Rhyming Psalms, Psalm 20 (Newstyle)

May, in the day of trouble, you, the Lord,
give, answer, may the Name of Jacob’s God
defend you; send you from his holy place,
help, and you, out of Zion, give you strength;
remember all your many offerings
and, your burnt sacrifice, take everything;
grant you your heart’s desire, and your plans,
all of them, prosper, what the Lord commands.
For joy, we will shout out, your victory,
at it, and triumph in the Name of God
who’s ours, and, your requests, may they all be
that which the Lord shall grant immediat’ly.
Is victory, I know what the Lord gives
to his anointed, how he’ll answer him
out of his holy heaven: his right hand,
with all its strength that is victorious.
How some will put their trust in chariots
and some in horses, but we will, upon,
call, the Name of the Lord our God. Fall down,
how they collapse, and, but we will arise,
and once again, together, stand upright
O Lord, give victory unto the king,
and when we call, give us your answering.

“Chalm was a salamander biologist pursuing his obscure and highly dubious theory that, millions of years ago, the Barton Springs blind salamander lived (geographically amidst Gondwanaland/Pangea) in a symbiotic relationship with the endangered deaf fire salamanders now found only in remote subterranean caves of Languedoc-Roussillon, France: the blind warned the deaf of predators that only could be heard, and the deaf warned the blind of those that only could be seen.”

Millions of years of continental drift sadly dissolved this partnership.

From The Life and Times of T.H. Chalm by Roland Wiederaenders

Fairy Ring

I walked into a quintessential glade,
when, on the green belt, I went wandering.
A slight departure from the well-worn trail,
into the middle of a fairy ring.
A canopy of branches arched around, 
more an ellipse, how mushrooms sometimes grow,
each was embedded neatly in the ground,
the shape comprised instead by pale white stones,
by thirteen points, an oblong circle, made.
At once, without a warning, there they were,
(a forest church, this was a sacred place),
twelve beings by each stone (but one) appeared.
I neither said a word nor did I scream.
My silence saved me from the fairies’ spell.
I didn't know about it at that time.
If I had spoken, this, what they would tell:
they would deny the world, by God, was made,
but rather, makes it, he, continuously.
The afterthought that never went unsaid:
if he e'er stopped, how all would cease to be.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 66

Thus says the LORD: the heavens are my throne,
and as my footstool, how the earth is known.
What is the house that you would build for me;
where is it that my resting place will be?
All of these things are what may hands have made,
the LORD says, when all of them, to be, came,
then they were mine.  But I consider him,
the humble man for whom I have regard,
he who’s oppressed, who trembles at my word.

Some slaughter oxen, or they might, a man,
some strangle dogs, or sacrifice a lamb,
whoever brings an offering of grain
is like him who brings blood, that of a swine,
who, in memorial burns frankincense
is just like him who will, an idol, bless.
These people who have chosen their own ways,
delight in their abominations, take.
I too will take delight in mocking them.
I’ll bring about the things that they most dread
because when I called, no one answered me,
when I spoke, my words, they did not perceive,
but they did what was evil in my sight 
and chose to do those things that I despise.

Hear, of the LORD, the word, you who revere
his word: Your fellow countrymen who bear
hostility to you, and who, you, spurn,
for my name’s sake have said, words, these
“Let him, the LORD, be glorified so we
may see your joy,” but it is they who’ll be,
to shame, put, there, it’s how they will be found.

Now hear them, from the city, uproar’s sounds!
The temple, from, a voice, that of the LORD!
His voice deals to his foes their just rewards.

She gave birth without laboring before;
before her pain, to her, a son was born.
Whoever heard of anything like this?
A thing like this lacks any witnesses.
How can a nation be born in a day?
In just an instant, can one, in that way
be brought to birth, a country?  Yet as soon
as Zion was in labor, from her womb,
she, children, brought forth.  Shall I bring her to
the point of labor and deliver, not?
the LORD says; shall I be the one who shuts
the womb, I who deliver? says your God.

Jerusalem, rejoice with, and be glad,
all you who love her, share her joy with all
your heart, you who for her once spread the pall–
that you might nurse and would be satisfied
from her consoling breast; that, with delight,
you, deeply, might drink from her milk supply.

For thus the LORD says, I shall make it flow,
prosperity, just like a river, o’er
her, and the wealth of nations like a stream
that overflows, and her babes, in her arms,
will, carried, be, and dandled on her knees.
Just as a mother comforts him, her child,
so shall I comfort you, and you will find
that in Jerusalem, you’re comforted.

