The Sun Archive
A Free Resource for Spiritual Discovery & Exploration
In Spiritus Aeternum
A Collection of Spiritual Poems by the Website Author and his Father
The following compilation of poems were written by the website author and his father separately over the course of our lives. These little poems - imperfect as they are - were inspired by life, fate, the events of history which shaped our destinies, the world of the spirit, love, and resurrection...
Dedication
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The Representative of Humanity, my spirit-guide John, guardians, and teachers.
My father in this life who has guided, informed, and carried me.
Two loyal and two eternal friends; my soul-mate Grace and eternal companion Amanda ( literally means "loved very much by everyone" or "she who is fit to be loved"). All were born of the same eternal thought of GOD to be companions on our long, long journey before TIME began. They are light workers helping in the great cause as spirit-lights in the world...
Poem I, Son
The Lion of Judah.
The Year of our Lord 33 AD.
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"In Bethlehem, our chapter there began,
When Mary was espoused to Joseph.
But She had been found with child
Before they had come together.
So Joseph, being a Just man
Did not want to make her public.
Troubled, he wanted verily
To put her away Privily…
When Lo,
An Angel came unto him in a dream
And said
“Fear not Joseph, Son of David
For that
Which is conceived in her
Is of Our Father
And the Holy Ghost…”
So SHE cradled Emmanuel,
His namesake? “God is with us.”
As the Wise Men, by way of the Herod
Bestowed upon HIM
Great Gifts
Of Gold
And Frankincense
And Myrrh…
The burning effervescent Light
On this strange and restful night
Was the Immutability of HIS Spirit
Divinely Blazing across Heaven and Earth.
As a hidden star in the East
Led only the destined and special few
To honor HIM at the birthplace of
HIS Immortal Sacrifice…
When, 33 years later,
The Rabbis and Romans gathered their nails
And lies and motives and ropes
And bound our LORD to a woody cross
Stapled and slew so all would know
At the Mystery of Golgatha
“The Place of the Skull”
HIS Divine Blood did flow…
HIS Infinite Love sings True and Free
As longing weaves my destiny
Like a fine tapestry.
Showing a trillion times through
Until at last, Destiny leads me to you.
So I might know The Christ Spirit so dear
And comprehend the meaning
Of True Love, forever sincere."
Poem II, Son.
Blue Eyes
Far beyond the
Horizon there,
A fire burns
In the hills
Where
Angels watch and till
Remiss.
Their Confidence
Overwhelms me
Like a sudden shift
In the clouds
Of a rolling
Thunderstorm.
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I shutter
Only to feel HE,
As I marvel
At the soft
Gentle thrill of
Her crystal
Blue eyes.
To Heaven’s Door
Her love-flame
Engulfs me,
Propelling me abroad
Over vast seas of
Isolation
Where I am
Forever instilled with
The divine notion
Of enduring
Friendship.
The first
Moment I saw
You,
I knew it was you.
And ever
Since,
I have dreamed
Of you.
Wherever freedom
Goes know
I will be waiting.
Wherever stars burn
Know my love
Will surrender
Only to you.
Is it ignorance which
Cynics call yearning?
I think not –
For when I look into
Your eyes,
I see a new day rising…
It may seem strange,
But I know when you
Are near.
I can feel your soul
As I feel the Sun…
And I know you
Can feel mine…
Through the heart of love
I will never know
What hate is…
Only the Eagle’s Might,
Which soars far
Above the sky
And speaks to me
Through your majestic
Eternal and
Marvelous blue eyes...
Poem III, Son.
A Strong Sort of Lad, Circa 1918.
For Dad.
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This poem was written for my father who believed, and I concur, that he died as a Doughboy fighting at the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne in 1918. The Meuse-Argonne was fought from September 26 to November 11, 1918, involving over a million American soldiers. It was the largest and deadliest battle in American military history, aimed at cutting off the German army's supply lines and pushing them out of France. Despite heavy casualties and initial setbacks, the offensive ultimately contributed to the German surrender and the end of the war.
