dark wind above obscuring light
with frenetic pace laden with futile might
coursing seen as purposed and wise
means chasing ends in limitless tries
as death deceives on a blustery trail
those yearning for hope only to fail
catch my hand you in scurrying fright
let’s sit upon tufts of reason’s delight
hold my hand to deep water we go
still and mirrored, imperfections show –
dreaming, swimming in depths unseen
places our soul surely has been
and with you i sit on velvet lea
green as green – a grassy sea
i’ll tell you tales of weathered life
and we’ll talk of God and goodness rife
and you and i will gaze as one
to the heavenly eyes equaled by none
somber stillness deep into night’s end
and silently weeping I pity the poor wind
(c) 2015 rick stassi
Tag Archives: Psalm 23
consider time
Philip Wilson Steer
“Richmond Castle”
“But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord, in the acceptable time”
Psalm 69:13 NKJV
Where are you, days gone by? I consider the sun’s rise once again onto fog shrouded oceans of wondering eyes peering up to the heavens hoping and praying that enigmatic Time will tell his story and all he has seen.
He has seen birth and death and many things that come and go. O, how it must be so tiresome and sorrowful hearing the lonesome wails of those lost in their own limitation. Eyes locked on the perils of rotation – new day, next day, same day…
Time provides the incubated womb from which you are to think and ponder and listen – wonder. Please listen for the voice inside and outside of time on the leaves floating down streams in the rain. That voice…
God holds time in the palm of His hand and can crumble mountains and siphon oceans and dry the tears pouring from impregnated clouds with deafening thunder – blinding fury of extreme voltage creating the vacuum rapidly replaced in a clamorous din…
But all is not fury. Rest now.
There is a frail smoothness to your skin. There is a gentle nature of your cries in the night knowing a soft kiss on your forehead makes everything alright. I brush aside your hair to expose glistening blue-green eyes, small worlds in of themselves. Looking up so hopeful knowing that as time heals it also takes away. I shall hold you and say it is all beauty and blessing for those who consider time. It is there where we look beyond limitations and eternal horizons and see the face of God. Give me your hand, gentle one, and I will take you through time and never leave your side for I am beyond all time and your breaking heart breaks mine. But O the joy in your smile. Look deep into my eyes and see the universe and also see this moment for it is your time and it is fragile with billowing clouds, fragrant flora, the breeze through your hair – all complimented by a respite and meditation of time. Look upon God from velvet lea near cool still depths. He will look at you. He already is.
(C) 2014 Rick Stassi
old tree
the truth in an old tree
gnarly and rooted deep
by waters still.
when shall I hear
healing words draw nigh
to shed upon your hopeful peering
eyes seeking to allay fears?
I wait, I wait to dry your tears.
maybe that is why
i listen on passing breezes –
it is best, I believe, as
God’s whisper shall enrich
and alight on my heart.
He shall on your’s too
and O, I shall try and impart
the truth within this old tree.
(c) 2014 Rick Stassi
credit: jkm for inspiration
“Darling Moon”
powder blue
There is softness in your touch,
O Lord, gently urging our rest under
Powder blue upon velvety green
That flow to one another
Meeting at one decidedly
Straight line –
Our perspective horizon.
Do you believe our hearts,
Are connected?
Across waves of blue
Through gentle white bursts
Of moisture laden
Ships of the sky.
Always watched with
Ethereal nurture…
Yes, hearts bound
By a single thread –
A seamstress dream.
Our hearts, and many others,
Floating about like
Flits of light
Angelic fireflies
Interacting, loving, caring…
There is softness in Your voice,
O Lord, with gentle causal tone
Directing us to rest
On green velvet,
Me and you,
Under powder blue.
“…for those who believe as one”
(c) 2014 Rick Stassi
these things…
“Eragny”
Camille Pissarro
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
Psalm 23:1
Forever and one day
My cries are heard
Through my days
Of seemingly endless plight
And the angst of the unknown
Tearing and pulling…
The brave resolute faces
Of pilgrims on our way
Led in trust
Held in hope
Steeped in faith
True to one path…
O guiding Spirit
Abiding at my core
Opening my eyes
To so much unseen
Things veiled
Lucid stream of light…
These things I feel
As I ponder ends and beginnings
From birth to death
But mostly right now
Surely in this place
God has appointed.
