Memorials

Memorials

Even those things we set into stone

Will one day pass, will one day groan

As the wind lifts off the dust and sand

The rain will take them by the hand

And cast them into the wells of time

So they may be dissolved into unknown, unrhymed

Nutrient for a future and a promise and hope

The bucket is lowered, extended the rope

What is raised up is only what has been lowered

Standing upright, unafraid, uncowered

Yet full of the essence, full of unknown

What is harvested now is what has been sown

But no one remembers where it came from…

K, Duane Carter 2-28-11

The Shadow

The Shadow

I was going through a darkness,

A darkness so thick, it was so hard to see

I could not see my face, I did not even know me

But then there was another darkness

That was quiet and warm and awesome and firm

And it completely drowned out the other, a mist of passionate dew

And then I felt the feathers and then and there I knew

It was the shadow of the Most High

I was walking through the wilderness

Nothing but the wild beasts and the dark ones

Waiting for their opportunity to pounce

I then felt goodness with every ounce

And the fear of nothing but the Lord came upon me

It was the shadow of the Most High

I came upon one with cancer

One with affliction, heartache and disease

I felt the oppression laughing

Thinking it could do whatever it pleased

And then I heard it shriek, I saw it vanish,

And I watched it melt before my eyes

My heart by the Presence was mesmerized

It was the shadow of the Most High

So you may be walking through a darkness

Where suddenly it seems darker still

But don’t be discouraged just open your heart

And trust Him, just trust Him until

You can sense Him too, knowing whatever you do

You are covered, protected, and warmed

By the shadow of the Most High

It’s the brightest place in the universe…

K, Duane Carter 4-27-10

Transform

Water has been made for walking on

The sun has been formed to see

Clouds have been placed for flying through

I have been made to be

Age has been made for more wisdom

Yet not for more fear nor more pain

Desire has been formed in the fiery place

It is to be tasted again and again

Snow has been formed to be tasted

Impossible is meant to be turned

Desire it is formed in the fiery place

My heart is designed to be burned

Transform

K, Duane Carter 2-24-11

Whispers

Whispers

Can I really change the world?

Sitting in my dark blue recliner

Unknown, unseen, unheard

Except by the One

The One known as World Changer

He is also Father, Love, and Goodness

I whisper in His ear

Words so simple, so plain, yet

I feel His smile grow wide

The light of His face turns to me

I hear His heartbeat for me

I have touched the heart of the World Changer

Just being a child, simple, carefree

In the moment of contact, in the moment of sound

I have become a world changer myself

I am no longer a dusty nothing left on a shelf

No, I am a child with a say

It’s time to play

K, Duane Carter 2-21-11

Dawn in the Upper Window

Dawn in the Upper Window

I awake to a sliver of light

Dancing through the upper window

I see clouds running to the west

In search for gold and rest

Just like the men below

Quaking in their fright

Suddenly the birds appear

Moving like the sonic wave

And just as suddenly they are gone

Always moving as is their home

In the forgiveness they danced and forgave

So in their height there is no fear

The barren tree lifts arms to sky

The winds they cause his arms to swing

The motion swirls now with the clouds

The sunlight does remove the shrouds

Life is coming in the spring; life is coming in the spring

We still can’t answer the question “Why?”

The upper limbs form Sophocles’ mask

One side laughs, the other side grim

Yet the wind moves on this shattered grin

You know not where, you know not when

You know not who, you just know of Him

You are at the place where you can ask

The sliver has erupted into majestic beams

The clouds are crowned with gold and light

Their motion breathless through the heavens

I close my eyes and feel the seven’s

For now there can be no more night

Love is now the dancing seam

K, Duane Carter 2-21-11

The Mask

Dark sounds

From the dark side

Yet there are some things

We just can’t hide

To enter into beauty

To wield wonder instead of death

We reveal our true humanity

Instead of the mask that gives us breath

We enter sound, we enter truth

We enter wholeness, we enter youth

We utter mysteries that raise the dead

We go beyond what is in our head

To enter into beauty

To wield wonder instead of death

We must reveal our true humanity

Instead of the mask that gives us breath

K. Duane Carter 2-20-11

Another Oldie

I wrote this in response to One-Stop Poetry's query about older poems that were written as youths.  Here's one from all the way back in 1986 (I was seventeen).  WOW!  They didn't even have mp3 players back then!  Hope you enjoy "The Most Beautiful Night."