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Wandering Meistersinger’s applaud little
For the gallant soldier-at-arm’s.
For he the story stands as a riddle,
Always charging into battle
With curious little good-luck charms.
The night is falling
And the shadows of yesterday are lengthening for me.
I shall listen for you, my Father, but with eager ears,
Near the feint drum roll and thundering musketry at the Meuse,
Or perhaps you were near the Argonne? (I shall look for you)
I’ll make my way through the dense underbrush
Coaxed by some distant memory of bonding strife.
Watered by tears of things that once were,
Fueled by the Indomitable deeds of the forgotten and
The strong-at-heart (The Perfect).
Oh how I now long to return there
At the Hun I’ll deliver a hearty taunting stare.
With only sheepskins and leggings around me
And trails cut of dirt
To light my way back home.
I’d wade my way through the mud and towns, twice removed,
Led by a burly officer no doubt.
And when I find you primed and stout,
He’d surely say, “Bravo, young chap!
This mate of yours is a strong sort-of-lad.”
I applaud you, my Father, for your life-flame burns tall each day,
As if cut loose and adrift,
These Embers guide you to a nearing Shore.
Your honorable deeds, written in Time,
Have freed you, forever more.
Poem IV, Son
Elysian Fields​
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“This is what it comes down to: that we learn to experience that those who have passed through the gate of death have only assumed another form. Having died, they stand before our feelings like those who, through life circumstances, have traveled to distant lands, whither we can follow them only later. We have therefore nothing to bear but a time of separation.” – Rudolf Steiner, June 17, 1915
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1. "Across the Great River
I long to be,
Amidst glimmering souls
Who forever praise
The Master’s Mystery.
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3. They keep the hardness
Away from the best you see
As they are further along
Than you and me -
They live in pure thought
And blissful tranquility.
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5. When all that I am
Is consumed in HIS Glory
“I knew it was YOU…”
I would say as
I’ve seen
His magical smile
In a thousand dreams
And noble feelings
Through and through,
As HIS boundless love
Descends upon me
In countless reams.
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7. Perhaps, if HE said
“You may”
I would move on you see
To that little town
Near the snow tops
And wheat fields,
Away from the doldrums
And the egoistic shields
That decorate our
Tiny world here.​
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9. Near forests of
Glowing trees,
All good forms
Of finer means,
Among those
That have long
Since been gone
From us.
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11. Beneath a mountain range
Of effervescent energy,
A village there does exist
Waiting…
The very blades of grass
Move in harmony
With the Divine Wind
That forever sweeps
Through the valley,
Just when you need it,
Seems to me…
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13. Even the ‘wind’ knows me
Staying close to all,
Who are now
And will be free,
For it never leaves
It’s loved ones alone,
It knows, like I
Wherever HE may be
Is HOME.
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15. As I stroll along,
I turn rather gleefully
To the dense blades of grass.
Alarmed, I think they might be
Gazing and moving with me…
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Ah! I find my faulty
Thinking again,
They are!
And they are smiling
Cheerfully!
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17. But no torrid heat
Like the oceans that exist
On the other side
Of the mists.
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The CROSS
In the sky shines,
Not like our sphere here,
For HIS work is
Never done.
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19. For He
There is no valley of hunger
He cannot bridge,
No desert of thirst
He can not cross.
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He is like the mountains
Whose Promise fills the void
And Patience
Withers the storm.
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21. The flowers, the plants,
The rocks and the trees,
The birds and the clouds
And hearty memories,
The snow and the water,
The grass and the sky,
The bright ones
From near and far
Come here
To share
Thoughts of FATHER,
And how and why…
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23. It does not exist here
Among the immortals,
Who love and hope
And move to new paths
And never leave
Anyone in doubt
Or pain or anguish
Or desperate sorrow.
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25. Love, Trust and Compassion
He does exude,
Directing me to move across.
Up to the village I did go,
This ancient place
Of imminent ancestry,
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It must have a name,
I’m sure it is fair,
As a strong voice
Came to me just there,
I know not from where,
Of ‘Rest’ and ‘Victory.’
