Conifer Columns

 

The difference in just one-hundred miles west of here!

Majestic longleaf pines toil, East Texas

denizens, 

Catered to by diesel haulers; laid down, cutting clear

Paths; power poles, load stacked trees, clear-cut for new horizons.

Some slated as raw goods for oil sharp saw mills sprung, root

And wrung along rural roads; rough piled, deposited;

Soil sunk under the weight of wood in yards, waiting; soot

Soaring skyward, departing trucks spewing, soon headed

Home, loaded with offerings of new polished craft pews.

Emerald needles turned tea color color streams brown;

Plush pine carpeting, swine delight: roots, wrecks, souse and spews;

Hog heaven! girdling scent markings rub raw forests down.

Hunters emanate, set baited traps, the copse embank;

A carved corpus on the cross; the people pray and thank.

Gary Edward Geraci

We are His

we are His, we are His! 

His hands, feet, and mouth,

in a world that madly seeks 

Him, knowing not, set south.

 

yet, the gnawing, ever 

presence of dire, lone

incompleteness; tires, severs;

obscures one’s true home.

beauty, truth, purest love

are impoverished, pursued

on the ground. above,

passions guarded and checked,

evident everywhere, 

ALL is found, fulfilled 

in God alone. the truth, share

it, seek others to build

upon that which can’t be 

suppressed and is spoken 

the world over. to see;

this too can happen, 

none-the-less, furthering,

at times just a matchstick, less 

light, but illuminating 

a cavernous darkness.

Gary Edward Geraci

Hardly So

We choose life, to make and bring home a human baby,

Knowing full well that there will be both joy and sorrow.

Paradoxical? Contradictory? A blow to our rational nature of body and soul?

Hardly so.

We choose to preserve creation, adopting

A small puppy,

Knowing full well that there will be both joy and sorrow.

Paradoxical? Contradictory? A blow to our rational nature of body and soul?

Hardly so.

He chooses to create the Angels, immaterial, free creatures to govern the universe,

Knowing full well that some will choose to self serve rather than serve Him.

Paradoxical? Contradictory? A blow to His Divine Omnipotence to allow paths where good may come from evil?

Hardly so.

He chooses to create mankind, material, free creatures to govern their world,

Knowing full well that some will choose to self serve rather than serve Him.

Paradoxical? Contradictory? A blow to His Divine Omnipotence to allow paths where good may come from evil?

Hardly so.

Gary Edward Geraci

Liberated

 

Liberated

styled, plied twice, meant to share;  

others who cared, shared; aware,

thanks to travel, the thousandth mile;

guards at every open gate. while

the great myth is it takes

long, large, more advanced makes 

of complex starships; ships to blacken

the sky before mankind will harken,

emerge, and face a “creator.”

yet it’s something Simple, or

Love alone, all along, Who created

the free person: weak but liberated.

Gary Edward Geraci

Fire of Love

 

this old piece of grass 

is fading, wilt withering 

while weathering, wow!

with yellowing roots; thinning,

ready for the fire of Love.

Gary Edward Geraci

Caesar, Caesura

 

Caesar’s, civilization, 

like, all, secular, 

societies, came, to, 

a, full, stop, period, 

no, more, does, it, exist.

While Christ’s Kingdom freely flows forward and is everlasting.

Gary Edward Geraci

Citadel

 

Citadel

Family is a fortress,

Against the foes and forces,

Spreading lies of treason, 

Killing the voice of reason.

One servant, one handmaid

It consists; by God; with band 

Bound by vow; children 

Its blessing - to strengthen

Attacks of suffering;

Gifts of selves its inner workings:

Rejecting cultural ills, 

Tyrannical, secular wills,

Transcending unjust laws

While loving its neighbor’s flaws,

Lifting the marginalized,

And protecting the marriage bed.

Seeking others like themselves,

With church it gathers and delves,

Deflecting defunct ways,

Imagined to cloud in haze.

Family is God’s great gift,

Built to survive the wide rifts;

Trinity its Image, 

Binding wounds and cleavage.

Gary Edward Geraci

Garden of Clamor

 

Over the din of a mechanical pump, 

Fountains of jeweled streams erupt,  

Cascading into an artificial bamboo base: 

A handful of arterial hollows spaced.

Far away, the gear shifting of a motorized 

Transmission whines from pushing a lower 

Gear, straining before shifting one higher, 

Intermingling: a garden of clamor.  

Falling water, far away highway noise,

A roar of an aircraft overhead, rotors 

Spinning, beat the air with a sudden 

Ferocity that drowns out all else, an

All out assault of sound - yet, beholden,

Through it all, from a perfect perch on 

Modern patio furniture, I contemplate 

The still small ancient speech of Love within.