How you shall see,and your heart shall rejoice;
your bodies, they shall flourish like the grass;
and then the LORD will make his power known
among his servants, and, to all his foes,
his indignation, he will clearly show.
For how the LORD is coming? It’s in fire,
and chariots, his, are, a whirlwind, like,
to pay his anger back in fury, great,
and his rebuke, of fire, in its full flames.
For it’s by fire, the LORD will judge that way,
and by his sword, all mankind, he will strain,
and many are the ones the LORD would slay.

Those who, for garden-rites, will consecrate
themselves and purify themselves, that way,
who follow him who’s in a magic ring,
who eat the flesh of pigs, revolting things,
and rats: it is their ends that they shall meet,
the LORD says, for I know their thoughts and deeds.

I come to, every nation, gather them,
of every language, how it is they’ll come,
and see my glory.  I will set a sign
on them.  From those of them who will survive,
I’ll send them to these nations they will find,
to Tarshish, Put, and Lud–who draw the bow–
to them, both Tubal, Javan, they will know,
to distant coastlands that are far away,
to places where they’ve never known my fame,
or seen my glory, and they shall proclaim
my glory ‘mongst the nations.  They shall bring
your kindred, to the LORD, as offering,
from nations, all, on horses, chariots,
on mules, on camel back, and drawn in carts, 
Jerusalem, to, holy mountain, my,
the LORD says, just like how the Israelites
bring a grain offering that’s in one, clean,
a vessel to the LORD’s house, where he’s seen.
And I will also take some of them as
both priests and also Levites, the LORD says.

For as the heavens, new, and the new earth,
which I make shall, before me, persevere,
the LORD says, so shall both of them remain:
both your descendants and as well your name.
From new moon to new moon, and then until,
from Sabbath to next Sabbath, all flesh shall
come to, before me, worship, the LORD says.

And they’ll go out and look upon the dead,
the bodies of the people who rebelled
against me, for their worm, die, never shall,
nor ever shall the burning fire be quenched.
They will be an abhorrence to all flesh.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 65

I was prepared to be sought out by those
who did not ask, to be found out by those
who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am,”
and “Here I am,” again, I said to them,
a nation that did not call out my name.
How long I held my hands out: the whole day,
a people who’re rebellious, to them,
that is not good, who’re walking in a way,
who’re following their own devices, thus;
a people who provoke me to my face
unceasingly, who offer sacrifice
in gardens and they, incense, burn, on bricks;
who, inside tombs, sit, and will spend the night
in secret places; who will eat the swine’s
flesh that’s boiled with the broth of carrion;
who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near
me, lest my holiness, to you, adheres.”
Such words are smoke my nostrils cannot breathe,
they’re like a fire that’s all day smoldering.
This written record is, before me, placed:
I won’t keep silent but I will repay
all your iniquities, and the same way,
your ancestors’, their guilt, the LORD thus says;
because they, on the mountains, sacrificed,
and on the hills was where they, me, reviled,
I’ll measure out full payment in their laps;
I will repay them for their loathsome acts.
Thus says the LORD, “When there is still some juice
in grapes that have been pressed, there still is good
in them; do not discard them.” What I’ll do,
my servants’ sake, for, I shall not destroy
them all.  From Jacob, I will bring them forth,
descendants, and from Judah, too, of course,
I’ll bring heirs who my mountains will possess;
they will inherit it, those whom I chose
and there’s where servants, my, will dwell, the place.
For flocks, a pasture, Sharon shall be found,
and Achor’s Valley, as a feeding ground
for cattle; to my people, they’ll belong,
those who have sought me.  But you who forsake
the LORD, who will forget my mountain place
that’s holy, those who, for the god of Fate,
a table, spread, and fill the cups with wine
that’s, for her, Destiny, mixed up with spice,
you, I will destine to the sword and all
of you shall, to the slaughter, downwards bow
because you did not answer when I called
and when I spoke, my words, you did not know,
but you did what was evil in my sight,
and chose, what I did not, in, to delight.
Therefore thus says the LORD God: They shall eat,
my servants, but how hunger, you will feel;
thirst, you will have, while, servants, my, will drink;
my servants shall rejoice but only shame
is what you’ll feel; my servants, they will sing
for gladness in their hearts but only pain,
you’ll feel, your heart, in, and you’ll outwards cry
in anguish of your spirit, you shall wail.
How, to my chosen, your name is supplied
to be used as a curse.  How he will slay
you, the LORD God, but by another name,
my servants shall be called.  Then anyone
who will, a blessing, on himself, intone,
will do so by God whose name is “Amen,”
for all the troubles of the past have been
forgotten; they have vanished from my sight.