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​28. It is HE you see,
Making all things possible,
In ever-loving folds
Of omnipotent casuistry…
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30. It is Order you see,
That creates Harmony,
Knowing how things are,
As they exist
And will always be.
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32. It is HE you see
Whose task is unending,
Above it all in
The whole of creation,
The Supreme Guardian
Stands fervently...
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34. With His Divine Excalibur
Of Purpose and Love
And His inviolable shield
Of Perfect Compassion -
Forever shooting forth
Ceaseless and deliberate
Waves of
Valor and Knowledge
And Universal Power.
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36. It is Morality you see
That creates a finer tapestry
Within you and me
And determines
What types of lives
We will lead.​
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2. I long to venture out
Beyond the great mists
That surround this lair,
Those walls that are
The great boundary,
They keep things
Separate and fair.
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4. I long to bathe
In the cool blue waters,
That well-spring that
Renews weary souls -
There I’ll cast
Off the remnants
Of this mortal coil.
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6. I know for sure this,
King of the Way,
You’ll always love me
Come what may.
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I will bow before
The Blessed Rays
Of Hope and Forgiveness,
With but a smile
And the lingering hope
That here I could stay…
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8. One thing
You should know,
Before anyone goes
They may need
To rest a bit
In the Great Hall
Of Silence.
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There they can
Spend the time
They need to
Let go of the things
That define humanity’s
Tiny needs.
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10. While here we
Could not see them,
You and me.
Oh yes,
I almost forgot,
Even those that
Have not
Yet come to be…
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12. Even the ‘wind’ knows me
Staying close to all,
Who are now
And will be free,
For it never leaves
It’s loved ones alone,
It knows, like I
Wherever HE may be
Is HOME.
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14. It forever flows
It should be known,
From the lofty summits
Of Hope and Forgiveness
Integrity and Grace
And Humility
Just to name a few…
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​16. Shall I sit a while
With you my friends
For a brief respite,
Or shall I venture further
Into this lofty
Realm of delight?
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The shoreline sweeps
Near a mountain-base,
Gleaming with stars
And shimmering streaks
Of blue motion
And deliberate energy.
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​18. Only love and
Warmth and unity
Emanating from the One.
It gives off its own
Proper glow you see
And wherever it shows
Never despair for
Darkness will never flare.
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Like a tempest in the sky,
A glowing ember in the night,
A soft murmur in the mist,
He is our loving
And enduring Light.
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20. I stand in awe
And wait for a sign
There I feel His
Magic breath
Surrounding me
And it sounds
Like colossal waves
Crashing on the sea.
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Indeed
Just to be near HIM
I am forever
Content to be.
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22. A great festival
Is brightly lit,
Of endless Order and Beauty,
I became startled a bit
With a tearful fright,
Knowing now
Only Man could have created
The invention of the Night.
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24. They forever resist it,
Would never abandon
Another in the eternity
Of tomorrows.
As I met the crossroads
Between the right way
And mine
I saw the Sign
Of the DOVE…
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26. The villagers hum
A marvelous melody,
From their serene minds
It does joyfully sing to me.
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Then the veil is lifted
Rather abruptly
From my hazy eyes,
As these OLD friends
Just smiled
As I became
Fully AWARE
Of this ultra-reality.
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Which the smaller
Creatures deny
Because we still persist
On using our fists
On the other side
Of the mists.
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29. It is HE you see,
That forgave everyone,
Yes…even me,
Lending us another chance,
Or chances rather,
To prove our worth
Our capabilities…
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31. It is HE you see,
The Blessed Architect
Of the Great Plan,
The rescue and redemption
Of ALL of humanity.
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33. It is Order you see,
That creates Harmony,
Knowing how things are,
As they exist
And will always be.
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35. Revealing Himself as He is,
HE will usher
In a new vista
Of love and capacity
To those of us
Who still prefer to push
And shove…
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37. And Through His
Crystal blue eyes,
Which gaze
Right through me,
I feel
Illumination
And Might
And Love
And Destiny.
