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Father
after “So Far, So Near,” by Christopher
Pearse Cranch (1813-1892).
Father, maker of all spirit,
infinite, You can ensphere it.
Still, You enter all that’s living:
raising, guiding, and forgiving.
Of all worlds, You are the spawner.
You alone deserve our honor.
All things good You don’t deny us.
Idols never satisfy us.
Love is what You are, unceasing.
Joy that’s shared must keep increasing.
Fear’s the weapon of our foeman.
Peace and love are barred to no man.
Holy Spirit longs to teach us.
When we’re ready, You will reach us.
Knowing that Your kingdom’s coming,
hearts and minds we keep on plumbing.
Longing to rejoice in heaven,
we have faith that is the leaven.
Patience! All things come in order.
You’re the final faith rewarder.
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A New Technique
The acts we choose and words we speak
come from a heart that’s proud or meek.
When we attack, our lives grow weak.
When we forgive, it’s peace we seek.
To form a group, a special clique,
our friends we choose, our foes critique.
But we’re the same and not unique,
despite the look of our physique.
To reach the top and view the peak,
we must unite just like a creek
that merges with a stream oblique,
and we must learn a new technique:
We overlook each former week
that with its loveless acts did reek,
that earth might have a new mystique
and lives not be perceived as bleak.
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Every Flower
Every flower has its hour
Petals hidden till they’re bidden
Sun inviting, blooms delighting
Life-extending rain descending
Bees come flying, pollen eyeing
Blooms diurnal aren’t eternal
Petals falling, higher calling
Heaven’s sector, sweeter nectar
Call of Spirit, can you hear it?
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Alan Steinle, originally from Oklahoma, is a writer, editor, and translator.
Wonderful internal rhyme in “Every Flower.” Excellent rhymes in all three of your poems.
Wow! Such beautiful, steady rhythm and exact rhymes! I love these poems. They could be immediately set to music. Excellent job!
Thanks, Paige. “Father” was written in trochaic tetrameter. It is one of my first poems in trochaic meter. I try to minimize inversions, but I relaxed that rule for this poem. After I submitted it, I reexamined the inversions, and one that I particularly don’t care for (“Of all worlds, You are the spawner.”) could have been written as, “You’re the star and planet spawner.”
Making music is something I know little about. I like your suggestion, though.
Thank you, Roy. The poem “Every Flower” was kind of an experiment. It started with the thought, “Every flower has its day in the sun.” This became, “Every flower has its hour,” and I continued this trochaic meter for eight more lines.
I really enjoyed all three of these poems Alan, especially “Father” and “Every Flower”.
Good to hear, Norma. Yesterday, I translated a poem by Luis de Góngora, a Spanish poet. He used different flowers to represent the ephemeral nature of life. This idea is probably as old as humans and flowers, and Jesus, of course, spoke of the lilies or grass of the field. Isaiah 40:7 (ESV) says, “The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the LORD blows on it; surely the people are grass.”
This feels like “8 Mile” formal verse style – it’s got that hip-hop sense to it, and I could imagine someone dropping the mike at the end of it – except that that gesture wouldn’t fit the humility of the position taken before the Father! Thanks for these 🙂
Thanks, Jeremiah. That’s interesting. I had to look up “8 Mile” on the Internet to make sense of your allusion. Apparently, it is a movie about an aspiring rapper. I can see how the shorter lines (8 syllables rather than the standard 10) and the internal rhymes of “Every Flower” could make you think of rap or hip hop. I think all genres of music can be positive or negative, depending on how they are used. Having said that, I don’t really care for the commercialism and competition in the music industry.
Love all three poems. Apart from their respective messages, the rhyme scheme of ‘Every Flower’ takes centre stage. Thank you for sharing, Alan!
Thank you, Shamik.