The Most Beautiful Night

The silvery dark sky of night

Shifts slowly with the passing clouds

Which slowly obscures the twinkling light

Of the temple of stars with a puffy shroud.

The full moon glistens with joyful pride

As the passing clouds catch the beams

Now nothing on the earth can hide

From the light that falls while people dream.

A darkened daylight, a quiet hush

Moves over the night as a flowing stream

The silence broken by a speckled thrush

To wake us from enchanted dreams.

The whispering moon bids farewell

And beckons the sun to appear

Then the speckled thrush sings the tale

Of the most beautiful night of the year.

                                                                       


kdc  3-2-86

I Yearn for You

I Yearn for You

As the ocean yearns to reach the shore

So I yearn to reach to you.

As the moonlight softly touches earth

So I so softly reach to you.

As the sunlight warms the lonely soil

So your smile does help me glow.

As the wind whispers secrets through waving arms

So your heartbeat I do know.

As the stars appear on quiet nights

So I will appear to you.

As the rosebud bursts to sudden bloom

So my love does grow for you.

As the bird’s songs rise into the sky

So my heart does sing a song

As I see you and know you every day

So there my love for you grows strong.

K, Duane Carter 2-14-11

Angel's wings

Sometimes we wake from our slumbers

And we see beyond what we can see

A momentary glimpse into other worlds

Worlds where we were created to be

Sometimes it is a wonder in imagination

Still it stands right there by our eyes

Sometimes we see what is expected

When our hearts are young, mesmerized

We see angel’s wings in a flower

We see color when all is black; all is white

We see goodness where no one is looking

We see love that consumes all the fright

Yet all we were doing was sleeping…

K, Duane Carter 2-14-10

Arising

Arising

A darkened surreal mist

The cold silence, like a fist

Has pounded me mercilessly through the night

Its only goal for me to walk in fright

Yet

Leafless branches curling, gnarling

Like the knuckled hands now unfurling

For they can with darkness no more abound

I feel the morning dew about to come down

Wonder

I feel the colors coming in a tide

For the chill attempts to come inside

But fire is without; fire is within

The cold tries to run again and again

Yet

There is nowhere but dust for it to go

Goodness and beauty I can now always know

For the brightness has come, it has now arisen

My chains have come off, I no longer in prison

Wonder

K, Duane Carter 2-12-11

Lassen Peak

Lassen Peak

I sit in a February sun

Breeze and sounds of movement on

The peak of Lassen set before me

Snowcapped and majestic and beckoning

I sense His moving deep within

I can’t hold back the motions that quickly sprint

Throughout my being as He draws close by

And there is not a doubt; there is not a sigh

Only a calm I’ve never know before

I think I just walked through heaven’s door…

K, Duane Carter 2-5-11

Whippoorwill

Whippoorwill

Along a path of darkness trod

Step by step I silently plod

Wondering if I am going anywhere at all

Or is it all just a grand and glorious fall?

I am told there is no such thing as seeing

I am told there is only a blind believing

Yet there is another voice much more silent still

The peaceful sound of the whippoorwill

Telling me there is much, much more

The sound does vibrate into my heart

I feel a splitting, the atoms part

Then there is nothing but brilliant, brilliant light

More energy than I could ever, ever conceive

It is no longer night

Within a valley of decision

I faced the laughs and all the derision

Yet determined to set my face like flint

I opened my eyes; I refused to squint

I see the most beautiful thing I ever have seen

K, Duane Carter 2-4-11