The Outer and The Inner: Four Poems

The Outer and The Inner Four Poems JANE E. BEUTTEL In the Beginning Melville Circles on a grid Colliding penetrating Ignite creation The discarded son Haunted by the memory Of a mother’s scorn My soul is aching I am lost in a strange land Of signs in symbols Death and funerals Preoccupy the wounded Mother Sea beckons Dark dreadful painting Portends the coming moment Of epiphany Storm clouds overhead Steer not into the Lee Shore Trust in boundless seas Sacred and profane At once awful and sublime Whale and whole combined Douglass Split in the middle Neither one nor the other No father but God Carefree and naked Wrapped in a ragged shirt This is paradise A mother touches The flesh of a sleeping child Entwined and bonded Years of ignorance Protect the future martyr As Fate bides her time Christ’s false disciples Self-blinded before evil Commit venal sins Sweet innocence dies When evil stabs an angel Avatar awakes C
2008 The Authors Journal compilation C
2008 The Melville Society and Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 86 L E V I A T H A N A J O U R N A L O F M E L V I L L E S T U D I E S P O E M S The Search Melville Sea and spirit blend The rhythm of the ages Overcomes the soul Great Leviathan Pain and ecstasy combined How can we know thee Warp woof hand and sword Acts purposeful and random Weave man’s destiny Surrounding the crew Its terror hides in the warp Until wild seas call Douglass Inspired by insight Color and God are redeemed Crime and man condemned The music of slaves Born of the pain of bondage Cries out to the world The wisdom of children Speaks to their innocent hearts Bondage is evil He who is chosen Although chained by tyrants Discerns fate’s whisper Blows struck by Balaam Change not destiny’s purpose Nor mar its wisdom Slowly grows within The demand to speak aloud And fight oppression A J O U R N A L O F M E L V I L L E S T U D I E S 87 J A N E E . B E U T T E L Fusion Melville The charmed churned circle The jaws of impending death Births eternal life Being in the Now No past or future present Is life transcendent ’Twixt heaven and earth Sacred manifestation God and man conjoined Clear vision chastens The high and the low combine The third eye awakes Douglass Mysteries unveiled By enlightened orators Undergird the quest The Holy Scriptures Inspired by revelation Reaffirm the heart A man free in fact Will break the chains of bondage Holding the body Faith in salvation Upholds the heavy burden Once carried alone Behold the dark angel Anointing God’s disciple And lighting his way Hail to the vision Of stars falling from Heaven Confirming God’s love Face to face with death Life eternal manifests Initiation The courage to dare The faith to accept his fate Liberates the man 88 L E V I A T H A N P O E M S The New Heaven and the New Earth Melville Enigma divine Thou must possess a blanket To hide your secrets Not the spoken word Can clarify your knowledge A gift of spirit Sublime creation Viewed as angel or devil In the heart of man Center of being Peaceful joyful and serene Within the tumult Yesterday’s warriors Awakening to the mother Embrace completion In both fair and foul The flesh embodies essence Perfume within waste One by one we strive The goal is found together Tied by chords of love Solomon’s wisdom Does not condemn the eagle Well prepared to dive Seekers of the light Must travel to the fountain To fill their oil lamps Sun and dying whale In final communion joined Joy encircles death The material It is immaterial As death becomes life The Father claims him The Mermaid Mother rising Cradles her newborn Douglass Forgiving the foe Of his past sins repented Unburdens the heart Between all mankind Lies the glue...