Silent Presence

wherever I look
I see your image

in the flower
at dusk embedded

clouds resting above
an orange horizon

when I listen
your voice speaks

in the wind
summoning me home

Her End

now all’s well
complete whole and
in its place

but often I
wonder how all
of it went

through the gradual
descent alone and
without warning of

what might come
at moment least
suspected with her

alone with the
sound slowly released
from her breath

Encomium

you are to me
what yesterday was
to today before
tomorrow has a name

you move through me
without touching

being without speaking
as silence is to song

in words sung from
the one who makes me sing

David Sermersheim

Paean To The Unknown

what it is of you
is sensed not held
in opened hands

imagined in the
texture of all
that is beautiful

bountiful and generous
in its manifestations
great and small

by those who
have seen mysteries
unfold in peaceful intimacy

in dreams of
imploring souls seeking
truth quietly alone

David Sermersheim

Trial

Trial


master
I know this
trial will end
and I will

remember and be
grateful for what
this time has

taught me about
what I have
and do not need

your light has
shown on manifold
gifts within the

darkest hours that
made me humble
and hunger for

more of the
what has sustained
my soul and

quenched my thirst
for the taste
of something greater

than what I
had before this
hour began

Fateful Image

Fateful Image


the shadow became
a shroud in
the crux of
a cross-beam

where beginning met
end in innocence
not ambitious intent
as silence drew

a curtain over
an image that
wouldn’t be forgotten
or act forgiven

sighs and cries
rose into the
face of an
angry wind turning

noon to night
where hope died
twisting on rusted
tong driven into

the corpus hung
on a hill
where nescience found
comfort in the

capacious embrace of
of ignorance tamped
into the sand
of a barren land

David Sermersheim

Essentials

go your way quietly
walk the path gently

be at home
where you are

know your place
about the cyclical round

find affinity with
what you see

intimacy with what
you touch

let your sweat
mingle with soil

let the earth
form round your sole

feel the sun
burnish your brow

follow the contour
of the land

know the shape
of the leaf

gather all at
end of season

fill your hours
with worthy toil

with the tool
that forms to

your hand and
knows your command

leave no mark
where you have been

take the air
as your own

in the brief interval
accorded your time

with gratitude for
the gift of

a generous hand
that expects nothing

but humility and perseverance
in the test of endurance

Between Us

when you find this
we will be alone
in a place known only to us
where time has no bound
nor takes measure
of moments spent in silence
where words unite
two as one
you in me
I in you
David Sermersheim

Anthem

when debris
is cleared
and rancor
silenced a
single voice
is heard
in the
wind singing
an anthem
pf praise
to one
who know
him not

In All I Do

in all I do
a part of you
comes through

guiding my hand
through the labyrinth
of contradiction

ever closer to you
though unseen and
unknown in the

empty space around us
lighting the way
with a sure hand
to a place

that pulls me home

If I Looked

if I looked for you
would you hide in crevice
lofty and remote
a place that does
not reveal your form
or betray your presence

if I called how
would you answer
if you are where
sound loses its way

would you be
where water does not
follow the course
outlined into its end

would you be one
of a number blending
with others who have
assumed your form

if you turned from me
I would follow you
through leaf and bramble
clearing a way in your wake

brushing all aside to
follow your footprint
into the place that
has no name

if you were found
how would you be known
unavailable to inquiry
denying affinity in identity

