Nature
The Tiger & Sophia
I stride out,
Padding softly,
Focus bright.
My keen eyes,
The obstacles of man
Blighting her hope.
If I need to, I roar.
If I need to, I snarl.
If I need to, I bite.
Mostly I pad
Along in love,
Sniffing out the mighty,
I hunt them.
Charge into
The back of their legs.
Together we kneel
Before poverty herself,
Offering healing hands.
Will we count
On our fingers
Reasons to smile?
Will we count
Hearts not bleeding,
But beating to rejoice?
Will we count
Clapping hands
Celebrating success?
This is my daily hunt,
A charging fight of love
For wisdom herself.
Jamie Coats
January 2020
See Songs of Sophia
Egg of Light
In the egg of light
vision to infinity
brilliant white
enveloping my entity.
In the womb undefiled
in the festival of light
dances the ecstatic child
the dance of the day lit night.
Dance of the universe in eternity
in its richness of creation
multiplicity in unity,
enraptured variation
embracing invariability,
in the crystal instant
entirety of reality,
dazzling the infant
with prismatic being
double rainbow
seven colors of seeing,
light of halo.
Child eyes bright
at the clear clouded gem
paradox of delight
tears lighting them.
Blaze of realization.
Thoughts, sparks of light
ignite with no meditation
searing holes of right
thro’ walls of reason,
empowering the symbol
of light to emblazon
the way to be humble.
Beyond all image
no understanding
joy of knowledge
totally unending
The poem was originally titled Friday 24th July 1987
Jamie Coats
The Evensong of Humpty Dumpty
Humpty Dumpty sat on the harbor wall.
In Pigeon Cove Humpty Dumpty had a great fall.
All the king’s horses and all the king’s men
Couldn’t put Humpty back together again!
The one called Emma, the love within said:
It is time for peace on the earth
From heaven’s all gracious King
Goodwill to all Humpty Dumpty Men.
You are an egg-man,
Pregnant with a white pigeon
Ready to be a fledgling
Hoping its world will crack.
Inside you, all scrunched up
There’s a dove irritated,
Uncomfortably aware
It’s time to hatch.
But stopped by your pride,
Your work for today’s earthly king
You’re in perfect egg-shape
Unwilling to crack,
With thoughts:
“So much to achieve,
So much to do,
So many ways to work.”
Dusk has come,
It is time to stop work.
Will you make sacred and give thanks
Or will your busy-ness outrank?
Know this, when the sun fades,
When you, egg on the wall, silhouette
If you have not fallen,
I will give you a shove.
All your king’s horses
And all your king’s men
Can’t stop the cycle, can’t stop nature,
They will never put you back together again.
Hello baby dove, so fluffy,
I’ll place you in a soft nest.
I will feed you, watch over you
And when your wings are spread,
Peace will fly,
No power on earth can resist
A dove from the cove,
With a message for all mankind,
Learn to break for Evensong
It is when “shoulds” must die
And it is time for gratitude
In your heart to reside.
And on Humpty Dumpty Day
Invite friends to celebrate
Their brokenness, not success.
Give each an egg,
They’ll write what they need to give up.
They’ll take the eggs to the edge.
They’ll throw them onto the rocks.
They’ll let the dove in their hearts, hatch.
Please see www.kickhumpty.com
Theme for Year
© Jamie Coats February 2014
Still Hope at Pigeon Cove
Still
I sit at dusk
Quiet, with a sea view
Half sky
Quarter sea
Quarter grass
And me
My hands cupped
Waiting to receive
At dawn the sun arose
The love within, Emma
Emmanuel for some
Released a dove
Looking for a cove
All day it comes
Across the half sky
Across the quarter blue
Across the quarter green
Arriving to alight
On my left shoulder
Its feet prickle my skin
With a slight flutter
Down my arm
It nestles into my hands
So fluffy
So warm, so light
It coos
My partner cups her hand
Gently under my right
So slowly I slide it out
Our white pigeon
Still comfy
Let’s us know
It is time to sleep
And we will awake, with
Hope
Theme for 2013
Bean & Leaf
She walked into the bar and saw him immediately, the Greenman. His face was made of leaves, he wore a summer suit and a floral Liberty print tie displaying a riot of flowers tastefully tumbling down his front. She sat next to him. She was wearing a small silk pouch around her neck that matched the color of her dress. The pouch hung over her heart. She took the pouch off and put it onto the bar between them. She opened it, revealing a white lined interior holding a variety of beans. He pointed at one and she smiled. He looked up and his eyes caught the bar tender’s attention. He ordered and the bar tender produced what looked like a pint of Guinness for him and a bottle of mineral water for her. His pint was actually filled with deep, rich, dark earth. He pushed his finger into the earth making a hole, she put the bean in, closed the hole and then she poured a little of her fresh spring water into the pint and it soaked in. The seed in the caring earth felt the water ignite its inner strength of life, sprouted and soon a tender new leaf unfurled … to their delight and to everyone else at the bar’s surprise.