For, I’m about, new heavens, to create,
and a new earth, and all the former things
shall not, remembered, be, or come to mind.
Rejoice and be forever, with delight,
filled up at everything that I create
for I, Jerusalem, am to, about,
create, a joy, as, and, as a delight,
its people.  In Jerusalem, I will
rejoice, and, in my people, I’ll delight;
no more shall weeping’s sound be heard in it
or, of distress, the cry.  No more shall be
there children who will die in infancy
or, who won’t live full lives, the elderly;
for who will live a hundred years will be,
a youth, considered, and who doesn’t see
a hundred years, as cursed, they are perceived.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards, and, the fruit, consume.
They shall not build to see another take
from them as, of their own, a dwelling place;
they shall not plant and see another eat,
for, like those of a tree, how they shall be,
my people’s days, and they shall long enjoy,
my chosen, all the work their hands employ.
In vain, they shall not labor, nor conceive
their children only for calamity,
for they, blessed by the LORD, shall, offspring, be–
and their descendants for eternity.
Before they call, an answer, I will give,
While they are speaking, yet, my ear perceives.
The wolf and lamb together, they will feed;
just like the ox, straw, what the lion eats,
but not the serpent–dust, its food shall be!
No hurt nor harm, no one will be destroyed
on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.

Into Your Gaze

I see the bottom when I'm close to shore.
The shallows quickly fall into the depths.
Such mystery, I could not ask for more.
I think to dive beneath with just my breath.

The color of the water: greenish-gray
but absolutely clear since I can see
the bottom when not far, from shore, away,
but it's not visible now in the deep.

Just like your eyes, there, where I lose myself.
It's like I never need to breathe again,
and, with that color, I, my lungs, will fill.
Into your gaze is where I must ascend.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 64

O that you would, the heavens, open, rend,
so that, when on the mountains, you descend,
how they would quake, your presence, at–as when
by fire, the brushwood, it is set ablaze,
or how to, water, boil, the fire will make.
Thus, to your enemies, how will your name
be known and how the nations all will shake
before you! When, your awesome deeds, you made,
that we did not expect, and, down, you came,
the mountains, at your presence, they all quaked.
From ages past no one has heard, words, these,
no ear, these messages, has e’er perceived,
no eye has seen another God besides
you, who works for those who will, for him, wait.
You meet all those who gladly do what’s right,
those who remember you in all your ways.
But you were angry, and how we had sinned
because when we transgressed, yourself, you hid.
We have become like one who is unclean
and, like a filthy cloth, our righteous deeds,
they all are; we fade like a withered leaf,
and, like the wind, all our iniquities
take us away.  There’s no one who, your name,
calls on, or to, himself, cling to you, strains;
for how, from us, you’ve hid away your face,
and us, up to our guilt, you have conveyed.
Yet, LORD, you are our Father, we, the clay,
are, and you are the potter; all, are, we,
the work of your hand.  Angry, do not be
exceedingly, O LORD, iniquity,
our, don’t remember through eternity.
Consider, now, your people, are all, we.
A desert, what your cities have become,
those holy, Zion and Jerusalem,
a desolation and a wilderness.
Our temple that’s both holy, glorious
in which our fathers, praise for you, expressed,
it has been burned with fire.  Each pleasant place,
all that was dear to us are laid to waste.
Despite this, LORD, will you, yourself, restrain?
Will you, beyond endurance, us, afflict,
and all the while maintain your silence, strict?

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 63

“Who is this person that, from Edom, comes
in garments, crimson-stained, who’s, Borzah, from?
Who is this that’s so splendidly arrayed,
so full of strength, and marching on his way?”

“It is I, who, your victory, proclaims.
I am the one whose power is to save.”

“Why are your robes red, why are they the same,
your garments, as those who are treading grapes,
the winepress, in?”  “I’ve trodden it alone, 
the winepress, and from them, there was no one,
my people. I trod on them in my wrath,
and on my garments, how their blood was splashed,
and all of my apparel, that way, stained.
For in my heart was, vengeance, of, the day,
the year for my redeeming work had come.
A helper, for, I looked, but I found none;
I stared, but, who’d sustain me, found no one.
So my own arm, it brought me victory,
and my own fury, that supported me.
I, in my anger, trampled peoples down,
I crushed them in my wrath, and let it run,
their blood went streaming out upon the ground.”

