The White Tree
by Jim Gillies
There was a white tree
Amidst a green field
No leaf would it turn
No fruit would it yield
The axe man came towards it
Its fate was now sealed
For being of no use to anyone
Then a young boy stepped forth
And he cried out the words
In voice strong and clear
And everyone heard
“Your hearts lead with blindness,
Your logic absurd”
And the axe split in thousands of pieces
So in summer it baked
And in winter it froze
Its branches grew twisted
In mighty repose
It played host to lichen
To squirrels and crows
And the birds came and formed a Mandala
It had beaten them back
The elements had failed
The storms and the wild winds
Had all been curtailed
White Tree's strength and power
Had finally prevailed
And the wood formed another ring of tenure
It drank up the rainfall
That nourished the ground
And seeded a forest
That gathered around
White tree in green field
Need rustle no sound
For being of great use to everything.
© 2006 Jim Gillies
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The Swan
by Jim Gillies
He was waiting for the time
To raise his weary head
For the sun to shine on him
And his stomach to be fed
Then the swan said, “Wait not long,
It’s you who wind the clock.
You must find the right doorway
And raise your hand and knock.
And it will be opened.”
The she flew into the air
And vanished from his sight
The sun sank into evening
And evening into night
And in the dark he grappled
And fought to find his way
His throat it was constricted
As he had no words to say
And standing all alone and wet
A stinging wringing wraith
But he held on so hopelessly
To his ever shrinking faith
Oh, where was the door?
Then through the depths of tortured thought
Of angels blessed and demons fought
Came face to face with what he sought
And peered into his Soul
Then his hearing opened
His eyes suddenly gone clear
The things he thought were far away
He finally knew were near
And there among the redwoods
The branches and the vine
He took a brand new look around
And stepped right out of time
And the door it opened
And when the summer deepened
And everything gone brown
He called to all his longtime friends
And gathered them around
He told them, “I can give to you,
Now that I am whole
The fullness of my heart, my friends
And all of my soul
For when I did crumble
And took the fearful fall
My self, it took its leave, you see
And I joined with you all.”
And the door it disappeared
And the door was never there.
© 2003 Jim Gillies
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Timothy
by Jim Gillies
You want to say
You’re having a bad time
You cannot go
To certain places in your mind
Don’t turn away and tell me you need to go
There’s too many things that you should know
There was a grape
Someone turned it into wine
And you were sorry
‘Cause you banked on it to make you blind
Don’t look now it’s the “Wrong Way” sign
You’re only seeing it for the thousandth time
She was mean
You lived her back-handed lies
She was a coward
She never looked you in the eyes
So now there’s one thing that you want to know
Is Heaven the place where mommies go?
You were afraid
Of all of those above you
The ones who judged and decided directions
But never loved you
Don’t tell anyone you want to go there
Just vanish
Into thin air
© 2001 Jim Gillies
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Came to Believe
(Peter’s Road)
by Jim Gillies
My life seemed like such a great mystery
The unfolding of some random destiny
Like walking the path of a way that’s unknown
Like the poor orphaned child that the fates have disowned
Yet I walked the road that callousness breeds
Quenching my thirst, fulfilling my needs
And though I took what I thought was a stand
Had nothing to show in my empty hands
Then one morning I awoke to the dark
And found that my world was now barren and stark
So then I was brought to my knees, and to grieve
And there in the depths, I came to believe
In one moment
Life was blessed
Filled up with riches
That I’d never guessed
And through a new prism
New views to behold
And directions to take
And insights to unfold
Then through the Light of the setting sun
I opened my heart to everyone
I saw the Spirit in every face
In every creature and every place
There in the forest I finally heard
The simple clear message from one single word
And walking along through that special place
There came on the wind....the Sound of Grace
© 2006 Jim Gillies
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Against the Grain
by Jim Gillies
First came the judge
Then in came the jury
And hearing all the evidence
They hung him in a hurry
The victims were a happy lot
Some of them elated
In knowing that the sentence
Would no longer be debated
‘Cause some felt the punishment
Did not fit the crime
And thought that the criminal
Might do a little time
You see, what this dummy did
To get him in the soup
Is he walked down his own path
And went against the group
So they tossed his body to the dogs
And burned his house in shame