The Green Man and Pegasus
At a bar met the Green Man
Who asks, “Like a word?”
“I am looking for Emmanuel,
Emma for short.”
“Go to my barn, take some lessons,
I’ve just the horse for you, Pegasus.
What a winged horse,
Asked for a barn right on the cliff edge
So he’d be able to leap straight into the air.
No, I said, erosion happens.
You’ll have a barn way back from the edge.
From the barn you can still see the sea.
I built the barn from the sacred tree,
The one on which he died.
At the barn take Pegasus out of his stall.
Groom his winter coat so fine,
Put some fluff in a can.
Pick up his feet, pick out his hooves,
Open his mouth, put in the bit
Bend his ears forward, reins over his head.
Saddle him up, check the girth again and again.
You don’t want to fall off up in the air.
Take time to be responsible,
Ride him around the paddock
Until he’s done his business.
I want no defecating from on high.
Then ride off the cliff edge,
To people’s surprise you’ll not fall to your death
But rise into the sky.
Now before you go
Come back to the bar.
Ask my friends each for a word,
A caterpillar one that crawls around inside
Eating up their lives.
Put the words in your can,
Shut the lid all cozy
They’ll turn into chrysali.
Then on Pegasus take off,
Straight into the storm sky
Ride ‘till the sun appears.
Then open that can
And butterflies will pour out
Leaving a rainbow trail
Arching color across the sky.
On your return tell your daughter
If she has a nightmare
She can snuck into his stall
And curl up under his wing.
You’ll find Emma, you’ll find her
You’ll find home, you’ll find us all, partner.
Know what grows, dies, returns.
Seasons and heartbeats understand.
Here’s to bars and barns
Places for you to be a Green Man.”
Theme for 2012
Jamie Coats February 2012
Beautiful Reminders
The love of God
Is like a butterfly
That reminds us
That we are as
Beautiful as flowers
And in our darkest heart
Is the love giving
Nectar of life.
I am part of a team working with the Brothers of the Society of Saint the Evangelist at their Monastery in Cambridge, Massachusetts on communication. One catch phrase for our team is “Let’s send a butterfly.” A butterfly is a postcard, a booklet, a bookmark, a photograph that is so beautiful that people will put it on their mantelpiece, display it in their home. The Brothers have a wonderful eye for beauty and simplicity and profound way for reminding people that they are loved by God.
Using on demand printer services like Lulu.com, Digitallizard.com, Blurb.com and photo services like Snapfish or Shutterfly it is now possible to produce small print runs of stunning prayer cards, booklets, photo-booklets, and calendars.
Please think how you and your church can send someone a butterfly that reminds them that they are beautiful and loved by God.
Wonder, Wonder, Bounding Tiger
Awoke to find a tiger
By my bedside.
“Resolve to pray your day
I’m from your sister.
I am here to give you courage
No fear you need to have.”
“At night you sleep well?” she asks
“I fear what lies under my bed,” comes my reply.
She nuzzles me, says,
“My eyes catch demon lines
In the swirling dark underneath.
I catch and hold them tight.
By morn I know their names
They no longer need to know mine.
They turn to ash,
Added stripes on my back.
Come! Bound through meadow
Come! Bound to the stream.
Plunge to the middle,
The sun will sparkle on the water.
Let their tragedy wash out to sea.
Wonder at the cycle of nature.
On the river bank there are
Sisters and brothers,
A whole church of friends
Whose prayers call for the
Beauty of the land.
Once parched, now green.
Weeping restores life.
Now rest by the stream.”
I lie against her rich soft fur
She grooms herself.
She talks of her feisty cubs,
Her fierce love for them.
Up she gets and I experience life’s
Wonder, wonder, bounding tiger.
Theme for 2011
Part Two of the Grief & Wonder Trilogy: Wonder? Wonder, Wonderful
Jamie Coats February 2011
The Nest
Nests are homes
Made of scraps;
Discarded pieces
Of other lives
Woven into love.
Jamie Coats June 2004
Wild Flowers & Butterflies
The love of God
Is like a butterfly
That reminds us
That we are as
Beautiful as flowers
And in our darkest heart
Is the love giving
Nectar of life.
Jamie Coats January 2008