In Stillness

in stillness we
come to know
your presence within

where nothing opens
to all of
everything closing into

the moment
lost in itself
anew
______ _______

to believe
is to want

to act
is to become

one alive
in all that is

of us
and what is
yet to be

Invisible Master

I know you but
do not understand you

hear your whispers
heed your command

fear you but
do not see you

know you through
the myriad shapes

and variety in
nature’s elusive symmetry

honor your silent
presence in all

that animates us
asking for counsel

to guide the
lonely quest for

solitude and peace

Winter's Eve

gentle chansons of
the season brought
forth by willing

voices sustaining lingering
phrases rung into
cold night air

grasping breath to
sustain sound a
bit longer

in the interval
given to joy in
simple things

You Have Been Given

you
whom I do
not see but
hear more clearly
seem closer now

you
who chose me
and know the
one I am
surround me now

I reach for
your presence in
amber glow of dusk

hovering where I
sense your essence
grow within me now

Time

at any moment
time seems without
substance or form

like air
passing between
opened fingers

sensed not seen
in the interval
between events

present in memory
among us
not of us

as a bird
tracing an arc above
erasing his shadow below

or a light
cutting a furrow
through the dark

The Way

this is the way
I will go
for it is
the only way
I know

this is the
promise that is
kept when all
else has given out

this is all
that is left
of what was
and is no more

I look for
the light to
guide my way

to where peace
is found and
I shall be

Silent Presence

wherever I look
I see your image

in the flower
at dusk embedded

clouds resting above
an orange horizon

when I listen
your voice speaks

in the wind
summoning me home

Search

I look --
nothing is there

speak --
no one listens

listen --
the wind speaks your name

reach --
my hand parts the air

lost --
inside my shell

I cannot --
be found among you

my soul --
wanders the barren plain

looking
for itself in another

Rubric

to believe
is to know

to understand
is to accept

to be
is to do

to know is
to embrace the unknown

to be still
is to know peace

to live is
to be at one in place

to wish
is to deny

to want is
to be deceived

to exist is
to adapt and defend

to forgive
is to accept

to love
is to forget

to question
is to learn

to save
is to wait
2.

to spend
is not to waste

to discover
is to know joy

in simple things

Of You That Has No Form

what is it
of you that
has no form
shape or sound

moving by will
and volition freely
without restraint
over limitless domain

holding me gently
within your ample bosom
releasing me to
fall free and

search for the
one I was
before time claimed
its hold to

become the one
from whom
I came
David Sermersheim

Searching

I have searched
but could not find you
in the small dark places
where still water glistens
in pools beneath sheltering pines

where seeds seek light
to bloom full flower
in the image of your vision

I have listened for you
in the place where silent appeals
ring from empty souls
seeking peace

where time has lost
all trace of measure
and meaning does not
question what it does not know

where movement is stilled
in motion and cause
is without consequence

where vision knows
no limit and belief
is faith in what it
does not understand
or question what it
cannot see or know

and withered hands
caress virtue wrapped
in humble petition
and silent prayer

David Sermersheim

Search

I look --
nothing is there

speak --
no one listens

listen --
the wind speaks your name

reach --
my hand parts the air

lost --
inside my shell

I cannot --
be found among you

my soul --
wanders the barren plain

looking
for itself in another

David Sermersheim

If They Come To Look For Me

if they look
look for me
I shall be spread
full and wide
beneath the silver beech tree

with nettles in my hair
and stars for a crown
I shall lie awake and
know the sound
ringing about these bounds

gaze at stars as
new as dew
sparkling on wet blades
of new grass

sample the heady draft
of spring riding on
air-drifts subtle as
a child’s innocent kiss
on a moist cheek

Living Flame

living flame
breathe the life
of your light
into my weary soul

cover me with
the warmth of
your gentle glow

lead me to
the center of
the flame that

has fled me
now as I
flounder and grapple

with remaining strength
ebbing from the core

unable to find
what has flown
from me

guide me to
the inner source
of light burning brighter
as it grows weaker

David Sermersheim

Hymn

let the song possess you
its sound pass through you

let the air move round you
light burn into you

let us sing with joy of simple things
and good dwelling within

let us move gently when we tread
touching all in cheer and fond remembering

carrying images of those who
came before and rest within

David Sermersheim

Come, Let Us Go

come
let us go
to a place
I know where
night rises into
opened heavens
stars set diamonds
in the blue-black
sky and
none need know
the reason why

David Sermersheim

But Once

we look but do not see
what comes but once
in its time then gone

as we move and assume
it will come again
next time round

only to miss what
cannot be if time and
place are not one again

when wonder unfolds in
subtle glimpse of first light
as if all changed in the night

forsythia budded blossomed
and flowered luminous
before my eyes but I

was blind to see
deaf to hear what
came and was so near

ignorant to know
the miracle of awe
before its time had gone

in days of haste
that held little interest
or surprise of what

should have been seen
and remembered before
its hour had passed
David Sermersheim

