Poetry, faith and the human experience

A couple of poetry books I've been reading and can recommend; the first is an anthology of sacred poetry from world faiths and the second is a translation of poems written by the Buddhist monk, Stonehouse. 

The Longing in Between, a Poetry Chaikhana anthology - 

Sacred poetry from around the world edited with commentary by Ivan M. Granger

The Mountain Poems of Stonehouse -

translation and commentary by Red Pine

                                                       (Glastonbury Tor, Somerset) 

The Winter Rose

Let love bloom in your heart

A winter rose

By spring it will be a bouquet

By summer it will be a glory

By autumn it will set seed

And then you can show others

How to grow a winter rose

The Heart Whisperer

You won't notice the difference at first

Just the smallest of change

Quieter than the breath of a candle

A ripple across a pool

Nothing to see here

But you will see it

Later rather than sooner

Long time later

It will be clear

I was there with you in that midnight place

Though you don't remember

I will always be there for you

Now, in the sunlight you laugh

Putting it all behind you

Moving forward, stronger than before

A bright bowl full of hope

There was something someone once said...

And you will wonder who it was

And I will smile and say

It must have been the heart whisperer

St Margaret's Chapel

There is a stillness in the air

Feather gently floating

A warmth of rose and lavender

Wrapped up in this scent

A candle, now lit, reaching out

A light to lift eyes and spirit

To the sky ringing above the bell

And gladness fills the heart

Hope is now a chalice full

Of quiet angels

Love not Hate

As Valentine's Day approaches, I was searching round for a poem to celebrate the day when I found this one I wrote in 2006. Sadly, it still seems relevant to the world today.

Love not Hate

Sometimes the news is hard enough to hear

Let alone live through

We have let hate win

If we allow for one minute, these borders of fear

To run among us

Dividing our hearts, separating our minds

The truth is this

The dogmatic mindset that brings violence, distrust

Fear and hate to every doorstep is no weapon at all

Against love

The sanctuary you crave is the human heart

And it beats in every one of us

Violence cannot win

Because it cannot see

How blind it is

To the truth

The walls of hate it builds

Only serve to imprison it

The human heart will always fly free

The Window

More than ever now

My life

A stained glass window

Of interconnecting facets

All I have seen

All I have felt

All I have known

How can I make sense of this kaleidoscope

Of light and shade

Am I the sum of all these parts

A patchwork cemented in time and place

Yet, when examined, it seems

I am no more than

The play of light through a window

The Call

The breeze lifts on the lake
And the leaves do not hesitate
To echo the call
Trembling breath

I am on the mountain
And the flags are praying
And the breeze is saying
Find this love
Open your heart
And I lift my life to the sky
And catch the light of the world in my eyes
The key is always in me
With all my love
With all my love

If you have forgotten, I will find
If you are uncertain, I will reassure
If you are sad, I will comfort
With all my love
With all my love

The breeze lifts on the lake
And the leaves do not hesitate
To echo the call
Trembling breath

I looked for love everywhere

I looked for love everywhere
In houses of stone and prayer
And when I thought it was lost for good
It seems it should
Return here
To the trees and the grass
To the flowers and the fruit
In the rain, in the sun
And I am at one
Here, in this garden is where I have begun
To find out what love is