Walking in Eden
Where righteous rivers run, smooth is the sunlight!
The sun-bearing grove, the hallow-wood, shines;
the foliage fails not, falls not, the leaf-blade is bright,
vast beams of trees rise up verdantly to the skies.
Winter season, summer season, the woods drape with blossom;
leaves know no withering, the trees never forget.
Their leaf-laden limbs bear fruit, thick on bough,
vital and vivid; their vestments never fade.
The blooms, unfalling and unfallowed, color-bursting,
dress lofty arms of trees; a rainbow on the branches.
A holiness drips from the flame-brilliant rose,
freshness in air and green, cleanness in breath and mind,
a never-ending dew from the never-failing vine.
Dewdrop and Candlelight
The dewdrop slips into the shining sea.
Not the dew but the sea am I.
The deep of the world slips into me
and, joined to me, it does not die.
The candle shines in light of the sun,
its light is mingled and entwined;
the light of self and world are one,
the candle's beam burns small in mine.
Angels with Their Feline Faces
Angels with their feline faces
soar through endless empty spaces,
meow a song of godly graces;
they sport in ecstasy.
Every wing like wild flowers
sparkles with hope's hidden power,
turning minute into hour
and aeviternity.
Play the tambrel and the drum;
Juda's lion is now come.
Whiskers white with zeal are burning,
wheels in wheels of love are turning,
emblems of some endless yearning,
in spheres most heavenly.
Eyes like slits of holy fire,
sparks of infinite desire,
pour out light in swaying gyre
of cosmic liturgy.
Lions roar above my head,
praising Zion newly wed.
Like a shawm for holy masses,
or wind through spiring garden grasses,
prayer of the saints now passes
in angelic harmony.
Every halo holds a story,
wraps around the world with glory,
burns the very heavens hoary
with frosty dignity.
Send the message far and wide:
the Lion-Lamb has wed his Bride!
These ministers of wind and flame,
moving in their spirit-game,
praise the everlasting name
of true divinity.
A purr goes out throughout the ages:
though the dragon shouts and rages
his doom is writ in sacred pages
of God's vitality.
Rejoice, for they have slain the Beast;
rejoice and join the wedding feast!
