.

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said,

“Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites!”

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. 

There were about six hundred thousand men on foot,

besides women and children.

On this night, all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honour the Lord 

for the generations to come.

After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. 

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud 

to guide them on their way,

and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light

so that they could travel by day or night.

Neither the pillar of cloud by day

nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

.

This night is for the Lord, to be remembered by all the people of Israel for all time.

.

Remembering Afghan refugees, forced out of Islamabad, and some out of Pakistan.

.

An exodus

Family after family

A cloud by day

A pillar of fire at night

Not visible

Mistreated

Of greater value than earthy treasure

Looking ahead

For his reward

.

Afghan refugees, leaving Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

.

Evening – before the stars. Clouds

in any case. Last light, before –

Inside I type. My son, my wife. Vowed

to secrecy. And now – the unlit moon.

Darkness, light. A baby’s eyes – open.

Womb – a distant sea. Adoramus.

.

.

It’s beautiful – what is. Terminal –

shadows. Shining through: A Holy One.

Once, life was uninterruptible.

Withheld. The dawn and stars. Natal.

When I beheld. Invisible.

Woe is me. I am ruined.

My eyes – the King. A live coal.

My mouth. Seraphim.

Go tell these people.

Ever hearing. Never understanding.

Ever seeing. Never perceiving.

Cities ruined. Houses deserted.

A terebinth. An oak.

A holy seed. Awoken.

.

.

Catherine

Anointed

Tenderly

Heroine

Each day

Radiance

Inlet

New land

Evermore

.

.

Awake from sleep the first birds are singing.

Light and free. Beautiful. I listen.

Another sound.

Once on an island your listened. In the distance

the sound of surf. We have a photo.

Silence now.

At the beginning God said, Let there be light,

and there was light. God saw that the light was good.

He separated the light from the darkness.

He called the light day,

and the darkness night.

And there was evening,

and there was morning – the first day.

Evening first. And then the morning.

.

For Cathy. In memoriam.

.

Visiting our grandchildren I thought about my father.

He raised his hands. I touched them. Our last contact.

Flesh from flesh, bone from bone. What of us continues?

I saw my grandson’s name on a dish. My father, me, my son,

my grandchild. The same surname. But his hands are not here –

his bone, his flesh – no atoms of his nature exist.

A poem I wrote for my granddaughter when she was born:

A life appears

He determines the number of the stars

and calls them each by name

.

Silken linen purple are her vestment O Lord.

In the sun he has placed his tabernacle.

You have freed me, Lord, from the mouth of the lion.

Alleluia.

.

Medieval Latin fragment: ‘Bone now from my bones…’

blog.lib.utah.edu/medieval-latin-hymn-fragment-bone-now-from-my-bones/

.

A life appears

He determines the number of the stars

and calls them each by name

.

.

Light everywhere

Each thing beautiful

A dream

.

.

Lightly he carries

Overburdens

Christ

Holds

Is

Ethereal

.

For my grandson, Lochie.