As One

though we cannot touch
we are as one
you in me
and I in you

In A Single Hand

In A Single Hand

we make what
will become one
in the care
of a single hand

knowing not why
it is as
it becomes in
the care of
a single hand

shaping what is
given mending what
is torn in
the care of
a single hand

fusing binding bending
in fire at
the end of tong
and hammer shaped
by the will
of a single hand

naming what cannot
be claimed making
its mark in the
care of a single hand

calling to order
silencing the rancor
of angry voices
by will of
a single hand

singing the song
that is yours alone
in the sound
of a single voice

David Sermersheim

Speak To Me

Speak to Me

speak to me of symbols
strong and enduring

of courage in
face of fear

valor in the
smell of death

solace in the
terror of night

strength when
all falls away

knowledge in
the midst of ignorance

reason in the
clamor of irrationality

patience in
the company of anger

of grace and hope
against desperation

love’s persistent
ache to endure

of gain against loss
and triumph over adversity

of last times
past smiles

easy laughter and
unbounded joy

in celebration of
simple things

of forgiveness and
mercy over despair

humility and honor in
celebration and momentary triumph

of purity in
the essence of clarity

of creative invention
true to its ideals

unstained by the
rush of vain conceit

of the futility in
hate and revenge

of loss hidden
in the void of silence

of strength in
persistence and endurance

of loss hidden

the quality of mercy
in the virtue of forgiveness

the simple design
in the symbol of peace

the grace of healing
in the clutch of pain and despair

the power of regeneration
in life’s mysterious cycle

David Sermersheim

The Unanswered Question

I answer your call
sounding through
the hollow valley
in dread silence of night

you do not hear
my feeble reply
hanging on the wind
echoing in the void
that widens between us

your voice hovers
tied into a knot
closing in on itself
drifting in the folds
of silence
_____ _____

if it is
part of another
we seek we
shall wander bewildered
passing one other
along a winding way
that reaches into itself

the riddle has
untied itself from
the unanswered question

The More I Know

The More I know

the more I grow
the less I
know the nature
of simple things

peace does not quell
the unquiet heart
that finds small reason
to stop and fail

and yet I see
what is to be
in measured turn
couched in mystery

grateful to be given
one more day
to move and make
in my separate way

what I lay store by
is a calm nest
and a comfortable
place to rest

what is to be does
not concern me nor
do I make false claim
for what cannot be

I make my way
in measured stride
awkward fearful and shy
watching each step fall aside

unsure as the first
now with none to catch
the faltering course
that late I set

in earnest stride
onward and upward
toward the crest
that remote was met

bearing witness
to those who fell
short of a mark
that haunts us well

I hold no promise
for what may be
of what once was
in great abundancy

of dreams that fell
in endless cascades
on death of promise
and work undone

no place for dreamers
in a land of schemers
with clansmen and club men
to abide fool’s company

David Sermersheim

None In One

None In One

I look
but do not see

reach but
cannot touch

eat but
do not taste

move but
remain in place

pull together but
nothing joins

speak but
no one listens

listen but
hear silence

I am form
without definition

I embrace
one part of nothing

what is
will not last

what comes is
yet to be

I am at one
with shifting wind

blowing dry leaves
over barren soil

I have become
none in one

whom I do
not know

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday

vigil witness kept
wrapped in the
amnion of spring’s
emerging hour

dark silence hovering
midst glow of
humble flame flickering
auras of visions imagined

bearing witness to
sempeternal legend
renewed in season’s
cycle

suffused in miracle
transcendent
defying witness and
presence willed or
imagined

sustained as flame
in faith and mystery
amorphic in form
and matter

to supplicant
unworthy of
proof or verification

David Sermersheim

Let Us Go

Let Us Go

let us go
you and I
to where the
water meets the sky
and be one again
before all is done
and winter’s dim dark chill
draws down hard and fast
and we cower
from each sullen blast
of rancor hurled
in hostile fling
against what endures
through tentative hour
while waning dreams
fade faster than
feeble ambition
can sustain
abiding the angular course
to quiet realms
of solemn darkness
in peace

David Sermersheim

Here/Now

Here/Now

what is here is of now
and shall be no more

what came was right for its time
and shall not return

nothing shall return save memory
to catch fleeting moments in fantasy

what you hold is
held by you in its time

what is said flies into the
cyclical current of shifting winds

what begins in innocence
ends in ignorance and delusion

the world belongs to those who know
the vagaries of time and chance

the world is denied those
who wait for their moment

night belongs to those who know
the continuity of silence
in tranquility and peace


