The Philosopher's Stoned

The Philosopher's Stoned

The Priest is not hearing confession,
The Philosopher is now stoned,
The Government Official is corrupted,
And Bono's no-where near a phone,

The Writer is now written off,
The Actor has been upstaged,
The prompter promptly fell asleep,
The Artists brush slipped from the page,
The Doctor has phoned in sick,
The ethics committee is out to a three course lunch,
The Stock broker has gone broke,
The Police are left without a hunch,
The Forensic experts are all advising on TV,
The Psychics have all lost their second sight,
The Military advisers have blown themselves up,
The Comedians are a joke tonight,
The Devil waits for Hell,
And, at times, I fear for me as well,
And "God is in his heaven",*
Like Heaven's some kind of cell,
So I now have one remaining hope,
And one more question too,
If the Philosopher is Stoned then,
Jesus Christ:
What's wrong with you?




18.11.08 *Quote from "The Warm and the Cold" by Ted Hughes

I Am Taking Pictures (Gallery of Memories)

I am taking pictures,
Taking pictures with my eyes,
Lids for shutters,
From waking till twilight,
To sun-down from sun-rise,

I am catching memories,
Trapping them behind the nets of my lashes,
Squinting shut the trap doors,
While the rest of the world,
Disappears in flashes,

And there, within my dark room,
I am not merely fast asleep,
I am developing negatives into dreams,
Moments I cannot hold onto,
Into dreams that I can keep,


I am making little wooden frames,
Making frames in my head,
Curling browning corners held down,
Behind the glass lid of my eyes,
Keeping precious buried moments from ever being dead.

Love Fool

I'd be a fool for the mating call of May,
But for some reason May is kept at bay,
I'd be up for a foolish roll in the hay,
But May comes to see me, for hay, too soon to say,
If you see May, say for me, 'we must delay',
But tell May,
I am on my way,
Tell her I miss her flirty ways,
And I will see her in thirty days,


I'd be a fool for June,
But June can not come too soon,
Summer evening walks beneath the moon,
I'd sing to her as the fledgling June birds croon,
And maybe in her arms, we'd spoon,
I would dance my dance of love like a loon,
Amidst the hot flushes of June in bloom,
I'd be such a fool for June,
But like the seasons do, I'd change my tune,

I'd be a fool for August,
Enslaved by latent, ripened lust,
Kissing fervent in the dust,
Whoever's watching, because I simply must,
Cramming in as much romance as possible before Autumn's gust,
With passions high, it's love or bust,
Whatever it takes to keep her trust,
I'd be a love fool for August,
But that could be the heat talking, If you get the thrust,

I'd be a frozen fool for Jan,
Tell Jan, I will be her man,
I'd warm her frost bitten hand,
With hot breath and kisses, because I can,
I'd slip and slide on her icy love like the fool I am,
I would spice up the leftover Christmas ham,
I'd whisk her away to warmer climes, in a far off land,
I'd be such a fool for Jan,
I'd break her resolutions, I'd tear up My plan,
But Jan has gone, and I am not sure I can,

But for all the others, I am such an April Fool,
A shower, an idiot, a sap; a tool,
For April I will not care about looking cool,
I will lose the plot, I will break the rules,
For April I will Pine and drool,
Reclining in swim wear by the pool,
Although it's still cold and wet, well, that's just fuel,
April you make of me an imbecile and a crazy fool
Oh wont you send me back to Love school,

Bestowed

“He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

Although he was innocent of crime,

He was cut off from the land of the living,

He paid for the guilt that was mine”*

 

They say this Jesus, Who see's us,
Who Calls us in our weakness,
Humbles us with meekness,
Rescues us from bleakness,

They say He is a Good man,
But I say he is a God man,
He came to heal the sick,
To lift up the down-trod, man,

Thirty three years,
And he did nothing wrong,
Not a sin found on or in him,
In thrity three years long,

This good man was a God man,
He did the Father's will,
The way he stood up to temptation,
Still gives me a thrill,
But he wound up bleeding,
On a tree, upon a hill,
They were baying for his blood, man,
They were spoiling for a kill,

But he had done nothing wrong, man,
He was innocent of crime,
He hung there bleeding,
For the sin that was yours and mine,

God sent him into the world, man,
Not to judge the world through him,
But to save the world,
The word became human,

If we believe in him,
We can be made right,
God wont see our darkness,
He will see his son's light,

This is the message of the cross,
This holy interchange,
We are seen as good
Through this divine exchange,

But not Jesus,
Not him,

At the cross,

Every angry thought

Every lustful deed,

Every heart distraught,

Every instance of envy and greed,

 

Every love locked out,

Every help refused,

Every child that screams in silence,

Every trust abused,

 

Every hope extinguished,

Every fragile life snuffed out,

Every voice raised in fear and hatred,

Every slander thrown about,

 

Every single deception,

Every lie that's told,

Every look the other way,

Every secret sold,

 

Every promise broken,

Every answer deflected,

Every partner waiting home,

Every heart neglected,

 

Every unforgiveness,

Every conscience hardened,

Every bitter thought,

Till the last day, from the garden
 

Every time we helped ourselves,

Every time we couldn't wait,

Every time we didn't listen,

Every time we turned too late,

 

Every time that we knew better,

Every time we took the praise,

Every time we stole his credit,

Every time we hid from his face,

 

Every sin of disobedience,

Every effort for selfish gain,

Every wound that's treated lightly,

Every glory in our shame,

 

Every hardened heart,

Every walk on by,

Every purse or wallet closed,

Every crossing to the other side,

Every addiction chased
Every substance abused,
Every wound we buried deep,
Every scar and hidden bruise,

Every gun that's toted,
Every child forced into war
Every bomb blast ripping through communities
Every one who knows (and doesn't)
why?
And what for,

Every false ideology,
Every arm that's traded,
Every fat cat sitting back on profits,
Whilst their bloodied war is waged,

Every grieving soul,
Every torture victim,
Every rape that happened,
Every thing afflicting,

Every thing and so much more,
Every evil, Every sin,
Every malevolence there was and would be,
Every justice there wasn't, but should have been,

Here, at the cross,

All of this,
Bestowed
On him.
All it's crushing weight,
Closing in on him,

And the Lord has laid on him.
The sin of us all.





