FREE AND GROWING GREENER
POETRY by Blake Stele
file # 2
INDEX
A.....
ABOUT OUR SECRET MINISTRY
A LEGEND
ALL THE CAST I CARE FOR LOVES THE THEATRE
AND THE LAST ENEMY TO CONQUER IS...
ANIMA/ANIMUS
A SMALL LESSON ABOUT WRITING
AT A SCHOOL OPEN TO HEAVEN
B......
BE YE HOLY AS I AM CREATIVE AND
COMPASSIONATE
C.....
CALLING POETS
CONCERNING CHRIST JESUS
CONCERNING HONESTY
COULD YOU PERHAPS BELIEVE ME?
D....
E....
EVERY SOUL CAN BE A LILLY
H....
HE WHO HOLDS THE SEVEN STARS
HOMECOMING
(On the death of the Pious)
HOW
AN APPLE TREE CELEBRATES
I....
I AM GRIEVING MY FATHER'S LOSS
I BELIEVE
I HAVE A PLACE HERE
IMAGINE
J....
JOINT HEIRS OF LIFE
L.....
LAST WORDS FROM ROETHKE
LET OUR WORDS MELT INTO
IMMEASURABLE SILENCE
LET US SHARE A MEASURED SILENCE
WITH OUR WORDS
M.....
MANANITAS - BEND OREGON - FEB 5TH, 1992
(FOR MARY O)
O.....
ON ARROGANT PRIDE
ON BECOMING THE POEMS
ON CHRISTMAS, A COW CRIES...
ON MIXING YOUR METAPHORS
ON THE SEED OF THE
SKY
P....
PAIN CAN SHARPEN OUR TASTES
PARABLES
PASSING IT ON
POETRY IS
S.....
SEA
DIALOGUE
SHARING POETRY WITH SECOND GRADERS
T......
THE OLD SEA IS WAITING TOO
THERE IS A HOLY EXPECTATION
THERE IS A PARTY
AWAITING YOU
THERE'S A PHOENIX IN THE BROKEN
GLITTERING BIRD
THE SKY IS OUR LIMIT
THE SUN IS MERELY SETTING ONCE AGAIN
U.....
UPON THE HOLY MOUTAIN TRUTH STILL SINGS
W.....
WE MEANINGFUL COSMIC CLOWNS
WHERE GOD'S FEET ARE
WITH A BEE IN MY MOUTH
LAST POEM - HE WHO HOLDS THE SEVEN STARS
THE POETRY:
PAIN CAN SHARPEN OUR TASTES
Pain can give us a taste
for the simple pleasures of life
and meld us back down
into savoring the beauty
and wonder of existence.
Pain can sharpen our senses.
JOINT HEIRS OF LIFE
I am an heir of God.
God is my inheritance:
to explore God
to relish God,
to savor God,
to respond to God,
to adore God...forever.
God is an heir of me.
I am God's inheritance
that
God might:
explore me,
relish me,
savor me,
respond to me,
and adore me...forever!
WHERE GOD'S FEET ARE
Where God's feet are,
new songs fly free
like young birds soar out of ancient trees.
Where God's fingers are...
there is constant beauty;
and the very stones anticipate
Ñcrying out their solid hopesÑ
as he who trashes souls
is sent a hie faddling away.
Then
back doors are thrown open,
the auroral floods though
and eyes open to spill out the light.
ON THE SEED OF THE SKY
When
pregnant
sky
clothes itself
with pungent earth
ÑHeaven blooms!
HOMECOMING
(On the death of a loving soul)
When
you go home,
all the Angels
will put on their merry hats
and sing,
"Birthday!"
THERE IS A HOLY EXPECTATION
There is a holy expectation
hovering above all things.
Around every child who is born
lives a delicate dream of what could be.
To
sense the Maker's hope
is to love the Maker;
and to love the Maker
is to commit your soul to fulfill
His beautiful dream.
I BELIEVE
I believe God wants to honor
the soul of every human being,
that God wants to nurture forth
love and wonder in the souls
of all peoples,
so that He might celebrate us
and share with us His own
Holy goodness and beauty.
I believe that
the Spirit of the Almighty
is a Spirit of such gentleness
that we only began to fathom Him
in our rarest moments
of extraordinary tenderness.
I believe that God's eyes brim with joy
when we adore Him even a little bit
with our hearts,
and that when we are even a little thankful
for the gift of life,
God smiles....
*
I believe God is humble;
that he delights in us with wonder
like a small child;
that his whole heart is taken with us
when we offer Him just a hint of honor,
just a bit of loving adoration for:
creating the world,
and us,
and the billions of stars;
for becoming for us an innocent child in poverty,
for growing to be a flaming man, brimming with life:
a healing artist
who sculpted his beauty
in the clay of human depravities.
*
Whenever goodness moves to wake us up,
whenever generous beauty beckons to our deep,
I believe God is quietly there
Ñtaking no creditÑ
giving honor to his children.
And yet, when a song is sung,
a word spoken,
a compassionate hand extended
in celebration of the privilege
we have to share in his care
and
just one human being whispers
deep within his strangely warmed heart,
"Thank you holy Father,
Papa, Papa, I love you!"
I believe that God is so proud of that soul
that light wells up in His eyes
and bright tears spill down
His radiant cheeks.
THERE IS A PARTY AWAITING YOU
There is a party
awaiting you
in your deepest self.
Your neighbor is there
and so is a moose,
a cat, a cow, a mouse,
a gnat.
A
tree is there
and a stone, and a star...
The door to the feast
is shaped like a cross.
Release all things
from your crippled,
crucified hands
and you shall fall
back through the door
into the music.
"Where did this light come from?"
&