And brought the county records out
And blackened out his name
And for one hundred twenty years
No one felt it wrong
Until a traveling troubadour
Put his life in song
About how a group of humanoids
Cause him so much pain
And killed somebody’s hopes and dreams
For going against the grain
Then people started perking up
And listening to the words
And from the depths of memory
Something old was stirred
So then they came from all around
Of every sort and clan
And claimed to have the trademark
On the virtues of the man
They named him in their pageantries
And festivals of light
And sang the praises of his life
Far into the night
“Glory be, Glory be”
They chanted as a crowd
And mourned how some had done him wrong
In voices strong and loud
And some made him a saint
While others cast his face in stone
But all claimed that his attributes
Belonged to them alone
So the troubadour kept playing on
And sang another song
About how the folks from every side
Kept getting it all wrong
He sang how their misguided claims
Were clear as day and night
And how everything gets foggy
When you think you’re always right
He sang about the wise ones
Who should never be forsaken
And how their wisdom came from knowing
That they just might be mistaken
Then the people took the troubadour
And threw him into court
And told him that his silver voice
Would soon cut his life short
Then in came the judge
And in came the jury
And hearing all the evidence
They hung him in a hurry
They told his grieving mom and dad
“Do not waste your tears
They’ll honor your son’s memory
In about a hundred years.
You see, what your boy did
To mar his family name
Is he challenged all our sacred ways
By going against the grain.”
Then the people celebrated
With a smile on every face
For the world was now safe and secure
Within it’s proper place.
And so said the judge
And so said the jury.
© 2005 Jim Gillies
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Listen to the Wind Blow
by Jim Gillies
So they said it was a perk
All the pennies he got from work
As he watched his hair receding every day
So he left that awful place
And he spread mud on his face
And he turned his back on what they had to say
And he listened to the wind blow
Then they offered him a niche
Said their gold would scratch his itch
And their toys and gadgets fill up all his days
But his time had come to bloom
And the Spirit needs its room
So he kicked off his shoes and walked out of the maze
And he listened to the wind blow
As he walked along the trails
He heard the widows wail
And saw the women overcome with grief
For the men-folk all had passed
As what arises never lasts
And time will take us all in time too brief
The rain came down without restraint
And washed away the fancy paint
Standing naked there he caught them off their guard
For his time had come to choose
Play his hand to win or lose
Or have none of it
If he wants to play that card
And listen to the wind blow
So then they said he was a fool
Needing twenty years of school
And a diploma framed in metal on his wall
But he’d learned more than the lot
From his reading on the pot
And now has streams and pine trees as his lecture hall
As he listens to the wind blow
© 2005 Jim Gillies
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This poem was inspired by Conor Larken, the hero in Leon Uris’s book Trinity. A great literary character!
By The Scattered Leaves of Fall
By Jim Gillies
So now
By the leaves of Spring
You go
Leaving everything
Somewhere, somehow you found out
That what you thought was yours
Was taken out from under you
By curs and thieves and whores
And you
Pledged your body
To fight for freedom
You’ll maybe die
The room
You once had is now dark
The walls
Are unadorned and stark
We wait in huddled cellars
For the buyers of the guns
So we can train the fighters
From our daughters and our sons
And then we
Can then take back
Our homeland
We mustn’t die
So now
By the scattered leaves of Fall
And war is
Never really over at all
The sounds of marching soldiers
Sometimes dim and far away
But scars and wounds and victories
Remind us of the day
When we
Pledged our lifetimes
To fight for freedom
We’ll never die
© 2000 Jim Gillies
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Silver Spring
By Jim Gillies
In my jeans and my bandanna
Hopped upon my horse, headed for Montana
For in my life I needed a change
Came upon a folk
Foreign to me and strange
Her name was Silver Spring
Brought me all the gifts a maiden could bring
She said the moon had a heart of gold
That the land was life
Couldn’t be bought or sold
It could not be parceled
It should not be taken
She said the sun was shrouded
And that her world was shaken
And there I lived and I learned her ways
Sang into the nights, hunted in the days
It was a life I never would have known
If my seasons weren’t passing
And if I hadn’t grown
And then she said we must be parting
That the turmoil that was starting
Would deny us in the end
A proud man never bends
And where have the Arapaho gone?
