon
And still the heart's typhoon
     As now; and reach to kiss
The paling crescent moon
Who hides her face as soon
     As day awakes in bliss?
Will heaven be flower-strewn?
I would not fear death's rune
     Could I awake to this.

In a Country Garden

When I must leave the earth, I hope to see
The gentle Master by a willow tree,
A wild canary pouring forth its song,
And a little river dancing all along
Its way through gardens. I would feel alone
And shy before Him on a golden throne,
But in a country garden, He would reach
His arms to me and speak the simple speech
I know. And I would run the Him and say,
"I'm glad you have a garden. May I stay
And help you tend it? Then I would not grieve
For all earth's beauty that I had to leave.
I know the ways of gardens, country-wild ..."
And he would smile and answer, "Yes, my child."