WEAVING

Since He came to relieve bearers,
The bereaved, blind, and dumb,
So that strangers should be retrieved;
Ears He opened - where first Eve
Let temptation enter; fever
He rebuked, and those who believed Him
Followed; and all He would achieve
Rooted from His excellence. God
Saw a heave-offering; men
A panacea for their peevishness.
See those who received Him, children
Of God - metal to magnet, cleaving
To Him - grace made them perceive
His worth, leave all for One
Weaving a seamless garment.

PSALM

The pious man is like a tree

            With amply-watered roots;

And in its season you may see

The richness of its fruits.

The righteous man is like a palm -

In freshness he disports

With dignity, without a qualm,

As planted in God’s courts.

Jehovah’s trees are satisfied,

            Planted by Him, and blest;

Through him each bird is now supplied

            With space to build its nest.

LAND iii

We will come to a land
Whose stones are iron, we
Escaped from the iron furnace.
For God will have a house fixed
By iron without weight:
Iron for things of iron.

He has given us what is best
From the ancient mountains; precious
From the everlasting hills.  He only
Placed them there before:
Up, let us mine these stores,
Let us dig copper.

LAND ii

A land of wheat
Borne from one grain,
Fit for an oblation
Or to garner,

Reaped after the barley-harvest,
That firstfruit, yet
Whose heap of corn
Is cause of rejoicing.

Oh the vines!
And their wine is
New wine, to suit new skins
To cheer God and man.

The sweetness of the figs!
And their healing, while
The tree with the vine
Forms each man’s bower.

Blossom and bloom
The pomegranates, till
Comely as a woman’s temple,
The juicy fruits burgeon.

The people of the land
Will shine in the unction
Of the fatness
Of the olive tree.

While honey they suck
Out of the rock
Will make them persons
With bright eyes.

LAND i

The God of the hills
And of the valleys
Gives you this good land:

A land of waterbrooks,
Rivers of living water.

A land of springs,
Fountains of water
Springing up.

A land of deeps
The depths of which have been
Searched out for you.


Deuteronomy 8: 7

FRAGRANCE

The broken flask
Set fragrance free; God
Will receive fragrance
From only a broken heart.