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38. Each time I cross
The great mists,
I wish this tiny
Light of mine
Would shine
More fine
Like HIS.
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And if I learn
No other thing
In this brief life
Of mine,
Know that I
I will seek
To surrender to HE
And embark
On a greater mission
To pick up
And carry MY Cross
Just like HE,
Our Beloved Saviour,
Did for me…"
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1. "As the early morning mist
Softy settled upon
Marble headstones,
A tall and eloquent
Gentleman
Glanced over the names
Of those who had come
To rest before him.
2. From a distance
The shadow
Trod deliberately
Across and through
The hedgerows
Where he longed…
And he remembered…
3. The well-tailored suit
Revealed his elegant stride.
Reflective and penitent,
His thoughtful gestures
Glowed as he strode
Casually pausing
Here and there.
4. The reveille will come.
As sure as the stir
Of the day’s duties
And tasks will
Soon be done.
At this sacred place
“Forever should it last”
He hoped,
Beneath the shining sun.
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5. As the bitter twinge
Of old memories
Stirred deep
Within him,
Intense feelings
Arose and froze his
Heart with yearning pain
And youthful vigor.
Curious notions of
Finality saturated his soul
As the sundry tones
Of forgotten yesterdays
Flashed intensely
Before him.
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“Press Forward.”
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7. The twilight is nearing.
“The Friends”
With mutual regard
He rightly deserves
To join here.
Indeed this olde lad
Has nothing to fear…
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9. …or perhaps he feels
Closer to Home?
A place he has come
To love and know?
His true home
At the Point,
After a hundred tours
On countless battlefields
Where dense fields
Of green grass
Now peacefully grow?
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11. Toward the horizon
His eyes slowly turned -
And he dreamt
Of the places
He lived
When he was young.
A forgotten world
Of magic and mystery
On the western frontier.
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13. …where he could
Once again
Turn into his father’s
Loving strong arms,
And bold beating heart,
And once again rest
In the haven of
Lofty Principles…
…where he could again
Dream of a future
With new challenges
To endure.
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15. His heart ached
As the lovely refrain
Of smiling faces,
Of brave and intelligent
Fighting lads,
Forever fixed upon
His memory,
Flickered before him -
Those whose dusty and
Forgotten roads
Their red blood did
Sweetly and forever stain.
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17. Through boundless Love
In colossal reams
Of courage and mind
And a bit of vanity,
The rhapsodies sang to him
Through long drum-rolls
And Taps
And bugles blowing
Reveille.
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19. Were their haunting
Whispers to him,
As tears began to
Swell a bit
And soulful feelings
Clouded his cultured wit.
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21. To capture feelings
He always did,
Reflecting over things
Not to be undone.
While he made sure
He was ready
When the battle-cry
Did come.
“…Press Forward…General…
…there is nothing to fear…Over Here…”
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23. Whatever just way
The future may hold
He did pray,
May HE deliver me!
So perhaps
The general may cheer
On the other side
Of the River
Amongst old friends
Without hesitation
Or sorrowful tear…
“I did everything
I could and WON
The good fight
While I was here.”​
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25. And what shall I say
If I meet this
Ancient Soldier-Leader,
Now Olde and gray,
This hero of the Day?
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27. I think not.
Perhaps
Better to simply
Gaze upon him
For a while.
Perhaps there is no need
Of anything to say…
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29. “The hour of your redemption
IS HERE! Rally to me…
…follow in HIS name
To the Holy Grail
Of Righteous Victory.”
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30. So, we must say
Salut to you
Great general,
For as long as men
Dream and revere
Courageous things,
Will the echoes
Of your good deeds
Remain here…
We bid you…Farewell…
6. For a respite
He paused,
As the soft murmur
Of angelic voices,
Carried by the winds
Of Purpose
And Design,
Whispered the ancient
Password
To those that inhabit
The grassy lowlands…
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8. The General that some love
And others hate,
But surely know he is -
Even before birth
It was so.
