Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Silver Anniversary

          Beloved: Set me like a seal on your heart; like a seal on your arm.
  For love is strong as death, passion as relentless as Sheol.  
The flash of it is a flash of fire, a flame of Yahweh himself.
                                                                     Song of Songs 8:6                                            


                                                        All this will not last,
                                                  though it is the ground
                                                  of the country we are traveling,
                                                  together, 
                                                  these twenty-five years.

                                                  Where, what joy came through us 
                                                  grew and flourished and shone,         
                                                  became sustenance for the stark hours, 
                                                  the jaunts of madness and grief
                                                  the years include: 
                                                                                                   
                                                  light curving through our time 
                                                  like the silver-sickle moon                                                                                                                   and wind through the tall pines,
                                                  over the pale eye 
                                                  of the quiet pond.

                                                  Where, all bending toward the dark forewarns us,
                                                  like the graying-gold fields
                                                  soldering their sheen
                                                  to the deepening shadows
                                                  below.

                                                  Where, the saffron-golds, burnished-burgundies and bronze-  
                                                  oranges are spreading their mantles over the diminishing.
                                                  Yet, since our vows, as now, 
                                                  the stars are revolving still--
                                                  are lifting their veils                                                                                                                               
                                                  above the leaves circling 
                                                  the immeasurable, the eternal,
                                                  the still point of you, Lord,
                                                  in the center of us,
                                                  of love's endurance.









4 comments:

  1. Happy Anniversary to you and your husband, Cynthia!!! This is so beautiful, as are all of your poems. I'd expect nothing less than beauty from you! May you be blessed with many more years together!

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    1. Thank you so much Anne! God's beauty is everywhere if we are only in the state of being to see. That is the struggle is it not? I write to see. It is a good practice. So thankful for the blessing of a long marriage. May you enjoy the amazing beauty of the season. God Bless you dear friend!

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  2. Cynthia, I love scripture quote and the references to silver and the alliteration of "s" througout the piece. Most especially I love the Lord as the center of you, the center of love's endurance. Brilliant ending. And the acknowledgment of the impermanence of this physical material life. Brilliant beginning. So much to appreciate here. Congratulations on this silver anniversary. And many wishes for "right-seeing"!

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    1. Yes, I love that quote too! We had that in our wedding ceremony reading. Silver is lovely isn't it? The piece seems to spiral down toward the center which is always the Lord, the Holy Spirit in each one of us, which is Love, which endures. Thank you for anniversary wishes. I have been blessed abundantly and am soooo grateful. Love and light and blessings your way dear friend....

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