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.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 61

Upon me is the spirit of the LORD
God for the LORD, anointing on me, poured;
to the oppressed he sent me to bring news
that’s good, and to the broken-hearted, soothe,
to captives, to proclaim their liberty,
and tell the prisoners of their release,
the year of the LORD’s favor, to proclaim,
and, of our God, his vengeance, of, the day,
to comfort all who mourn, and to provide,
for those in Zion, mourning, who abide–
instead of mourners’ tears, of gladness, oil,
of praise, a mantle, for each heart that toils.
They, oaks of righteousness, how, will be called,
to show his glory, planted by the LORD.
The ancient ruins, up, what they will build,
the former devastations, up, they’ll raise,
the ruined cities, what, repair, they will,
that, desolate, for generations, laid.

Then foreigners, stand and, your flocks, feed, shall 
and aliens will dress your vines and till
your land, but how it is that you’ll be called
priests of the LORD; you shall be, of our God,
named ministers, and what you shall enjoy,
the wealth of nations, and you’ll glorify
in all their riches, they’ll, you, satisfy.
Because what they received was double shame,
and, as their lot, dishonor was proclaimed,
therefore, how in their land, they shall possess,
a double portion, their inheritance,
of everlasting joy as recompense.

For I, the LORD, love justice, and I hate,
both robbery, wrongdoing, and, the same;
as their reward, them, I’ll give faithfully,
a covenant that lasts unendingly,
I will make with them. Their descendants shall
be known among the nations and as well,
their offspring ‘mongst the peoples; who see, all,
them shall acknowledge how they are a race
blessed by the LORD.  I, greatly, will rejoice,
the LORD, in; and how, shall, my being, whole
exult in my God for how he has clothed,
me, garments, in, of it, deliverance,
and covered me in robes of righteousness,
like, with a garland, how the bridegroom’s decked,
and as a bride wears jewels around her neck.
For as the earth sends up its blossoms, shoots,
and how the garden makes the seeds, up, sprout,
so will the LORD God, righteousness and praise,
to spring up in their sight, before them, make,
the nations, how he will upon that day.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 60

For, how your light has come, arise, arise,
the glory of the LORD, upon you, shines.
The earth, though darkness covers, and thick night,
the peoples, cover, on you, the LORD shines,
and over you his glory will arise.
How nations, they will journey toward your light,
and kings come to your radiance that’s bright.

Lift up your gaze, around yourselves, give sight:
to come to you, they all are gathering,
from far away, your sons are journeying,
their nurses are, your daughters, carrying.
You’ll see it, joyful radiance, you’ll know,
and your heart will both throb and overflow,
for how the riches of the sea will be
before you, emptied out, and they proceed
to lay the wealth of nations at your feet.
In caravans, the camels fill your streets,
the camels, young, from Midian, those ones, 
and Ephah, and those that from Sheba come, 
they’re bringing frankincense and also gold 
and shall, the praises of the LORD, be told.
All Kedar’s flocks will, to you, gathered, be, 
the rams of Nebioth will serve your needs;
how they’ll be offerings, acceptable
on, altar, my, and I’ll make plentiful,
the, glory of my house, incredible.

Who are these that are flying like the clouds,
that fly like doves back to their, dovecotes, found?
Why, both the coasts and islands of the sea,
they put their hope in me, and in the lead,
the ships of Tarshish, they, your children hold,
they bring them from afar with silver, gold,
to the honor of the LORD your God, it’s told,
and to the holy one of Israel,
he who, with splendor, has endowed you well.
How foreigners, they shall rebuild your walls
and how their kings, you, minister to, shall, 
for in my wrath was how I struck you down,
but in my favor, I’ve made mercy known
to you.  Shall always, open, be, your gates, 
they never shall be shut, both night and day 
so that the nations, you, their wealth, shall bring, 
and the processions, who lead them: their kings. 
For if a nation or a kingdom won’t
serve you, they’ll perish, and all nations, those,
will be, to waste, laid, utterly destroyed.
Of Lebanon, its glory is deployed
to you, it’s of the cypress, plane, and pine,
to, beauty, bring, to, sanctuary, my;
and where my feet rest, I will glorify.
Oppressors’ sons, your, with humility,
approach you, bending low down at your feet.
They shall call you “The City of The LORD”,
the Zion, Is’rael’s Holy One, adored.
Whereas before, your presence was eschewed,
and hated, with nobody passing through.
I will make you one of eternal pride,
a source, of joy, an object, that won’t die.
You’ll suck the nations’ milk and will be blessed,
and you’ll be nursed at them, the royal breasts.
Then you will know that I, the LORD, am your
Deliverer and too, Redeemer, your,
the Mighty One of Jacob for you, sure.

