REFLECTIONS xii

Like a luminous ribbon,

Stretching forward,

Yard by yard increasing

In fluorescence

and phosphorescence

The path of the righteous

Advanced toward

Perfect day.

REFLECTIONS xi

John was the burning

And the shining light.

The appearing light

Was evident to the sighted.

And he was content

To be consumed.

For as the shining light shone

The burning light had burned.

REFLECTIONS x

The cattle surge in their pen,

Shifting and flowing,

To the roped gate.

Spring has come. The farmer

Senses the ardency

Of their senses.

The gate swings wide.

From the shadows cattle

Trample, bucking

Into the sun.

Its warmth balms the joints

Of their plump bodies.

REFLECTIONS ix

The moon is not

Tossed

Upon cloudy seas - it moves

Fixedly in its orbit.

To men it may

Change and fluctuate -

To God’s eye

It remains in its orb.

And the seas it never touches

Rise and fall under

The rhythm of

Its influence.

REFLECTIONS viii

Each knew the Lord.

One lived on the consciousness

Of the mercy

By which he had been retrieved;

One dwelt in the knowledge

That God had chosen her

Before the world was;

One was formed

In the graces found

In Jesus Christ;

And one in the glories

Of all established

In Christ Jesus:

In these distinctions

Star differed from star

In glory.

REFLECTIONS vii

It moves in

Inexorable dignity,

A strong runner

Who delights to run

From dawn to dusk.

It has the aura,

The rights,

Of a bridegroom.

Nothing escapes

The munificence

Of the splendour of its shining.

REFLECTIONS vi

There are recesses,

Crannies, shades

Within.

Outwith there are

Shadows, mists, wynds,

Recesses.

Thy word is a lamp.

REFLECTIONS v

Ye were once darkness,

But now

Light in the Lord.

Ye are not in darkness,

For all ye

Are sons of light and sons of day.

Ye appear

As lights in the world.

Ye are the light of the world.