Hound of Heaven Hymns - 2026 ~ Rough Places Plain

telescoped time 2

a device in dramas
defying the unities
but never in real
life till now the
distance brought
larger and clearer
clunk collapsing
when eye and scene
crash in to compact
ness for travelling
not seeing you yet
the images remain
being burnt upon
my retina and my
heart those moments
of parting like no
other in intensity
and radical change
who am I what is
was will be reality
anchored to our
passing yet eternal
union where love’s
mystery recalibrates
transfigures and
enchants turning
dross into gold as
it forges the bond
of bliss made in
heaven by love
himself

the strait and arrow

near yet far the narrow
ribbon of water bars all
but ear and eye can I fly
to reach the unreachable
harpooning a line to link
and build a way – my
arrow prayers are darted
pleas for help across the
styx dark lethe crossed
by many and now my be
loved it is such a flight
of longing yearning
aching loss and love
so straight and narrow it
lands from heart to heart

A sonnet for the over engineered

The world is full of nuts and bolts unseen:
They’re made by us like bricks to build our power,
Not welded but entwined, a mean machine
To join and hold by screw through every hour.
They’re strong and last much longer than our days,
They also blind us to the way ahead
That lies beyond the narrow selfish gaze,
The world we build and prize until we’re dead.
But life surprises – holy love doth call
In body’s beauty warming mind and heart
To sigh with spirit’s breath in raptured thrall
When every soul awakens with a start.
The engineering self is doomed to fall,
Love’s realm is truly ours when found in all.

A sonnet of terms and conditions

We set our terms on everything we do,
Conditions seem to make us who we are.
All this makes safe, we think, our world where few
With power exploit all lives both near and far.
‘To gain and ne’er to lose at my expense’ –
We’re taught these jungle rules right from our birth;
My interests frame this self of mind and sense
As people live in fear of loss and dearth.
This globe is blessed by untamed weather’s bite:
Beneath the skies we face creator’s hand
So even clouds and storms bestow new sight –
Conditions, terms, are set by love’s new land.
Life’s ways and means are never truly ours
In mystery’s sweet unfathomable powers!