Instead of bronze, it’s gold, to you, I’ll bring,
and for some iron I will, silver, bring,
instead of wood, how I will bring you bronze,
and iron, I’ll bring you in place of stones.
I will appoint Peace as your governor
and Saving Justice is who you will serve.
No longer will, of violence, the sound, 
be heard within the places of your land,
not devastation or destruction will
be in your boundaries.  Then you will call
your gates: “Praise”, and “Salvation” are your walls.
The sun won’t any longer be your light
by day nor will the moon shine bright by night.
The LORD will be your everlasting light,
your God shall be your splendor, you will find.
Your sun, how it shall ne’er again go down,
withdraw her light, nor ever shall your moon, 
but he, the LORD, will, everlasting, be
your light, and mourning’s days, you’ll no more see.
Your people, all of them, shall, righteous, be
and they, the land, possess, unendingly.
They are the shoot I, to the ground, bestowed,
my handiwork to, my great glory, show.
The least of them, a thousand, shall become,
the smallest, a great nation, into one.
It’s I, the LORD, at their appointed time,
cause all these things, reality, to find.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 59

Too short to save? See, the LORD’s hand is not,
nor is his ear too dull to hear, but it
is your iniquities that separate
you from your God. It is your sins that make
him hide his face from you so that he won’t
hear you. For how your hands, with blood are stained,
and how your fingers have been dipped in guilt;
your lips have spoken lies and it’s deceit
that your tongue utters.  No one brings their suit
with upright cause, or pleading honestly;
rely, they, on pleas, empty, lies, they speak,
conceiving mischief and iniquity,
begetting.  They’ve snakes’ eggs, their hatchery,
in, and it’s cobwebs, that is what they weave.
Whoever will consume those eggs will die,
for rotten eggs have rottenness inside.
Their webs, for making cloth, cannot be used;
for clothing, their works, nobody would choose.
Their works are all works of iniquity,
and in their hands, of violence, are deeds.
To evil, where they run upon their feet
and they rush to shed blood that’s innocent;
their thoughts are thoughts of guilt, maleficent,
both havoc, too, and ruin, what they leave
behind where’er they go.  The way of peace,
they do not know, and justice, there is no,
in their paths.  They’ve made crooked all their roads
and, any peace, who treads them, no one knows.

This is why justice is removed from us,
and how it’s far from our reach, righteousness;
we wait for light, but, only darkness, see;
for daybreak, but in gloom, how we proceed.
We grope along the wall like men who’re blind,
we feel our way like people without eyes.
We stumble at midday just as at dusk,
like we are dead, we move with the robust.
Like bears, we all growl, mournfully, like doves,
we moan.  We wait for justice but there’s none,
deliverance, for, but it’s far from us.
How often, we, against you, have rebelled,
and our sins, witness, bear, ‘gainst us, as well.
Yes, our offenses are with us indeed
and we know all of our iniquities:
transgressing, and, the LORD, denying him,
and turning back, our God, from following,
we threaten outrage and apostasy
and utter falsehoods that our hearts conceived.
Fair judgment, how it’s driven far away
and, stands aloof, the justice that would save,
for, stumbles, truth, out in the public square,
and honesty, it cannot enter there.
Good faith has vanished and the man who flees
from evil is despoiled entirely.

The LORD saw it, and how it, him, displeased,
that there was, justice, no, and too, was, he
appalled when there were none to intervene;
so his own might brought him the victory,
his righteousness supported him, beneath.
How justice, what he wore to plate his breast,
salvation as a helmet on his head;
of vengeance, garments, he put on as clothes,
and, fury, wrapped around him like a cloak.
So he’ll repay according to their deeds:
his adversaries, his wrath, they will feel,
and his requital on his enemies.
So from the west, the LORD’s name will be feared
and from the east his glory is revered.
His glory comes, a pent-up river, like
which the LORD’s breath, in power, onward, drives.
This is my covenant, the LORD avows
with them: My spirit with which I endowed
you, and my words that I put in your mouth
shall never leave your mouth and will be found,
the mouths, in, of those who from you descend,
and, your grandchildren’s mouths, even in them,
from now on and as well, forevermore,
thus what was said, these words were by the LORD.

Rhyming Isaiah, Chapter 58