Gary Edward Geraci

the Unmoved Mover

 

potions put away; 

child’s play.

powers put away;

contingent.

presupposing power 

more powerful, 

more complex;

an unenacted 

potentiality?

just another mover.

strength is not in the cards

or the stars 

but in Him 

who just Is:

pure subsistence, 

simple,

all act, 

no potency, 

no parts.

what starts in the Assembly

conveys into the home, 

the workplaces,

the hearts of men and women

looking; seeking 

a vibrant existence. 

Gary Edward Geraci

Sometimes, on windy days, one needs to find more stuff to weigh down trash cans

 

Threw out my videos,

VCR, and old TV:

“No” to attachments.

Gary Edward Geraci

Gloves and Roses

 

His penance, his mercy:

work, the layman’s pathway;

to improve one’s condition;

to give of oneself, 

giving it all; and to get

to Heaven, getting others

to Heaven too.

Though not everyone’s a friend:

seems at times more foes

are setting snares and traps;

some of the same people

one would share the Good News

are conniving, jealous, envious;

one’s success, their disfavor;

one’s holiness, their hostility.

Seek out disciples anyway,

for good Grace is in numbers.

Sanctify the workplace,

your discipline, their example.

Let prickly thorns take you to Heaven.

The blood of sacrifice 

and the aroma of mercy

become the leather work gloves

that wipe the sweat, allowing

perseverance, and the

collection of a sweet 

offering to our Lady:

a favored fresh rose bouquet!

Gary Edward Geraci

Coming Out

 

Death is not the end, one will rise again,

Until then, imagine, the soul without

the body, how does one adjust? assured

In this strange new place, Love, no longer doubt.

Enjoy still being, though less than angels,

Parting earthly bodies, souls are now out,

But glorified bodies, many still wait,

Except the damned, who just wander about.

Gary Edward Geraci

‘Long the Way

 

The urge to be a Franciscan,

To the ends my service would extend,

To serve as a Dominican,

Despite the frequent faults of men.

I’d pray as a Benedictine,

Though You’re in need of nothing, 

Or gather as a Vincentian,

Because You’re kingdom has no end.

So while the world turns to fables

And lusts to make their truth,

The truth that turns the tables

Is that our God is not aloof.

I don’t have to join a new order

Or pledge a vow to Opus Dei,

For Christ seeks me like a lover

And wills to keep me ‘long the Way.

Gary Edward Geraci

Strife and Skin Chafing

 

Title is Mister;

Boards nailed and paint mixing,

Work, the people’s mission;

Without, something’s missing.

Started in glory;

High, replete with glamor,

Now a bore and gloomy;

What it was, a glimmer.

For man’s fate chosen

By an apple, choking

All down, a new chapter

Of strife and skin chafing.

But from no relief,

Man’s good work was renewed;

Through skilled trade and repair,

A Carpenter redeemed.

Gary Edward Geraci

Blink of an Eye

 

 

So the most intricate German designed 

Engine is relegated to a scrap 

Heap after the passing of time even 

When exceptionally maintained, serviced 

And motored; a brief span of fifty years 

If one is lucky. About maintaining 

A universe that is billions of years 

Old, should it be said that it self-maintains?

It is fitting that a kind Maintainer,

Outside of time and space, keeps creation,

In the blink of an eye, in a loving 

Embrace; Love itself; human love: the warmth,

Climax, and key to everlasting life

Culminating now; true Love without end.

Gary Edward Geraci

He Didn’t Make Evil

 

He didn’t make evil,

He makes us free,

Energizes us in

Ev’ry second,

Leaves us free to act out,

Lets us decide,

So too, we live in sin;

Short, Exemplar,

We fall flat. Your Ways are

Wasted in us;

When the earth does tremble,

We don’t see but

Partially; we lash out,

Praying: stop it!

But let us see the whole,

Bring us Your light!

We’ll be more rev’rent and

Witness to God;

Won’t attack our neighbors,

Write terr’ble posts,

Or speak badly of each

Other! Can we?

John gave us his vision:

Jesus, Heaven;

Our reward and Heaven

Our hope! despair 

Not, emboldened, our step 

Now marching the

Narrow, through thick, thin, and

New suffering!

You didn’t make evil,

You made us free.

Gary Edward Geraci

Love of loves

 

Now new; newness, every step!

but see those plodding along,

they seem to plot alone, 

with strides short and heavy, 

fueled by waning wills, be wary:

one day weak, one day white hot. 

