Category: Other Poetry

The battlefield is silent now
     And those who died lie still;
Today those left will to them bow:
     With thanks our hearts are filled.

And we remember families left    
To grieve their dead on earth;
In this life they are here bereft
     Of those in heaven birthed.

We pledge that they’ve not died in vain
     To liberty secure,
And we will never here disdain
     What they make for us sure.

May God enfold them in His arms—
     Our dead and families all—
And keep from everlasting harm
     All those who on God call. 

His fire on heart within me fell,
     And I was not consumed;
But I came under Spirit’s spell,
     As Jesus me assumed.

He captured me for ransom not
     But loosed and set me free;
My sins He told me He forgot,
     And death will not hold me.

Into His world I am to go
     To work His will, not mine,
As Him to others I’m to show,
     And with Him we’re to dine.

He spreads a table set with Him;
     We eat and drink Himself,
And He fills our hearts to the brim
     To give us Eden’s health.

Then on to glory we’re to go,
     As saints we all are made;
To Father He our glory shows:
     This fire will never fade.  

God’s Spirit waters each of us
     To make each one unique;
He enters in our earthly dust
     And never skips a beat.

His purpose is to holy make
     Each one by Jesus’ hand;
He forms each in intended shape
     As Jesus by each stands.

No two alike He ever makes
     As in each heart He lives;
In every one true self He wakes
     Who in creation gives.

Though sin will mar each person here,
     It can’t defeat His plan;
His love in hearts casts out our fear
     Makes each His holy land.

To heaven raises every heart
     Who listens to His Word,
And to each one His truth imparts;
     He’ll always be our Lord. 

I cannot see, but I can hear
Who others say is passing by.
My begging banishes my fear;
I raise my voice in joyful cry.

My blindness let’s me see His truth
That others cannot understand,
And I surrender to His proof,
Feel in my heart His healing hand.

No longer can I sit by road
And let Him pass and disappear,
But follow I with lightened load
And speak of Him that all may hear. 

His heaven’s river through His fount has flowed,
Caressed by water He has holy made,
And we forgiveness for our sin now know.

For in His water Satan is brought low
As sin induced in us by that Asp fades;
His heaven’s river through His fount has flowed.

Above His fount we see His Noah’s bow
As mercy pours into our heart’s sin-shade,
And we forgiveness for our sin now know.

His righteousness in human seeds He sows,
And Spirit’s holiness through us cascades;
His heaven’s river through His fount has flowed.

His living water washes earth below—
To Him brings lost who from His way have strayed—
And we forgiveness for our sin now know.

He leaves in water in His fount our woe;
With Him we rise to Father’s accolade.    
His heaven’s river through His fount has flowed,
And we forgiveness for our sin now know. 

His glory has been passed to us
Who live as Body of our Lord–
By sin and death no longer trussed,
Untied by Him whom we adore.

His glory unifies us all—
No longer competition reigns.
He comes to us in cattle stall;
Humility removes sin’s stain.

We glory in humility
From Him who said, “Not mine but thine,”
Reflected in “Be done to me,”
By her who asked for His new wine.

The heart of glory’s Jesus love,
Draws us into His unity
With Father, Spirit are above:
No longer captives, we’re set free. 

The bread and wine to Him transformed
Will suit the plan He has for each,
For everyone in Him is formed
By Him, receives what He will teach.

Each person’s story is his own
Of way Christ Jesus lives in him;
In trust will sprout His seeds are sown
As each becomes His Bethlehem.

His manger lies within each heart
Where swaddling clothes to grave clothes change:
Our false self dies as He imparts
His Risen Life in fair exchange.

He dies in us so He can live
Again in hearts He will make pure,
And through us each Himself he gives
As all from Satan’s lie are cured.

We find we have become ourselves
From His beginning meant to be,
Each one a picture of His health
As His obedience sets us free.

We meet Him in His Sacrament
When ’round His altar we all bow,
Where we taste heaven’s nourishment
As He descends into our now.   

Lord, thank You for our living Judgment Day
Where our sins are to us by You revealed
That we may choose to let You have Your way.

Let us not wait for when in grave we lay
To know our sin we have so long concealed.
Lord, thank You for our living Judgment Day.

May our hearts welcome You to in us stay
As You bring joy to our salvation seal,
That we may choose to let You have Your way.

Then through us You to world will have Your say
As all the earth becomes Your fertile field.
Lord, thank You for our living Judgment Day.

May we in dark of world be shinning ray
Of light from scepter’s mercy You here wield
That we may choose to let You have Your way.

And now we see the price for us You pay
That our souls may by Calvary be healed.
Lord, thank You for our living Judgment Day
That we may choose to let You have Your way.    

He says, “Farewell,” and then returns
On Spirit’s breath at Pentecost;
We find our hearts within us burn
When He descends within His Host.

He takes His Body, Blood above–
Ascends and then on altar comes;
Through Spirit He makes present love
Of Him who one of us becomes.

His Risen Self ascends, descends
In Catholic Church on altar raised
Where we adore the One who mends
Our hearts and give Him all our praise.

From there He enters every heart
To save each one from sin and death;
His Body, Blood to each impart
And enter us on Spirit’s breath.

Ascension is His own prelude
To promise He forever makes
To come again from Holy Rood
And thirst for love within us slake,

For He is Risen from the dead!
Forever for us is alive
To come again in wine and bread,
And to each one His new life gives. 

The freedom of eternal truth we find
In Him, the One who all our burdens bears,
Whose Blood for us is heaven’s living wine–
Transforms the earth that all His children share.

With Crown of Thorns He sanctifies the ground
That suffered curse because of Adam’s sin
And plants His vine, that we once lost are found
So we become what we have always been.

In Him we’re grafted in Our Father’s Son
To drink His life on Holy Spirit’s breath
And share in vict’ry for us He has won–
Redeems His image from our sin and death.

On Spirit’s breath we rise to life anew
With Him who fallen angel for us slew.