The tears of heaven falling on the roof

of our family home as my wife

of slender darkness looked out beyond the

ghost trees, her gaze caught just

above the northern horizon, where the fishing boats

return in the grey still seas of morning.

I loved her, but the curtain rain upon

the window and the silence brought sleep,

our entwining legs formed a cross,

the swell of gentle sails upon my back,

the turning of the night.

Around our bodies the pure air of the room

and the unheard ringing of eternity.

I am here, as ocean swells

and air rests

and there, as sky is suspended

Beyond the blanket of rain

I dived in the ocean, warm and still,

with fishing boats asleep on its surface

After an evening of distant lightning

a soft rain began to fall.

Red Sea –

before

and after

Two hundred and eighty dawns

Without seeing

Darkness at midday, night in the morning –

darkness that can be felt – the ninth plague –

a new decade begins – the third of the twenty first century –

fire on the hills – an orange glow in the sky –

clouds – with darkness on the one side and light on the other –

spiralling – terror – mountain ranges – a phoenix

consumed – what of the life within them? The Lord

said to Moses, When you return to Egypt, see that

you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders I have

given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart

so that he will not let my people go. Our leaders – is

this their destiny? Ancient rites renewed each summer –

loss and rebirth – but this is something unexplained –

the finger of nature – a miracle – a glory in a dark cloud.

window

to another

world

winter

early

sea

now ice

waterways

roads

sleighs and sleds

joining

with skaters

classes

linked

sky

heavy with

snow

the Mute

of Kampen –

a witness

Henrick Avercamp (1585–1634), the Dutch artist, recorded these events in a series of paintings.

https://www.nga.gov/features/slideshows/the-little-ice-age.html#slide_1

The sun appears each day –

wonderful – each night

the stars. Marvellous – this

Jeremiah 33:19-22

Crowned with gold

Her beauty seen

Hands folded

Eyes downcast

A moment of eternity –

The one who was and is

Incarnate

Within

secretly –

another

abloom

before the

spring

one by one

daybreak

within

a question –

a reply

fixed gaze

of an angel

arisen

darkness

light

on earth

as it is

heaven

spring

of living

water

a boy

born

the rise

and fall

of the sun