Yet here he is
To pay his respects
Among the stones and
White crosses
Row upon row.
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10. Are the deeds
Of his past
“TRULY worthy”
He thought,
To the silent graves
Of brave souls
That came to forever
Rest here?
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12. When his mind was free
Intimate thoughts
Strayed effortlessly
And without boundary.
It was for there
His heart ached
And passions burned…
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14. Looking behind him,
The embers
Of burning spaces
Glow in the past -
Symbols of paths taken,
Each fire is
Drawn by the inner tide
Of Destiny
Again and again.
To fight and lead
For principles of
Just Right,
He knew he
Could never refrain.
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16. With his departed
“Friends “he longed to be
And love for
Lady Liberty,
Whose good deeds
Light this place
And names are carved
On to the historic tapestry.
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18. Haunting whispers
Beckoned him from
The burial shroud.
Thoughts and feelings
Did the same.
As those who
Had grasped
The Soldier’s Task,
Began to rise
And move about…
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“Press Forward…General…”
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20. The thirsty pang
Of bitter memories
Filled his soul woefully
As Victory Bells rang
With deeper resonance -
“What is next for me?”
He thought,
“I can’t wait to find out…”
…if only he did not
Have to fear to
Take leave
Of his loved ones
Here.
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22. As he glanced
Over the graves
Of those who made
The Supreme Sacrifice,
The light of their
Being continued to whisper
Words of delight, zeal,
And flare…
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24. Great souls shine through
Just in the nik-of-time
For me and you.
To lead and fight
When Destiny
Suits them best
So we know
Just what to do…​
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26. “Hail a Warrior-Poet-King!?
I will follow you
Into the great breach,
If it meant freeing
The world
For each new day?”
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28. Except
An Homage
To his
Greatest victory.
So those who
Return
In his footsteps tomorrow
Are not confused…​
Poem V, Son.
Requiem For A Dying General, 1962
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This poem was written in honor of General Douglas Macarthur, commander of all allied forces in the Pacific during World War 2, who gave his farewell address at the West Point Academy in 1962. Alongside Admiral Chester Nimitz, his master planning was key to the Allied victory in the Pacific. It my firm conviction that the war could not have been won without him. MacArthur's farewell address to West Point is one of the most moving and eloquent speeches given during his life.
Poem VI: Son.
Ghosts
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“Know the spiritual world! Then, among the many other blessings that humanity will gain will be this: that the living and the dead will be able to form a unity.” – Rudolf Steiner, November 17, 1915
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1. Like a soft breeze
Brushing free
Past you and me,
So our hidden friends
Linger beside us
Going about
Their merry way
To be.
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3. It depends you see
On the winds
That day
And precise flow
Of cosmic energy.
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5. The echoes of which
Never fully bled
The leaves of hate
Or ego or spite
Or ignorance
And so they
Are undead.
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7. Some lust and speak
While others lace
Feelings of doubt
Into our hearts…
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So be warned
Of Envy and fear
And needless spite
Can they bring!​​
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9. Some churn
A magical lullaby
Of luring concern
About nothing really,
Yet in our hearts
It somehow burns!
Some mull here,
Others there,
Some are not at all
Concerned with
Inspiring a tear.​
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11. Yet deeper
Must we turn
If we wish to see
The finer tapestry
And gaps that burn
And bind these
Sleeping
Souls to the world
Of a necessary destiny…
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13. Some may claim they do,
But don’t let
Them fool you!
Some know more
Than you and I – why?
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15. If you rest still,
When the purple
Legions descend
Unto you in sleep,
As I sometimes do,
You will here them
Whisper their legacy
To you.
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17. “Shhhhh…
This thought making
Others see you frown
Is YOURS alone…”
Heed this well
My friends,
Despite what you
May think or see
We are NOT alone.
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19. While others below
Inspire and conceive
Bizarre machinations
Of sinister deceit,
Condemning
We simple lost sparks
Of inconsistent energy
To a life
Of eternal sleep.
They claim to hate
But inwardly
They weep!
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21. Pray and do
As our Just Superiors
Wish us to!