*Maggi Dawn

Take me Outside (And Open My eyes)

Besieged is belittled
And belittled, we barely stand,
Dreams have run through the cracks in broken cisterns,
Seeping into desert sand,

All around us, The enemy surrounds,
We are entrenched, hard pressed on every side,
With servants eyes we squint and look on opposing armies,
No way to win, and nowhere to hide,

And reaching out for hope,
Searching from our blinded hearts,
We scarcely dare to believe,
We barely know where to start,

Open the eyes of my heart,
And hide your words of hope within,
The glorious hope we're called to,
Though you kill us we are called to serve,
We are called to win,

There are more of them that are for us,
Than there are of those,
Greater is he that is in us,
Than any who oppose,

Open the eyes of our hearts,
To see the glorious power within,
To see the hope we are called to,
In the gospel of our king,

Oh Lord, Let me see as you see,
Let me feel things as you feel,
The incomparably great power,
The resurrection Zeal,
The power you exerted
When you raised Christ from the dead,
Is alive and at work in us,
As Jesus is the head,

All things beneath his feet,
All things in him, our ours,
We can never be besieged,
When we can know his power,


Open the eyes of our hearts Lord,
Awaken hunger and thirst,
We are panting like the deer,
And the thirst is growing worse,

Summon us, speak to us,
Call from deep to deep,
To search the unsearchable riches of Christ,
Awaken us from our sleep,

Its you, oh Lord, and you alone,
It's you that can satisfy,
We are sick of broken cisterns,
We are sick of wells that dry,

There is so much more,
So, so, so much more than this,
The hope that we are called to,
Called to intimacy's sweet kiss,

Let us see what you see,
Let us feel the things you feel,
let us bow not to fear,
But before our father; kneel.

Open the eyes of my heart,
To see the mysteries profound,
Open the eyes of my heart to see,
The angel armies all around,
Open the eyes of my heart,
To see past my sense of shame.
You have thrown my sin behind your back,
And I will never be the same,


Open the eyes of my heart,
To see the hope to which I am called,
To be loved by my Father in heaven,
To behold his all in all.




and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Reborn This Way (No Apologies)

Don't ask me to relent,
Don't ask me to apologise,
Don't ask me to hide my face,
No, I won't wear disguise,

Don't try to read between the lines,

Don't try to remove my mask,

This is my actual face,

Just in case you ask,

I don't wanna hide no more;
(Ashamed of who I am),
You may serve the public perception,

But I serve the Son of man,

I serve the risen lamb,

So I can never be ashamed,

His blood can make the foulest clean.

And his blood removed my stain,

Your God is in your gut,

And your glory is in your shame,

And I don't want that kind of glory,
I don't want that kind of fame,

The honour that I want

The honour that I seek,
Is for the one lifts the humble
And beautifies the meek,

The one who lifts the lowly,

And who regards the poor,
Who uplifts the downcast,
Glorified evermore,

You say that it's undignified,

To serve a 'creation myth',
But I say I'll become,
Even more undignified than this,

I could never be ashamed,

Of the one who died for me,
The one who bore my disgrace,
Strung up naked on that tree,

He took all my shame away,
He turned it on it's head,
My shame was killed that day,
My pride was left for dead,

He was not ashamed,
Not of me or any of the others,
He is not ashamed,
To call them his brothers,

We go to him, outside the camp,

Bearing his disgrace,
In humility we worship,
As we look towards His face,

Those who look to him are radiant,

Their faces never covered with shame,
Their lips are never slow,
To name the name above all names


The name of the one who loves,
Even though he entirely sees us,
The name of the one who bore the blame,
The Name of Our Lord Jesus,

Never covered with shame
Not ashamed of the name of him who bled at Calvary,
Not ashamed of the Son of man,

And he is not ashamed of me,

You may think that this is foolishness,

But I know who I've believed,
He is able to keep what I've entrusted,
I know I'll be received,

So don't ask me to apologise,

I don't care what men may say,
This is who I truly am, I can't help it,
I was re-born this way,

I'm not ashamed of the gospel,

Nor the one I love,
I'm not trying to please people,
But my Father above,

No I'm not ashamed of the gospel,

Because he is unashamed of me,

And it is the power of god,

To save and set us free.

Photosynthesis

If I could find a way,

To convert the energy of the light,
To the growth of my soul,

Sweet would be my production,

And fragrant would be the oxygen, I generate,

Giving life to other organisms,
Filling lungs,

Shaping lives,

 

I would stretch out my limbs in it's luminous warmth,

I would bask in it's rays,

And rise,

Lifting my extremities to the utmost,

As I sought to get nearer to the source of that energy ,
As near as was possible,

 

The light that baked within the depths,
Seedling-me, in germination,
That summoned me,
That bid me break,
First the protective husk of my shell,
And then the thawing crust,
Of the earth that held me,
That had cradled me till now,

It held me, for a while,
But it will be,
The base for launching,
A soulish assault on the skies,

I will rise,

When I crack this light conversion thing,

And learn to photosynthesise,