A Confession

O God who made the earth, the sky and sea,
Our hearts are restless 'till they rest in thee.
You made us in your love to live as one,
As well as with the Spirit and the Son.
You made and are the Savior of all men;
Come fill us with your peace and love again!
Although to wander far from you we're free,
Our hearts are restless 'till they rest in thee.

O God, who calls us when from you we flee,
Our hearts are restless 'till they rest in thee.
All things that are both beautiful and true,
As well as good, can only come from you.
To hear your word you gave to us our ears;
You gave us hearts to find you through our tears;
All that you made, you gave us eyes to see;
Our hearts are restless 'till they rest in thee.

O God, who made the world so grand and vast,
Who made the snail slow and the falcon fast,
The grass green and the sunshine in the sky,
The white and changing clouds that hurry by,
The stars gigantic, burning red and blue,
The largest people and the smallest too:
O God, who made all this and who made me,
Our hearts are restless 'till they rest in thee.

T. G. 10/4/18

A Sonnet for Spring

The world is dead; the earth is cold and bare,
Though frosts are gone and melted is the snow.
The grass turned brown and yellow long ago,
And trees from leafless branches starkly stare.
The heavy greyness of the clouded sky
Threatens thunder, beguiles with hope of rain
That does not come. The Winter's deathly stain
Is left upon the lifeless land to lie.
But from this grey decay and yellow death,
A single blade of green, a living sprout,
Arises, opens out, new hope to bring.
And rains shall come, and breezes warm as breath;
From darker clouds than these has struggled out
The Sun ere now. Have hope! Await the Spring!

T. G. 3/29/20

The Stars

O Stars, you shining orbs of light,
You shards of flame that fill the night,
Tell me: was my vision true?
For if it was, you saw it too.

Was I, who was then but a boy,
Ever truly filled with joy?
Did she whose lips I thought I kissed
Only in my mind exist?

O Stars, you crystal balls of fire,
You eyes that burn with hot desire,
If happiness was ever true,
I find it now in only you.

T. G. 10/30/18

Light from Light

Bright shines the feathered flyer, in the morning Sun
That rises red or golden, going right
Up the upper airs, which in the night
Do deliver darkness deep blue. Run
The clouds, scattered, from the scoring heat
Of thirteen thousand nuclear furnaces
And more; tell me what the Sun surpasses
Not, nor tramples 'neath its flaming feet.

Not what, but who—for He is not a "what"
Who gives to gaseous giants the golden glow
And to deft daffodils their dainty shine
Of yellow lock-like petals. For the hot
Aura of Orion and, below,
Gold ore are delved from one eternal mine.

T. G. 4/10/19

The Dream

Behind the stars, which in their rolling course
Do turn around the Earth and back again;
Beyond the "rolling spheres," and spires of shock
Which in the storms do punctuate the rain,
I wandered far, searching for the Light,
But what I found was only endless night.

And as I thought upon the light for which
I yearned with all my heart, I came upon
A gap in Earth, Sky, Sea, and memory,
And in I fell, I know not for what reason.
But as I fell, my soul asked, "Will I find
The Light which my own mem'ry has left behind?"

The Darkness all around me found a voice,
And, with a thunderous roar, it answered, "No."
Thus far, the Dark has proven to be true,
And Life, for me, is Misery, and Woe.
But there may come a time when I will find
The Light I seek, and leave the dark behind.

T. G. 10/12/14