Prayer for Them All

You,
Who do not believe
In prayer;

You, to whom
There is no
Divine;

You, for whom
Life is a
Line dance,
A wine bar,
A beach:

On your knees.

Start praying.

If nothing else,
Prayer concentrates
The mind.

Prayer focuses
Intention.

Prayer summons
Great strengths
From unknown
Depths.

Prayer
Establishes
Connection.

i pray
For them all:

All whose agendas
Are built on
Suffering and
False sanctity.

All who die,
And all who kill.

All who murder,
All who are murdered.

All who speak truth,
All who live by
Slur and slander.

All who sing praises,
All who slit throats.

i pray to
Establish
Contact.

Through them,
To them,
Let Divine intention --
Some greatness,
Or perhaps just some
Shard of compassion --
Enter their heart.

Let mercy come running.

Please,
If not on knees,
Then on wings;

If not on high,
Then right here.

We are running out of time.

--Mr. Gobley

The Joy of Insomnia

The darkened rim
Of the witless world
Is on fire.

No one may save me
From this
Silent conflagration,

This baptismal hush:
Love
For this moment,

Speechless awe,
Turning wonder;

i dance
In the vanishing dark
Like a fool

While, all around me,
Sensibility sleeps.

For you
My eyes
Will never close

My mind
Will never stop conjuring.

As morning rears up
And our brief business
Resumes,

i will shoulder the wheel
And strain toward
The promise of peace,

But i will never
Be more grateful
Than now,

Even as peace,
That shy ghost,
Disappears
From my grasp...

--Mr. Gobley

The Oasis

We found a natural pool
The color of an apple martini

At the top of a waterfall
Between narrow shafts of rock
Carved by a river
Rain-swollen in winter
A mere ghost in summer

Through the giant aperture
We could see the Sun
Admiring its reflection
In a languid sea

We scooped
The jade water
Made lemongrass tea
On a portable stove

We dove deep
Into the cupped palm
Of this paradise
And sat
As our bodies cooled
And our souls rose

In their contradance
With the setting Sun

It made us know
That Paradise
Is a region
Of the soul
That will always
Exist

And proclaim itself
In these moments

When time exists
Yet does not
Death waits
But is not:

We are baptized
In wonder
And bathed
In cool eternity

That lasts for
Just this one
Moment

--Mr. Gobley

Into the Wilderness

i go
to the far corners
of peace,

where i will see,
again,
the proportion
of soul to self

to realm

to universe.

i will find you
in even the
deepest silences
and the fiercest
struggles,

and i will know you
in every moment
of darkness

and promise of light.

as long as i breathe
i will reach toward you,

and as long as i suffer
you will reach toward me.

the moment of our meeting
is my destination,
your promise:
our shared destiny.

--Mr. Gobley