I will recount the LORD’s, his gracious deeds,
the acts, praiseworthy, of the LORD, all these,
because of all the LORD has done for us,
and the great favor shown to Is’rael’s house,
what he’s done for them in his tenderness,
and by his many acts of love, steadfast.
For he said, “Surely, are, my people, they,
they’re children who will not, e’er, me, betray,”
and he, their savior, that, what he became,
in all their troubles, it was he who saved.
No messenger or angel, not that way,
but by his presence, he himself, the same;
his love, in, and his pity, he redeemed
them; he, up, lifted them, and carried them
through all the days of old but they rebelled
and grieved his holy spirit, so, turned, he,
against them. He became their enemy,
and waged war on them, he did that himself.
Then they, all of the days of old, recalled,
of Moses, servant, his, the stories told.
Where is the one who brought them up from there,
the sea, with, of his flock, the shepherds, dear?
Where is the one who put this within them,
his holy spirit; he, whose glor’ious arm
served as a guide for Moses on his march?
Divided, who, the waters, before them,
to, for himself, make an e’erlasting name?
Who led them without stumbling through the depths,
like horses passing through the desert’s breadth.
Like cattle going down into the plain,
the Spirit of the LORD, them, rest, he gave.
Thus, how you lead your people in this way,
to make, yourself, for, that, a glor’ious name.

Look down from heaven and, all this, observe,
your palace, that is glorious, from there,
and holy. Where are both your zeal and might?
Where’s your compassion and your yearning heart?
O LORD, do not hold back for who you are:
our Father.  Though, if Abraham, he were
to know us, not, acknowledge us, to, nor
will Is’rael, you, LORD, still, our father, are;
Redeemer, our, of old, from, is your name.
O LORD, why do you make us, from your ways,
to stray, and, our heart, harden so that we
do not fear you? Turn back again, we plead
this to you for your servants’ sake, and for
the sake of tribes, that, heritage, are your.
Your holy people, for a little while,
possession, took, but now we’re asking why
have, on your sanctuary, they trespassed,
the wicked, why have they, your holy place,
down, trampled? We have long been like those whom
you do not rule, who do not bear your name.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 62

For Zion’s sake, I will not, silent, keep,
and for her sake, I shall not, quiet, be,
Jerusalem’s, until her victory,
just like the dawn, is something that shines forth,
and her salvation like a blazing torch.
The nations shall, your vindication, see,
and all the kings, your glory, and you’ll be
called by a new name that it will announce,
the LORD’s mouth. You shall be a glor’ious crown
held in the LORD’s hand, and a diadem,
one royal, that your God holds in his hand.
“Forsaken,” no more, shall that, you, be named,
no more shall, be called, your land, “Desolate,”
but “My Delight Is In Her,” you’ll be called,
and your land, be called, “Married,” how it shall
for it’s because the LORD delights in you
and your land will be married to him too.
For as a young man will, a maiden, wed,
so you’ll be wed to him who, you, rebuilds. 
A bridge groom, as, joy, in his bride, exudes,
so shall your God as well rejoice in you.
Jerusalem, how I, upon your walls,
all day and night, have posted sentinels,
and silence, their, keep, how they never shall.
You who remind the LORD, don’t take your rest,
and neither give him rest ‘till he does this:
Jerusalem, he re-establishes,
and makes her, of the earth, the pride, entire.
The LORD has sworn with his hand on his right,
and by his arm, the one that’s full of might:
I’ll ne’er again give your grain to your foes
to feed them, nor shall foreigners e’er drink
the wine for which you labored, but it’s those
who harvested the grain, their mouths, it, know,
and give praise to the LORD. You who, grapes, pick,
will drink the wine, my sacred courts, within.

Pass through, pass through the gates, all, people, my
prepare the way; build up the way that’s high,
up, build it, and, all boulders, now remove,
a signal for the peoples, now, upheave.
This is the proclamation of the LORD
out to the earth’s ends, to its furthest bounds.
To daughter Zion say, “See, now is your
deliverance, here! With him, his reward,
his recompense, preceding, him, before.
“The Holy People,” how they shall be called.
How they are known: “Redeemed, Those, of the LORD”.
“Sought Out,” the way that you are to be named,
“A City Not Forsaken,” called, that way.

Sonnet #1

I saw you and my wish, at once, fulfilled.
My fantasy became my waking life.
That fracture, I don’t want it to be healed.
I touched you and I gazed into your eyes.
A cast, revolving, of identities,
in my unconscious life, I recognize.
One often will reject reality;
in fantasy, another would decide.
I wouldn’t use it only to seduce,
one whispered word that’s turned into a lie.
If I would cleave to you, let that be true,
all former loves, away, I let them die.
To wonder, only, I am satisfied,
unless toward me you would turn your eyes.