Dead leaves leave the tree
when they die.
Acceptance
Time was present in the past.
The present was not meant to last.
The past is present in the future
when it is conjoined like a suture.
The future is envisioned by the past
in the present when that is the question that is asked.
If all time is always present now
then it is unredeemable somehow.
What might have been is an abstraction
that presents possibility as the attraction
in the world of speculation
that may never see satisfaction.
The leaves of trees in Florida stay green while they are seen.
The deciduous shed their dead more than once to preen.
The color turns brown before they fall
when the wind isn't the cause for the small fall from all.
These leaves are less than most
as they are ripe to leave the host.
They are quite brown
when they lay on the ground.
It's not always the case that leaves leave the tree when they die.
A strong wind can unhinge the leafy life to fall where they lie.
Statistically, they are brown when they fly
because they have died. They fly because they die.
They stay where they lay
until the wind moves them where it may.
Footsteps echo in some memory
of the hall that will never be
toward the door that was not opened
out by the potted mums that have been woken.
These words echo without sound in your mind
to a purpose that is not as well defined
as the mums planted in their time.
Other echoes whisper softly. Should we look to find?
Quick, says the flight of the bird, find them,
round the corner, past the tree branch's leafy left stem.
Through the gate lies our first world.
Should we enter the illusion's whirl?
Let us go with a rush
with the speed of a thrush
to see the place of our deception.
It will mark the state for the inception
of conception.
There they were,
no longer a blur.
They were dignified and invisible
moving without pressure by the visible
over the dead leaves in the autumn heat
through the vital air with discrete feet.
The bird sang to unheard music in the bushes.
The unseen beam crossed the mums with blushes
flushed from the flowers that were not as well seen.
There they were as our guests, accepting and accepted.
So we moved with them in a pattern that was not rejected.
It was being tested by the empty spot for our detection
by perception in the area for reflection.
The empty bird bath was filled with glistening sunlight.
Reflection shown as water. The lotos rose. It was quiet.
Quietly, the surface glittered in the heart of the light.
They were behind us, reflected in our sight
of the partial sphere. A cloud passed. The pool was empty.
Go, said the bird. It heard the leaves with laughter set free.
The breeze blew as the bird flew scratching loose a sound
that triggered the memory of children circled on the ground.
The world has come unfurled as excited statements are hurled
across the circle. Go, go said the bird: This reality's been whirled.
Humanity can't take much reality.
The future has passed the present into the past.
The past and the future point to the end that is cast.
What might have been and what has been
show us the present din we're in.
The Boat Floats
https://img1.etsystatic.com/000/0/5898011/il_fullxfull.176215287.jpg
The savage rivers of the world
swirl into the sea of my soul.
The wild winds of the sky unfurl
with a whirl to lift my mind to know.
The time tempered tempest blows
the storm tossed elements in a primordial
goo that grows as a foe to the calm that shows
boundaries as a tutorial in being territorial.
The months of moon compel the cyclic tides
to ebb and flow with little consternation for constellations
to challenge events to change by chance in time's divide
as energy lies in wait to find emergence in creation.
My spirit lived as an element in the cause
before the galactic stars harbored solar systems as conceived
though countless ages and many forms gave pause
for what could be believed as achieved to be perceived
as form.
Form conformed to the constraints of matter
as substance that was shaped to float as a boat
with the set of sails set against or for the wind's answer
in accord with the shore that bore the terrestrial goat.
Righteousness reaches to the the heavens.
Great troubles and adversities ask for the direction of faith.
Youthful evaluation teaches response to falsified patterns of presence.
The eighth wrathful wraith says what is betrayed by pain.
No one is crowned without competing according to the rules.
It is the set of the soul that determines the goal
as we journey through life with the help of tools
boldly born to build trust in integrity tempered by grace overall.
The winds that move the turbulent sea
are the waves of time as perceived by mind.
