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