Do you remember
That day
When you kept
Your friend at bay?
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23. Or will you
Take your place
Amidst the
Pedants and critics
And demagogues
Who crowd our world
In this tiny little corner
Of our sphere here?
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25. Above it all,
As you may
Or may not know,
A celestial war is
In full flow.
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27. This is not a game
My brothers,
But a high stakes war
Between spite and love
Where push came
To shove
Eons ago
In the region
Of this tiny star.
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29. Will you deny
And hide
In the corners
Of empty bedrooms
Barking and howling
At innocent passers-by
Like the Others?
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31. Finding a place to serve
In the Great Plan
To bring all others
Back into the
Perfect Curve?
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33. For the new eye
Be aware,
HIS Light awaits
Each wandering
Soul everywhere.
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35. The Time Spirit,
HE,
Who represents
The collective
Striving towards
A liberative reunion.
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36. HE,
The ONE who
Is waiting
And watching
And speaking
And working
And doing ALL
That can and should
Be done.
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38. HE,
Who opened the door
So that you and I
Won’t be lost
In a giant world
Of endless webs,
And countless pitfalls,
All alone…
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2. Regardless of time
Or place or space,
These invisible
Forms can
Watch and belittle
And correct
And distract
And confound us
Come what may.
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4. The shadows,
Whose corporeal bonds
Have not been shed,
Flutter across
And through the world,
Utterly engrossed
In the SELF
And lives once led.
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6. Some watch us dress
While others snoop
Into our thoughts.
Some dream and sing
While others bellow
And cling.
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​​8.Some loved too vainly,
Some not at all,
Some studied too hard,
Some never heard the call,
Some delight
As the living fall.
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10. In fact,
Some strive to get
To us to hear
And fight
The fear.
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12. Islands they are,
Forever consumed
In self-denial,
The otherness
Which never smiles.
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14. Because they conjure
And weave the
Hidden energy
We cannot see.
Highers come and go
But belong not
To the ghastly hordes
Of prowling shadows
That wait
And linger
At our bedroom doors.
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16. Listen tonight
For a vocal peep
From the jaundiced
Tongues
Of those distracted
And misguided
Weeps….
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18. Fear not!
For all is not lost to
To the meek
Or weak.
White ones
Of nobly energy seek
And speak and hope
And love
And sing and work
To bring us back
To the spheres
Above.
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20. Awaken and draw
Your shields!
Do not withdraw
Unto your jaded
Little castle-keeps.
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22. Do you wonder
Where thoughts
Come from
When not they were
There the former?
Will you strive to earn
An enviable destiny,
As only a special few
Endeavor to in lieu
Of HIS sacrifice?
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24. Have you ever looked
Into the sky
With a blissful peer,
And ask why it is that
We are here?
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26. Prowling shadows
And Indomitable Lights
Engage in an enduring
Struggle over our souls
Of such tiny might!
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28. So I ask humbly
My dear friends,
Where will you be
When YOUR Great Day
Comes to
Set your Spirit free?
When all that you are
And have always been,
Is on full display
For ALL to see?
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30. Or will you raise
Your tiny eyes
Upward into the
Endless crystal blue gaze
Of The Great Master?
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32. As the One Leader
Of all things in Heaven
And Earth,
HE never sleeps
Nor lies or feints
Or stumbles or hesitates
Or blunders.
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34. Heed this well
My friend of the day -
HE is the indomitable
Watchman who
Waits for us all,
And to Whom
The centuries
Of yesterdays
Are but a minute
On the cosmic clock
Of a redemptive
Destiny.
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37. HE,
Who inspired
Every noble thought
And courageous chill
In every good
Soldier throughout
History.
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Poem VII: Son.
Epitaph
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Greetings old friends!
How delighted I am
To see you
Again.
Free of life’s toil,
I feel your joy
And from bitter tears
I cannot refrain.
​
I would embrace you
As before,
But am passing through
The faces and smiles
And shadows of yesterday.