Be instead one who’s led by One

with newness in every step, 

staying clear of those steering 

by sole, sensory, substance; 

poor souls, often overloaded! 

Look, rather, rack some, no Someone 

whom won’t cease loving! from the 

purest of hearts, a Love that 

lacks nothing (this Love of loves!):

fills what abandonment leaves, 

taken not nor possessed by

any other, belonging,

His beloved! cherished and 

desired by the Love of loves!

Gary Edward Geraci

Dying on the Wood

 

Fallen: teaching telos; telos tells us

They’re made for swimming, spawning; swept salmon

Swim against currents, past predators, plus

Spend energy; death is all too common.

Piscivorous streams nourish feeding fry,

Decay bringing life; why one must first die

In the first place. Sacrificial. Now try

Our own species: to know and love our Why,

Who walked inclined during the heated passion,

And spent body and blood to forever feed

Us. God becoming grain and grape, station

To station, but first He would have to bleed,

Die, and rise so that the rest of us could

Live life everlasting, dying on the Wood.

Gary Edward Geraci 

Proof of My Charity

 

Not a revolutionary

But a peacemaker;

Humbled to assign the 

Will to its docile place; 

Letting essence lead existence

To define and fulfill all joy;

No need to hastily tear down

What justice patiently builds up.

Gary Edward Geraci

Beyond the Sensual

 

How should I love Someone I can’t see, hear, smell, 

Touch, or taste? Would there be still greater ways? 

Through Faith, I’m told, ‘Thrice.’ I’ve heard no one says

It’s easy; suffice to say fierce fires, hell,

Burn division, camps, and factions; farewell!

They’ll retort, through a cloud of dust and haze;

Guide me! the Shepherd steps me through this maze.

Might I heighten my emotion? He’ll tell

Me of those with strong convictions who could

Breathe the foulness of ideologies 

Born by folks with no faith at all - or so 

They’d say; touch idols that splintered like Wood;

Eat Food that’s bland; see grand technologies

For leading man’s love further from the Know.

Gary Edward Geraci

Resting Place

 

Mary livens one’s dream;

Inquiries to follow;

Another conversion gently inspired.

You live as the Saints are

Alive; the martyrs having

Survived after all; everlasting

Life, we were shown on the Mount,

As exclaimed by Peter,

Who pleaded: three tents for the living!

Dear Mother, comfort me;

Your warm bosom a place

Of rest for my tired and troubled head.

Gary Edward Geraci

Peter exclaimed, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” Matthew 17:4

Now resetting the daily schedule for more screen time and pot smoking

 

More marijuana!

Don’t think/get into debates -

‘Big Bro’ will provide.

 

Gary Edward Geraci

Fides et Ratio

 

The sapiential:

Give sight to Reformation’s

Blind Fideism.

Gary Edward Geraci

Open Road

 

Kayleigh Flynn, a radiant young woman of about nineteen,

Dressed in fine flowing Irish flax linen, her proud figure

Defined by the Iris print fabric that followed her fleeing

Frame. The beauty of traditions that once defined with vigor

Her ancestral heritage she seeks; her perfumed cleavage

Discreetly hidden; at bay – the devouring Celtic Tiger.

Adorned with handcrafted Ogham charms, rings, and bracelets, the image 

Of faith, reason, civility and gentleness her

Exhibition when we crossed paths on the open road.

She recited me the rhymes and verses, poetry of culture,

Defined by sign posts and clear destinations; we strode 

Onward together for as long as I could remember.

Her youthful resolve charging ahead for reversal, change

In direction, the restoration of moral decorum:

The Taoiseach, the unborn, families, ideas 

to exchange.

“So I leave these shores behind and I’m on my way to Fordham.”

But I begged her to stay, the corruption in the West even greater,

I pleaded, so soon to corrode a dear angel like you.

Let us reroute to Phoenix Park, marry, and together

Bear many children and raise them in the faith of our homeland, true

Patriots, kin of valor; we will seek the like-minded,

And scrub away the filth and shame that leaves Saint Patrick to blush.

The devil would have you do as you say;

a country divided,

Dear Kayleigh Flynn, as her children are her only hope when aflush

With Spirit: her passion - given clear visions of liberating truth,

Taken not twice by falsehoods and progressive deceits;

Her faithful - guided by our venerable Mother, the Rose of her youth;

Her hands and feet - an emerald beacon to the world’s conceits.

Her rosy cheeks now streaming with tears but her mind could not be swayed,

She kissed my cheek good bye and then our separate ways we went.

For it was not by me but by her people that she had been betrayed.

To the open road she took, Kayleigh Flynn, change her sole intent.

Gary Edward Geraci