Rebuke the wind. Calm the storm that you may be
free to find what investigation leads you to bind
as true.
sbk
Rough weather lies ahead.
Passage
My beginning is my end.
Houses rise, fall, crumble or extend.
They are removed, destroyed or restored in their place.
Old stone becomes a new building with a different face.
Old timber falls to fire.
Old fire turns to ash. Ash turns the dirt to make it drier.
The earth is already fertile with flesh, fur and feces.
It holds the bone of man and every living species.
Houses live and die.
There is little time to sigh
before another must rise
to see what we love or despise.
There is time to build
truth for the guild.
There is the generation
of the nation's next sensation.
There is the wind to let loose
the loosened pane for the root of the spruce.
My beginning looks to the end.
Now the light falls across the field to reveal some strange friend
leaving the deep lane covered with branches
in the dark afternoon as a van passes.
The lane insists on a direction into the town
in the electrical beat of the renowned sound
for the sales that prevail upon the market.
Hypnotized by the warm lazy haze of the bargain as a target
the sultry light is absorbed, not refracted, by the asphalt pavement.
The lily lies asleep in the empty silence with a complacent fragrance
that awaits reliance on the defiance of the early owl.
That's no scowl. He is simply waiting to pounce
on the mouse for a meal by the ounce.
If you do not come too close in the open field
to the deep stillness of a dark night's yield,
you can hear the music of a pipe's fife and the little drum.
You can see them dancing around the bonfire of some
strong association between man and woman.
This is the dignified and commodius sacrament of becoming human
in "daunsinge, signifying matrimonie."
The two join in a conjunction that is necessary
holding "eche other by the hand or the arm"
in a way "whiche betokeneth concorde" against doing harm.
Round and round the fire they skip and turn
to leap through the flames to learn
from the heat with a seasoned beat
that returns to rejoin the circle that encircles
the dire desire to learn from the fire.
They are rustically engaged in laughter against disaster,
lifting their feet heavy with clumsy shoes hoping to move faster,
lifted in country mirth above the grave curse of the earth
to which it was feared that there would be return prior to giving birth
as the earth had given birth to the grave of the knave
who now nourishes the earth for corn which we save
to keep time in the rhythm of the dance as we prance
in season with the constellations to which perchance we glance
as we prance in the dance with the hope to generate enough finance
to last to another advance be it ever so much against all chance.
The time for coupling betokens hope for something
be it for feet falling and rising for eating and drinking for the thump of the drumming.
Dung and death allude to rest from the test
of working only to produce your best
for the behest of the guest who will not let you rest.
Dawn points to another day.
Silence anoints the water to prepare a way
for the draw of the wind at sea
with wrinkles, flaps, slides and sails that seem
to say I am here, there or elsewhere
in my beginning to care
for the air
as it breathes.
sbk
Karnak Temple
Egypt
http://www.alrahalah.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/763468_75586013_1200-1024x624.jpg
Cornerstone
The cornerstone is where the start is made.
Lines are drawn as an extension of the builder's trade.
Perpendiculars, horizontals and directionals are determined.
Construction builds discernment for determinance with permanence.
The corner is the first stone in masonry made.
All others are set in order to where the first one was laid.
East is where light first meets sight in mind.
North is to the left of where the sun starts to shine.
The beginning of the work saluted the start of the light's arc.
It had to be placed so the rest could hearken to the mark.
Cement beneath the stone makes the foundation solid.
It is better than the dead body that folklore made knowledge.
The Northeast is where the proved stone is found.
Three knocks with a mallet are made to test for sound.
The pillars for Greek temples reach high and look grand.
The Egyptians, Jews and Romans have temples that still stand on their land.
The temple of character is the most magnificent of all structures.
It is a building that stands despite the attempts to corrupt or rupture her.
Faith, hope and charity are the steps that lead to the door.
They are the stairway to heaven in the house above the floor.
Faith is a fundamental truth for religion.