Tacit reticent feelings
Guard my heart’s door -
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Like some spectral ghost
Mournfully haunting
A forgotten memory,
I often intrude upon
This ungracious host.
The distant pang
Of old battles fought
On forgotten fields,
Wrought with yearning
And lonely strife,
Crash in my dreams
And hover about my heart
As I stumble through life.
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Solemn and wholly patient,
These magical melodies
Are forever fixed upon
My soul’s history.
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The hypnotic mutter
Of friends and deeds
In lives the former,
Lines the meadows
Of my stony heart
With living crosses
Row upon row.
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Lovelorn stains
Silently cling to me,
While my heart’s temerity
Fawns the refrain of
Those memory-ballads
I knew and
Loved so well -
In long drum-rolls
And brass bugles
Blowing Reveille.
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In my mind’s eye,
I see the beautiful,
Yet melancholy,
Dream-like imagery
Blossoming with mystery
And alacrity,
In the soft murmur
Of things that were -
In the watering eyes
And forgotten smiles
Of yesterday.
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The painful thrust
Of old ties
Lights the way
In an ideology
Of my current life-mosaic.
While awake
I try to close
These stubborn doors
A bit,
And cloud my mind
With a clever wit.
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Yet always does my
Restless yearning
Come to me
In the twilight.
Through a soul-haze
My good deeds
And grave blunders
Are confronted
In a bitter struggle
To seize the DAY.
Amidst an unknown crowd
My words now
Ring softly.
Amidst those
Who never wished
To know me
Or more.
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But there are
One or two
Here who do,
And I shall keep a
Careful guard-watch
For each of you,
As I grasp
The brief days
I am to be here…
My eyes are
Opening.
Where I was once blind
I now can see
Lights flickering
And energy is once again
Flowing through me.
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Alas! How good it feels
My mind not to be
Contracting!
It was not always so
You know,
As such I am reaping
What in previous days
I have sown.
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Today,
It should be known,
My Joy and Mirth
Can only be seen
In the invisible
Magnanimity
And strange proclivity
Of a nascent soul’s
Salubrious new beginning.
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So, old friends -
I will see you again
But not until
We re-begin
With the divine passwords of
Love, Service, Sacrifice.
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As you press forward
In search of
Some fleeting prize,
And you have
Long since
Forgotten the
Glare
Of my aging eyes,
I’ll ask our Great Lord
If I can wait for you
In the borderland
Where the pitter-patter
Of your coming
Footsteps will
First be heard.
Of this rest
Well-assured…
Regardless of whatever
Voices and choices
And vibrations you send,
Know that I shall
Wait with vigor and
Hope and
Good dreams of you
To the very end…
Poem VIII, Father
Crècy 1346
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The Battle of Crécy took place on 26 August 1346 in northern France between a French army commanded by King Philip VI and an English army led by King Edward III. The French attacked the English while they were traversing northern France during the Hundred Years' War, resulting in an English victory and heavy loss of life among the French. The decisive turning in the battle was the use of the long bow, which changed the outcome of the battle. My father believed that he had fought and died at the Battle of Crècy.
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"On the ridge,
He lay,
His head upon a stone,
The taste of blood
His mouth and lips.
Crawling
Slowly Upwards
The sun pierced
The morning mist
With rays of shifting light.
Below him
The army of the French lay dead,
Their bodies and their blood
A pox
Upon the land.
Twisted!
Stiff!
In tangled piles
The horses and
The men were one.
The arms of men
The legs of men and beast
Reached out
In tribute
To the gods of war.
With arrows
Feathered gray and white
The field was scarred
By English might.
The longbow was
The victor here.
The shafts unleashed were
Swift and sure.
The whirr,
The whine,
The sudden surge of sound was
A summons to the grave.
From the forest dark and gray
Between the Authie and the Maye
The French trudged slowly
The fray.
The day was late,
The rain and cold,
The wind,
A torment to flesh and bone.
Unfurled,
Standards swirled,
Their beat but faintly heard
Upon the ridge.
On a rise
Above the line
A flag of blood-root red.
