The Prancing Deer

by Todd L. Dias

As I sit and read,

concerning myself with theological knowledge,

I notice two young does,

prancing in newly fallen snow.

A “saturated phenomenon”;

a reminder of God’s splendor

that eclipses human imagination.

The prancing deer give me pause,

leading to thoughts

of the innocence of stark nature,

nature Man has “enframed”

but cannot fully gather

In light of this, it seems

only Man needs a Redeemer

However, among the creatures walking the Earth,

Beauty can be appreciated by human beings most deeply.

Perhaps this is our reflection or likeness of the One

who saw creation as good

The deer vanish into the wooden glen

and I return to study,

thanking God for restoring wonder

to my studious mind.

The Word

The Word

by Todd L. Dias

It is written

That in the beginning was the Word

A Name above all names,

To be sure it is a miracle that we speak

(though sometimes we do so mindlessly)

But how can human words compare to the Divine Word?

Human words disclose,

naming what they encounter.

Like Hadu’i walking the world

claiming ownership.

we call the mountain,

and the forests and seas as well,

to yield to us,

but it is the Word who spoke all things into being

and it is this power alone that can move the mountain,

breaking the noses of the arrogant.

Human words disclose Being and beings there within

But The Word reveals God Himself

something beyond Being.

Beyond but by no means alien to it

Humbly and majestically,

The Word took on flesh

The miracle of an Emmanuel God

Humility and suffering freely accepted

Vulnerable but unconquerable,

He lived, died, and rose again.

Like infants in their first precarious steps,

we stumbled and fell away from our loving Abba

When we were held for ransom by Satan’s horde

The Word came as an emissary of light

to occupied territory,

the shadowy lands of our hearts,

to pay the ultimate price

Dying to set us free.

Second Sight

Second Sight

by Todd Dias

By the shadows
cast by the flame of my soul,
I see, though I am half-blind,
that I must play my role.

I listen to the voices within.
Nothing is is as it once has been,
but one voice rises above the din
I must strive so my spirit can win.

Spirits guide me
so I may follow my path.
Clear from my eyes
the glare of the past.

Just as the river gives way to the sea.
I grow, as a seed does to a tree,
and nothing in my roots in the earth,
can compare to th sky which offers rebirth

The future is an unending sky,
and I am waiting for the clouds
to dispel from my eyes

Merlin's Lament

Merlin’s Lament

by Todd Dias

The Sword lies beneath the altar,

but it is not mine to wield.

I guard it for the one

who is to come.

The future is mine to see,

but still I am filled with

uncertainty.

Can I really teach

what I have been taught?

The fear of childhood,

the ostracism of adolescence,

the pressure of adulthood,

all weigh upon me as I wait

Looking into my pool of water,

I see him and his glory.

My god tells me to be patient,

but my calling makes me anxious,

and I would to be ready for it today

Catharsis

It took the bursting of a dam
to quench the thirst of the land.
A crescendo, which deafens
only to restore and bring forth
the audibility of dreams,
builds in a year's abiding

Like a mad vision
which tells the truth, however distorted,
the symphony comes to a climax,
and leaves the audience to pick up the pieces
of their shattered souls.
Woven melodically together
they shuffle home to heal.

Dreams often bear the kernel of nightmare,
but just as the clouds grow to their most foreboding,
the rain falls giving life to the earth once more

The Demons

The Demons,
clever and diabolically ingenious,
have insinuated once more
into my mind

Their outer aspect,
the countenance of terror,
has changed since our last encounter with each other.

All the same,
I call upon the Power
from within.
That sorcery,
which remains mine to choose,
through faith most primordial,
is stronger than any demon.

Although I must turn outwardly
to the aid of foreign bodies,
the saving Power
comes ultimately
from within

Reservations

Reservations

by Todd Dias

I went to school

with the white trash

and bourgeoisie alike,

scorned by the cool

whose ideals clash

and drive impaling spikes.

My only hope,

turning inwards,

helped to cope,

but pushed me forward

toward the very thing

from which I wished to hide.

I have received love and praise

from four generations,

but all I see

in self-conscious gaze

is a man of reservation.

Fear; the foil to my strengths.

Loneliness; the wall I hide behind.

Love; the wanted and the feared.

Courage; the strength I have inside

Convalescence

Convalescence

For the first time

I stand without words

as they are plucked from my mind

by the critical eye

that is now ever watchful.

I sit now in convalescence

unable to fathom

the gales and storms

that have blown me here.

My unrest has been great

But a turbulent mind

is yet able

to bear the fruit

of its own labour,

and come to rest

in the peace of creation.