SEED AMONG CEDAR

My soul, an empty birdfeeder,

Attracts no winged thing,

Without the seed among cedar,

The forest seldom sings.

On Sabbath morn come fill anew

This empty heart of mine;

With suet cakes and seeds to woo,

The feathered life divine.

“God’s little theologians”* come

To teach my soul your story;

No anxious cares within this home,

When filled with heaven’s glory.

*Martin Luther’s affectionate term for birds

D. Robinson 3.18.11

Advent Rising

A song bird sings into my ear,

"Awake thy soul to sing"

Of morning light and ever near

A sense of wondering,

What lies ahead, what lies ahead?

My heartbeat asks again,

As day awakens me from bed

To walk out in the rain.

The mist hangs low and heavily 

Uniting sea to sky.

My heart leaps up and readily

I yearn to learn to fly.

The eastern skies illuminate

With lavenders and red

The sleepy headlands as they wait

The advent rising from the dead.

By David Robinson

LOVELY IN EYES NOT HIS

As kingfishers catch fire, dragonflies dráw fláme;
As tumbled over rim in roundy wells
Stones ring; like each tucked string tells, each hung bell’s
Bow swung finds tongue to fling out broad its name;
Each mortal thing does one thing and the same:
Deals out that being indoors each one dwells;
Selves—goes itself; myself it speaks and spells,
Crying Whát I do is me: for that I came.
Í say móre: the just man justices;
Kéeps gráce: thát keeps all his goings graces;
Acts in God’s eye what in God’s eye he is—
Chríst—for Christ plays in ten thousand places,
Lovely in limbs, and lovely in eyes not his
To the Father through the features of men’s faces.

 ~by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) an English poet, a Jesuit priest, known for his "sprung rhythm" in his poetry, with beautiful images of faith, Christ and a sense of divine wonder sprinkled throughout his writings. In 1975, a floor stone was placed in his memory in Poet's Corner in Westminster Abbey, alongside the greatest poets of the English people. 

Two Ravens Flying Southward

Two Ravens Flying Southward 

~ a sonnet ~

Two ravens flying southward over Vail,

Caught our eye and ears as they passed by,

Conversing on the wing as if to say,

"How regrettable to walk and never fly."

Katanoesate! Jesus declares,

To study with intent to understand!

Our corvid masters of the azure airs

Unveiling secrets to the mind of Man.

Earthbound without machines, we long to soar,

Beyond the petty pavement 'neath our feet,

Into the mystery of raven lore,

Hidden deep within mountain retreat.

Remove the weights of ignorance and dross,

Reveal the Way, the Truth, Thy Holy Cross.*

*These two ravens were spotted flying above the ridge near the Eagle's Nest, above Vail, Colorado, flying towards the Mountain of the Holy Cross on Sept. 5, 2011. This sonnet written by David Robinson on Sept. 5, 2011. .