No mercy would there be
This day.
Before the line
With swords raised
Knights wheeled great steeds
And cursed at
Those who soon would die.
Then
The line parted,
And to the fore
The benoese
With crossbows wound.
Suddenly
He coughed,
But there was no pain.
The skin of wine
He cradled in his lip was
Now his only friend.
Gently,
He pressed
The waddling strapped tightly
To his chest.
An ooze
Dark and vile
Flowed slowly from
Beneath a crust
As hard as the stone
Beneath his head.
Death was around him.
He could hear the whisperings.
Death was within him.
He could feel the hand of the unseen
As they gathered up his soul.
They would forget,
His wife and son,
And
He would be lost
To them forever.
He closed his eyes,
And from
The depth of his despair sent
His life to come
To his wife and son.
He died that day
A hero’s death,
And it would purge
The past in Time
When TIME became his soul."
Poem IX, Father
Lazarus
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Come Forth!
Come Forth!
Depart thy self!
Prepare a place
For
The Father of thy soul.
Empty thy self!
HE waits within
To deliver thee
From
The towering twins of evil.
From Ahriman and Lucifer,
No harm will come.
HE will gird thee
With a shield of Cosmic Light
And a sword forged
On the Battlefields of Righteousness.
From the furnace of affliction
HE will bring thee forth
To stand with HIM
In honor and
In Truth.
Free forever will
Thou be
From
The hosT of darknesS
REJOICE!
REJOICE!
Thou will be as
Thou were
At the Beginning,
At the Birth of
Eternity.
At the birth of
Thy soul.
Poem X: Father.
Eulogy 1917
At eventide
They brought him
To the place
Where he would sleep.
It was an ancient citadel of faith,
And here
In centuries past
The weary and the weak,
The sick and
The suffering had prayed.
It was an empty place,
Battered by the fury of
The guns
Only the altar and
The altar wall remained.
On a litter scarred
By pain
He lay
Upon the altar of
An unknown god.
There were
No words of hope,
No voices raised
In praise
To proclaim
The glory of his name.
There was no sound,
No sound at all
Except the digging
From
Beyond the wall.
The scrape and screech of
Earth and iron would be
His requiem,
His testament of being.
Angrily,
He sensed that
He had passed this way before,
And in disbelief
He knelt before
The one he once had been.
His face was turned away,
His skin
A mottled ashen gray.
His head was strongly shaped.
Behind his ear was flat,
A mat of
Blood and brain
And splintered bone.
He was no more.
Yet, he was here,
And he reached out
To touch himself,
To touch
The STIGMATA of
His sacrifice.
“LORD!
We are soldiers,
You and I!”
He was alone,
And slowly,
He arms
He raised
Upwards
Towards the darkening sky.
“LORD!
We are soldiers,
YOU and I!”
There was no sound,
No sound at all
Except the digging
From
Beyond the wall.
Poem XI: Father.
The Mercy Seat 1917
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The cold,
The piercing cold lay like
A shroud
Upon the land.
In the darkness of
The night
Swirling snow danced
Among the ghostly legions of
The past.
He crouched before the wind,
Peering now and then
Above the trench
To scout the Hun.
He was alone.
There was no friend,
No foe.
He was life
In a lifeless land.
He closed his eyes
And bowed his head.
There was no war.
He was at peace
Within the Gates of Zion.
Here
His journey would surely end,
and as
The specters of earth and ice touched
His soul
He heard a voice
He knew to be his own.
“I will walk
In the Presence of the Lord,
In the Land of the Living.”
Poem XII: Father
Revelation
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Before him,
Beyond the water’s edge
The Kingdom of His Soul lay.
There,
Where the earth turns
To meet the Tides of Time
He would meet
The Destiny of Life interred
Within the grave.
That life would live again,
And he would see
The web of cause
In all that
He had been.
Each shadow would seek
The fading light at end of day.
And in its place
A face embraced
By history and fate.
Each face would be his own,
Each soul would see
His soul,
And he would no longer be
Without Himself
On the journey
To Immortality.