Dawn

 

Dawn kneels quietly at my window, 

peering in, gently waking me. 

The fringe of the morning, the cool blue of first light 

as the moon's ardour wanes and cornsilk yellow 

silently ushers in the sun, crowned in its 

helmet of gold, bringing light’s unsingable psalm.

The dawn's demure revelation of another day, 

crowned with grace and provisioned with new mercies, 

eclipses the gaudy glory of a day's cessation, 

the grandeur of a sunset incapable of matching 

the nobility of the envoy bringing 

life and hope to all.

MDC 

April 2021

Prisoner

I swore an oath to love a girl for better and for worse

A solemn vow, a curse, a blessing, that would cost gladly dear.

Before the Lord I pledged this sacred stipulation never 

dreaming that this pact would bring dire tribulation.

There was joy, there was pain, there was fearful, dreadful illness

At times it was difficult to find peace and stillness

Never in my wildest dreams did I consider us ruined

But gradually we both became bereft and disillusioned

With no parole from this contractual jail, so dark each future night,

For only death will bring release from this ordained plight

But in the pitch of this dungeon dim behold! there came a light! 

A hand outstretched offering robes washed clean and white.

He Who holds me to my bond approving my avowal 

Ignoring my complaints, and more! - my offensive howl

As His prisoner I now rejoice and at last I see

as I join His sufferings He has bound Himself to me

Like Paul and Silas with shackled limbs ignoring their restraints

Singing psalms and hymns to Him - not fearful, no complaint

He Who rules in man’s affairs, the planner of their confinement,

they knew would test and try their faith, perfecting their refinement

So this oath I swore, this assurance of my fidelity

I realise now was never made by mistake or accidently

And as He works in Me His will, I swear truly to you

I know He will finish His work faithfully and true.

MDC

December 2020

 

'Zactly

Accuracy is important!
Some things require millimetre perfection, like cabinetmaking.
Others need the precision of micrometres, like internal combustion engines. 
We want our surgeons and scientists to be even more accurate. 

What about money? You and I only ever get things resolved

to two decimal places. I read about a fellow working for a

bank who took the third decimal place for himself. 

He made a fortune until he was caught.

 

We measure in millimetres, 

decimal places, 

light years and 

thousandths of a second 

but the most important things in our lives 

are measured in tenebrous,

nebulous,

vague,

clumsy terms.

It seems that the more important the subject, the less precise 

we are about quantifying and qualifying it.

Our youth use words like gnarly, wicked, rad, sick, awesome

and despite the unfamiliarity of whatever word they choose

we know exactly what they mean. 

The ah moment when the penny drops. 

The flash of cognition when we finally understand what our 

small child has been trying to tell us. 

Meeting someone who is a gnarly dude

Parties that are wicked and holidays that are rad, 

Concerts that are awesome.

Receiving a gift that is sick. 

So maybe we only need precision for things,

but when it comes to people the

soft-edged,

furry,

fuzzy, vague and clumsy

is precisely what we need, and filling the gaps 

with unarticulated living is what makes things work.

MDC

October 2020