Light is used for sight to determine position.
Hope is a rope, an expectation for escaping danger.
Nature gives while we live. Elements allow us to rearrange her.
Charity is union between the good and the true.
It leads us to trust in the best we can do.
Friendship comes among those of us who listen.
It might otherwise have remained at a perpetual distance to glisten.
I there stood where I was guided to stand.
The direction will help me to make better plans.
Karnak
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karnak
The temple of Karnak was known as Ipet-isu. It was the “most select of places” for the ancient Egyptians. It is a city of temples built over 2,000 years. It is part of the monumental city of Thebes. Thebes was the capital city during the New Kingdom. The temple was dedicated to the Theban triad of Amun, Mut and Khonsu. Amun meant the "Hidden One." Mut meant "Mother." Khonsu meant "Moon."
Construction at the complex began during the reign of Senusret I in the Middle Kingdom. He ruled from 1971 to 1926 BCE. Building continued into the Ptolemaic period. This period extended from 323 to 30 BCE. Most of the extant buildings date from the New Kingdom. This kingdom was part of the Egyptian empire. It ran from the 16th to the 11th century BCE.
Time
Outside
the Bottle
http://www.eurekahouse.co/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Fancy-ideas-garden-path.jpg
Time proceeds in a line
more steady than the growth of pine.
The potent motion of each moment
moves forward to foment
atonement for that which has past
and did not last.
If it was worth some cash
we preserve it with craft
to prevent it from being slashed or trashed.
Faith is cast
to view the past
to grasp that which we want to last
when the opportunity to preserve
comes to pass.
Time changes in mind.
It arranges. It rearranges what it finds.
Each vision made a decision.
Each decision required re-vision.
Each re-vision required another vision
for the next decision.
Dividing that which is and is not mine
about time is an action that is fine.
When that which is mine is added
a circle to the line is circum-stat-ed
Where there was mistake,
there is none to perpetuate.
Where there was anticipating,
there is waiting, debating and intent prior to participating.
We're done with allegiance to destruction
as the idea of what's eternal toward construction
or production.
When the terrain sank
it was dank.
There was the return of the inland sea
water washed with crest, wave and cloud to be
the dominion that rose to wash the tree.
Look upon what had been adversity.
It was a chance to build strength with diversity.
That which had been described
had been observed, not denied as prescribed
as it would come again despite not being so inclined
to find self in a similar situation defined.
A garden in Eden had been planted
with spacious walks. Some were slanted.
There were many trees
in rows with fruits produced to please.
It had a pond and a meandering stream
that drank the sun's beam from morn until eve.
The river flowed without a sound
except when splashed by a stone from the ground.
It was so clear the fish could be seen within
as having scales instead of skin.
The shrubs and grass moved the breeze with mirth
as they protected soil, the substance of earth.
Birds were heard and seen flying around
landing on branches or on the ground.
Finches, cardinals, herons and crows
flew the friendly skies to land and pose.
As lovely as this garden is,
it means nothing to those who live
unless labor for life, we did give.
sbk
Living Stones
https://revdtabbs.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/living-stones.jpg
1 Peter 2:5
you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Building
We are stones that have been polished
by living water.
Experience has tumbled our burnished knowledge
of survival against the violent rose of slaughter.
We are fossils unearthed
by work or weather.
Inspiration has given birth
to knowledge preserved
by the pressure of earth's pleasure.
We are the stalagmite rising
to the height of our might.
We are the stalactite reaching
down to touch the sight
of earth's delight like
God and Adam
in the spackle
of the Sistene Chapel.
We are skimming stones
skipping over the reflection of bones
in view of the mirror
that gravity draws nearer
until consumed without a moan.
We are meteorites blazing trails
across the night sky
trailing wedding veils
with relationship as our ally.
We are rough and rugged stones
construed to form a highway
that each driver owns
provided its driven the right way.
