Jonathan Noble

Jonathan Noble Nov 2013

You moved me to dream, hope and dance;
Plumb the depths divine, my soul entrance.
You coaxed me with love and gentle hand,
On through the desert with promises grand.

I believed enough to sing from highest hill,
Though Your voice became so suddenly still.
Tomorrow yet called with dreams to dream,
As You kept on weaving Your sordid scheme.

Spirit, O Spirit of guile so sweetly enchanting,
You have led me into a wasteland so haunting!
Calling so wildly free to stir in me desire to see
What was all along divinely comical chicanery.

So now here I bow down low to an idol of lies
As mock oaths follow where your laughter flies;
One more man bound in the fool's seclusion,
Which is the promised land of divine illusion.

Jonathan Noble Oct 2013

there is beauty...

Old man with kindly eyes
Little boy climbing tree, laughing
Dogs barking, cows grazing, birds singing

Teenage girl serenely staring out the bay-window, thoughtfully, through cool gentle rain into the woods shrouded in mystery
Woman riding down the freeway on the back of her motorbike, hair blowing freely in the wind, radiant face soaking bright sunshine
Trees dancing in Autumn breeze

Children playing hop-scotch in the park
Grandmother tending the flower garden
Flowers opening in Spring of Life

Farmer looking over newly plowed field in the waning hours of evening
Family holding hands round the dinner table, heads bowed in prayer
Dolphins leaping through waves of Summer

Sister pitching baseball to her younger brother
Daddy riding little girl, squealing, on his shoulders
Snow falls in Winter crystal art painting earth and sky, and all the stars of heaven sing

Ah! There is beauty in the myriad faces of God smiling ten thousand times throughout the universe
Not all is twisted pain and suffering, not all bleak and somber – there is beauty
If only we have open heart and eyes to see and time for love and the breath-prayer of thank you

Jonathan Noble Oct 2013

Only You ... So Let It Be

I don't really want any special rings
                       Or even enchanting tones in my soul as your nightingale sings.
No gilded robes with golden folds;
Not an ounce of freely offered money
                       Or sweet, soothing honey.
Nor do I really want any gift however sweetly intended to uplift,
And I don't want to tie you down
                       Or in the raging waters of my weakest needs have you drown.
Only you, if you would but come some day, not far away, to freely stay.
My soul mate, companion strong, to whom I belong;
                        To love and lead ~ I will follow ~
                        Love overflowing to fill a heart so hollow.
You. Yes, you and only you, to be reborn in your heart in life anew.
So let it be.
So let it be.

Jonathan Noble Oct 2013

In the Wilderness: Leaving Church, Part II

From this mount will the fire roll
To take its toll on my forlorn soul.

Here I have trod to meet the living God,
Standing on burning desert sod, out from behind any church façade.

To meet the untamed Creatrix in all her wild variation for inspiration,
Apart from any ecclesial illusion or theological delusion.

To feel the heat of unbridled love from the God above,
As fierce as the lion, gentle as the dove,
While I lay me down naked at the foot of the mount
To be lavished with all and more my soul could want.

No pseudo-god imprisoned here, but only truth,
No confessional booth;
No.
No bells and whistles or doctrinal thistles...

On the God of Thunder, her Majesty of Wonder!

Jonathan Noble Oct 2013

I Am

I am the pusher, the user, the drunkard laid upon the floor;
I am the *****, the *******, the refuse knockin' at your door;
I am the working man, poor man, the child starving in the night;
I am the sick, the diseased, the dying from an unknown plight...

I am the albatross around your neck,
The nightmare that will never go away;
I am the life of promise become a wreck,
The horror of creation, ever here to stay.

I am the ******, heartless killer, the thief in the dark;
I am the demon, the beast, stamped with the mark;
I am the singer, the binger, the beloved movie star;
I am the doctor, lawyer, the friendless man at the bar;

I am your brightest dream that faded away,
All of your hopes and prayers for a better day;
I am the inescapable truth of life in this world,
The vilest evil, what makes the blood run cold.

And what will you do with me, saddled as you are ~
Such a troublesome burden, and creation's scar?
Will you throw me away and simply let me be,
When you realize that I am you and you are me?

Another poem that has circulated along various venues, but one that still resonates very deeply with me ... perhaps because for me it remains a brutally honest reality check, and consequently affects (positively) how I relate to others.

Jonathan Noble Sep 2013

You Jumped In Front of the Train

You jumped in front of the train;
Took a bullet in the brain.
You broke your back,
And left your love in a haversack

You laid your body on the pyre;
Consumed by raging fire.
You took the blame,
And saved me from the flame.

You sheltered me from the storm;
Kept me dry and warm.
You said farewell,
As you hammered in the final nail.

In your eyes the dancing light,
In your breathe the soul takes flight.
In your tears the song sung sweet,
In your heart the heavens beat.

You laid your body on the pyre;
Consumed by raging fire.
You said farewell,
As you hammered in the final nail.

… … … the dancing light and light
… … … and this soul takes flight
… … … songs and songs so sweet
In your heart the very heavens beat.

Yet another poem that has made its rounds a few times, but this is one my son, Michael, helped me compose and remains (as with others I've shared) one of my favorites.

Jonathan Noble Sep 2013

The Love of God ... Despite Me

Tears of heaven fall,
Because I cried and held back nothing at all.

Her heart is saddened,
Because all of her blessings have failed to gladden.

She whispers in the wind,
‘Are you disappointed, love, with all I send?’

But I yearn for more,
Such a selfish, childish, arrogant boar!

And does she weep,
As I fall into my dark and restless sleep?

Her voice in my dream
Yet rolls through my heart as a life-giving stream.

‘I love you no less,
Though foul you are and my blessings transgress;
Still will I hold you and in my ***** caress.’

#love #god #spiritual #mystical