Poems

Isaac: Is this our God who bids my father kill His covenanted heir? How, if I die Lacking manhood's seed, can I fulfill God's oath that Abraham should multiply? My guiltless father grieving must obey And I submit, or in the desert flee Like Ishmael to strange tribes, give up God's way, And no more sing beside my mother's knee. But God has always loved us, swift to save From nomad raiders, Pharaoh's grasping paw, From locust, drought, and storm.

And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.

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"And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM .

The human mind had sought its god By coming toward him from below, From elemental moistened sod Or image shaped by hammer blow. Then, prophets had to blow on myth, Seek Principle within the plan, Perceive from God the holy gift: Not man-made god, but God-made man.

No doubt, no fear, No night is here. This day belongs to God.

"Jesus saith to Simon Peter, .

Not henceforth after the flesh Know we any man, But after the Christly pattern— The Father's plan. No more explore Vagaries of the human mind, But man's true being As Soul's reflection seek and find.

None is unwanted or alone, None can be desolate, afraid, All are anointed as Love's own, All cherished and all undismayed. How valuable is each one, Sought of the Christ, divinely led, Never ending, never begun, Companioned, joyous, comforted.

Not to the risen Lord we cling, who said to Mary, "Touch me not," but to the eternal Christ and King, the Lamb unblemished, without spot. The risen Lord had form and face and human tones to speak the name of Mary, when with power and grace transfigured from the tomb he came.