We are cut as straight edged ashlars
laid in linear fashion
stacked to form the walls
that stand strong and tall.
We are a spiritual building
not made with hands
instilled with the will to sing
and to work responsibility as our stand
for the land and its span.
Our house is eternal in heaven.
Faith is present
in the succession of our profession
of love for the Christ of Jesus
as our reason for believing
in each season.
sbk
Smooth
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/567064f15a5668a2de2d0292/t/57d242cc3e00be654df9a583/1473397466389/
Faith looks to improve upon the past
in a way that is cast to last.
Nature's plan is evidence of design.
The design is what we find with mind.
The stone is cut to remove the roughness.
The ashlar is left with august justness.
Superfluity is excess, plain and simple.
It's hammered out to refine the civil.
Vice doesn't fit the moral compass.
We are living stone for the house of justice.
We fit ourselves for the Builder's use
in the incarnation of experience that won't lose.
Faith looks to improve the past
in a way that is cast to last.
sbk
Spider Sail
http://wpnature.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/flower-purple-web-flowers-spider-lovely-spring-summer-nature-wallpapers-desktop-background.jpg
After the deluge
a rabbit hopped to a stop
below the flower tops
and let loose
a billow of prayer
through the power
of the spider web snare.
The ghost of a host
was broken like thread
to catch spider bread
while the dream catcher floats
like a wave beneath a boat.
The split stone
doesn't moan.
A strawberry ripens
in solitary silence
despite the sweet heat's violence.
Each apple grew a bruise
as though it were a new tune
about nothing left to lose.
The anoles raced a mole
on the stones above the hole.
The flowers looked on with glee
as though the breeze had made them see.
Boats were hauled back
to where they had sat
before the water and wind
had played the hack
attack.
The ghost of Captain Kidd
ran away with the wind
as it had been
that which had tallied his sin.
Now he can win the wind
without the sin.
The ribbon of rainbow shines high in the sky.
The height of the variant light shows delight to your sight.
sbk
Harvey's Fallout
https://blog.wdtinc.com/nowcast-forecast/national-weather-summary-for-tuesday-august-29-2017
Copious rainfall will continue throughout much of eastern Texas and the Mississippi Valley after Tropical Storm Harvey moves northward into east Texas and western Louisiana. Two day rainfall totals may exceed two feet of rain in some areas. Isolated flooding will be an issue for portions of Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
Flash Flood Watch
http://www.northescambia.com/2017/08/flash-flood-watch-several-inches-of-rain-expected-2
"Bands of heavy rain with isolated storms will develop across southeast Mississippi, southwest Alabama and the northwest Florida panhandle now through at least Thursday. Locally heavy rainfall is possible and isolated flash flooding cannot be ruled out across the southern portion of the area. An additional 4-7 inches is expected through Thursday with isolated higher amounts possible."
24 Inch Gauge and Common Gavel
http://themasonicleader.com/the-24-gauge-an-emblem-of-balance-and-harmonization/
The gauge is typically represented as a long and thin measuring stick. It is divided into three equal sections of 8 inches each. The three sections are linked by two joints. The joints permit the sections to be extended in a single span of 24 inches. The joints also permit the sections to be folded one upon the other. This makes the tool more compact and less unwieldy.
The common gavel is used to break off the rough parts of stone to fit it with other stones.
82d Airborne Division
https://www.duffelblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/airborne.jpg
Protect us in our descent Archangel Michael.
Defend us from the fire of the enemy.
Pray that we be given the edge over our rival.
Lead me in battle. Help me to find my identity.
Help us to find salvation in conflict.
Guardian and defender of soul and body
forgive me for any error that I did inflict
at anytime in any place on anybody.
If I have erred in my duty during this day
please shelter me in the night.
Let me stay away from going astray.
Lend me the insight to do what's right.
Intercede with God on my behalf.
Strengthen me in service to others
to avoid any mishap, deception or trap.
Prove me in service with this band of brothers.
