I woke up today to a glorious Monday

I woke up today
to a glorious Monday,
with holy water falling
to bless my poor anxious head.
The traffic was slow and serene,
prompting me to recollect
how oddly frantic these people are,
scrambling to arrive
at a job they despise,
surrounding themselves
with people who have not
their happiness in mind.
But tomorrow will be bright and clear,
the traffic will flow freely along,
and my mind will spin again
like all those wheels,
rolling here and there
with never a care, for me.

The Act of Standing by a Window and Staring Out

The act
of standing
by a window
and staring out,
alone
and in silence,
is such a
sad sad thing
when the day
is cold
and damp
and dreary,
when you’re
alone inside
with nose
on cold pane,
your breath
clouding the view
of life on the outside,
the stillness in the world.

Exile-hymn

O! for the homeward sailing!
O! for the Farther Shore!
O! for the exile-ending!
O! for the coming home!

O! for the Tall Ship
with white-sails and white-timbers
on the grey seas coming
with glittering foam on her brow,
quietly and gently
slipping through the waters,
shining in the golden sun
with full wind in her sails
to take me home.

O! the ever-watching
of the Farthest Edge
for a glimpse of that White Ship
coming at last to these weary shores.

O! ye waves crashing and rolling,
in thy tumbled voice
bring me rumour of her Arrival,
her Most Blessëd Arrival.

O! to set out from harbour
upon briny wave
with wind on my brow
with salt-spray and glittering-sparkle
and with gulls sending me off rejoicing,
calling with their sea-voices: “Farewell!”
Looking back as hither-shore fades:
Farewell! Farewell! Farewell!

O! to pass over the Western Seas
past the fair enchanted isles
through the Silver-Mists
and the Golden-Rain
to at last reach a sunlit shore
of green green lands...

O! for the homeward sailing!
O! for the Farther Shore!
O! for the exile-ending!
O! for the coming home!