(c) 2014 Rick Stassi
conceding petals
“Bend in the Epte”
Claude Monet
in my continued progress,
time is relentless.
opting temporarily cessation,
to extend roots
and grow a bit.
i’ll be like a flower with
petals lithe, color-bright,
for another small season.
but O my soul soon writhing –
the struggle and bleating
of this one lost, wandering…
Would green grass illude?
How fast the slope entraps.
Spellbound in temptation
The darkness flows overhead
like a cool, fast river.
i have seen respite
yet still I will cool my feet
in those rushing waters
and end up
with a heart in quandary.
pleading for simplicity
and getting a string-pull
like a marionette
straightening up –
conceding petals will dry
and so my feet as well
and on i go.
rick
The Green Grass, the still Water…
1 The LORD is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
2 He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
3 He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the LORD
Forever.
Psalm 23
For I am a sheep led by a Master. He knows me and watches me by day and by night. I am absent of wit and am best at following others. Thus is the analogy of the world we live in. There is no guidance, only blind leading of relative wisdom dying and wavering. There is yearning in the world….
However, there is not want in the full hearts of the godly. For we are replenished daily and led to greener places where we will not live among the stagnate. This is His will, His word. This is our life in Christ. I trudged in worldly wisdom, Existential and lost. Firing glances at the heavens on dark nights to seek the face of a god, even as God watched and tugged at my heart. “You will see my face some day”, He said. I wouldn’t have believed then that which is so undeniable now. For I am a sheep and I am led by a caring Shepard. I will think but but thinking is bridled with God’s discernment and I am fed the delivering meal of wisdom each day. With each bite, I turn to Him that feeds with confidence.
In God I find my peace in a fresh solitude. The water is still. It is deep and dark – we do not know its depths though we know its still peace. The water of knowledge, the water of clarity, and the water of peace. I lay beside this water on the green grass of Spring, renewal, fit for a child of God for respite from the world and renewal of my heart. This restores me and as the grass sips the clear morning dew, I sip the water of His peace and wisdom. All is well in the peace of His domain. All is restored daily. The world rushes by unnoticed, unheeded. I am absorbed in the Father. We are offered a tangent between God and Man, He is life in the valley of death: He is Jesus. The scornful world denies His call. But not I who grieve for them yet am uncontrollably drawn to them with compassion. His restoration fills me with desire to plant a quiet restorative seed in a world rushing by, the green grass blankets the ground. I am at peace.
I am a sheep and He is my Shepard. I a man filled with His righteousness through grace and own a passionate desire to see His image in me. It is all I want. It is because He is God and for His sake I desire. Passion abounds from Him, for Him, to others. My cup runneth over.
But yea, I know the world is death and the world is around me. Surrounding and sometimes stifling. I walk through it each day and each day I still find my green grass and still water. The world is death and His restoration is life. There is respite. There is peace. My own surrender of my earthly vessel does not haunt me because I long ago died for Him. I only look to the day when I see the world from the perspective of heaven in perfect righteousness. All the Shepard’s plan for His sheep. I fear nothing for nothing can harm that which is in the arms of our Creator.
Your power and strength strike fear in the world and beg reverence from I, your good and faithful servant. I strive toward You in that thought.
You are with me, O Lord, O Father. In your restoration is the anointing oil. The same that was dripped on Aaron, Your priest. The sanctifying oil of holiness. The empty vessel that I am is filled until it runs over, spilling forth onto the vile and wicked. They secretly covet what they see. I sit in plenitude on the table you have set before me. The world is confused. Most do not know-some wonder-some marvel. But surely life runs out of me as I am filled with love and I emanate a joy and a light. You fill me beyond what I need to be satisfied. I am happy on the green grass near the still water with You at my side.
All that follows me is goodness. It is the peace of the still water, the refreshing green grass. The Master and the man, together in peace and I will never fear evil but shall dwell always with You, Lord. Your house is my desire, Your face is what I want to see, The path of righteousness is my walk.
And I sit in peace in the valley that is my respite until the day I dwell with You, O Lord of Peace.
copyright 2013 Rick Stassi
originally written 12/29/2011
Jesus, Light of the World 