David Sermersheim

Offering

Offering

let the wind enfold you
the waters calm and cleanse you

the sky open its breadth to you
and the winged ones

soaring into the light
of a new day

tracing your shadow along the way
unwinding before you

let your soul be shaped by
the seams of native stone

in the soil holding
the shape of your sole

and your cloak conform to the
angular disposition of
the difficult hours

into the sun
carrying you home

David Sermersheim

Aura of First Light

Aura of First Light

movement ceases
making the slow turn
around a curve
toward the outer edge
outlining a tenuous border
where thought mingles
with damp vapors
rising from the dew
of freshly cut grass
glowing in the aura
of first light

standing there transfixed
inhaling the elixir
of a slowly receding dream
becoming a phantom
in the gauzy mist
of imagination
wrung dry of what mattered
a moment before wondering
when you were here

Vigil

Vigil

silently they sit
wrapped in the
flickering glow of
preordained mystery
forming visions in
ambrosial air
redolent in ritual
intoning incantations
deep within a void
transforming sun-drenched
moments into miracles
effused in the violet
gauze of electric vibrancy
tingling at fingertip’s urge
to probe the unseen
manifold wonder
tremulous on revelations’
edge awaiting union
with an invisible aura
palpable as faith’s oracle
encircling edge of breath

David Sermersheim

Notes To An Unkown

Notes To An Unknown
III

as I resist
so am I drawn
toward what beckons
from a place
shrouded in dim memory
lost and forgotten
where someone speaks words
unknown to me
of what cannot be said
when will lost its way

David Sermersheim

Visitation

Visitation

he sits
waiting for the voice
to speak the words
fill the empty space
of memory
frozen in its place
lost in its time
firm solitary and free

it speaks
of what is not heard
from that not written
against its time
from a place
solitary firm and free

the voice
is not consumed
in itself
lost on false intent
or stalled in the
space between silence
solitary firm and free

he waits
for the images to settle
call his name
reveal themselves
shaping sounds into
symbols carried from their
time into this place
firm solitary and free
David Sermersheim

Voces Intimae II

Voces Intimae II




your mysteries unfold
with each turn
into the hidden realm
deep within us

each rotation of your
mien yields more
of the silent unknown
behind the veil of desire
waiting in the space
of a breath between us

none know who we are
as we drift in the
salmon sky whispering
secrets into the rush
of wind between us

David Sermersheim

Paean To The Other

Paean To The Other


If I probe too deeply
I will pierce the membrane
and the search will end
where it began

If I speak your name
my throat will be parched
with dust gathering my
inquiries into vanity and shame

If I look into your eyes
I will be blinded by the
sacral nature of simple things
reflected in a mottled mask of parody

Listening for your voice in
rustling leaves at dusk
I recoil in sorrow
at unyielding compromise

If you appear
I will cleanse my hands
of the grime of idle pursuit

If we meet how will I know your name
wondering where I can turn
in the cyclical vacuity of night.


David Sermersheim

Homage

Homage
“You must learn first to listen...”
W.S.M.

Your words speak to me
when silence melds
with the mist of night
obscuring the uncharted
path through the labyrinth
of a ‘dead language’
alive in your hands
shaping a vision into energy
and form in the
moment reborn.

Suspended in radiance
speaking simply and clearly
your voice resonates
through vibrant images
alive with the timbre
of unspoken words
indelible as your print
on opened soil.


David Sermersheim

Blessings

Blessings

let what flies
soar to the
limits of its
vision into
distant horizons

let all seek
what eludes their
grasp and lies
beyond envy and
fear of the unknown

let none wish
for what will
be denied in
the waning hour
of late season

let all find
the private reserve
of peace nestled
in the web
of simple things

Sitting

Sitting

Master:

you ask me to be still
observe the bush
but I do not know
what it is I am to see

you tell me to wait
listen with my eyes
see with my ears but
I am deaf and blind

you tell me to wait
something will happen
I see nothing hear silence
the light grows dim

you tell me to become the bush
to be inside it to know it
I do not know
how this is to be done

I am humble and know
that I cannot be
one like you
my soul does not soar

I see a yellow bush
swaying in its fullness
there seems to be
much work to be done.

David Sermersheim

Prayer

Prayer

Sound of sorrow
find me,
guide me.

Sound of silence
conceal me,
console me.

Sound of solace
soothe me,
cover me.

Sound of joy
lift me,
transcend me.

Let the song
possess me;
sound pass
through me.

Let the air
move ‘round me
and light pass
over me.

Let peace
be the sound
of joy in
silence between sound.

Compline

Compline

all things have been
done this day
and all was made
right in its way

none have been left astray
to find their way
to what lies yet
to mind and mend

time now to listen
learn and observe
what lies within reach
for all to conserve

and measure out
full secure and well
what comes but once
if one can tell

David Sermersheim