Hopefully where they ought to
Escaped across the border
But now who for me will sing?
She who shined like twilight
Gone is Silver Spring
With my horse and my bandanna
I rode a dusty trail far from Montana
© 2000 Jim Gillies
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The Magician
By Jim Gillies
The magician waves his wand
So he can light the way for you
That the children who are grown can still
Remember what to do
Perhaps his canvas and his oils
And easels can bring
Back those long neglected things
And so he said:
“When the winds and the torrents
Strike the terror in the night
And the birds that you long to join
Have gone away in flight
I will offer my protection
Put your pillow next to mine
Let your sleep be restful and fine.”
“You can hear the whisper in their sighs
You can see the glistening in their eyes
You can take their hand, don’t let them stray
And let them know they will always be safe.”
“Come all you who are spirited
This earth belongs to you
Let your voices rise above the noise
There’s much for you to do
If I may burst your cocoons
And cut your puppet strings
And humbly offer your wings.”
You can hear the whisper in their sighs
You can see the glistening in their eyes
You can take their hand, don’t let them stray
And let them know they will always be safe.
Be safe.
© 2000 Jim Gillies
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Candle in the Night
By Jim Gillies
Somebody gave you only a candle for your light
And you used it up one lonely stormy night
Tell me where now in the darkness you lay
Where you wait for the night to lift
And bring on the day
Compare the clouds that roll in and obscure the skies
Is nothing next to the constant fogging in your eyes
You see so little now it’ll take your breath away
When you cast aside the ghosts in you
And blaze them all away
It’s the faithful baptizing in the river
Is it faith that binds them all together?
My direction, please be leading me far
Beyond them
And perhaps along the way I will
Befriend them
Give me the lamp, I’ll hold it up, you’ll find your way
No need to verbalize, your thoughts are what you say
Leave behind your old ways when you were course and gruff
Because when you glimpse the other side
You cannot get enough
The last time I looked I was just one man
But now I know I’ll be whatever I can
There’s a lesson in your face
At every turning
That keeps alive the fires
Once they start burning
It’s the faithful still baptizing at the river
With their faith that binds them all together
My direction must be leading me far
Beyond them
And perhaps along the way I will
Defend them
© 2000 Jim Gillies
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This poem came out of a story I wrote about a group of
young working people getting together for an Easter Sunday
gathering. Michael, one of the young people, is thinking of his
father who passed away when he was a teenager.
Of Michael’s Father
By Jim Gillies
When you first took my hand
Helped me make my first stand
What a pair I knew we’d be
And what was passed along
From father down to son
Was what my eyes needed to see
And I would see your face
Filled with strength and grace
With a love that claimed eternity
But in a moment’s space
Taken without a trace
Leaving just your memory
You were the handle
That opened the window
And the bird flew out and left the cage behind
And in the mirror
Suddenly gone clearer
I saw the cage reflected as our minds
Time can’t heal the wounds
That shouldn’t mend too soon
It’s a gift of sight from pain and grief
But life hands out its jewels
Brilliant but sometimes cruel
Or snatched away by any thief
But in a heart beat
What’s sour turns sweet
And the well springs forth and water quenches thirst
With anticipation
Comes the revelation
Or from a drop of rain
Whichever one comes first
And in those moments
When troubles foment
And the ground and rocks and hearts are torn apart
After the violence
Comes the silence
And the treasures just might come
To where you are
© 2004 Jim Gillies
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The Early Years
by Jim Gillies
You would always follow
When I like to lead
Our friendship was spontaneous
Depending on our need
And what we created
We always tried our best
Came crashing down around us
By an unwelcomed guest
And know it will not be too long
Before we are called on to be strong
Nobody promised life was mild
Or gave out special dispensation
For a child
Or a friend of mine
You know I'll stay with you
That will never change
Though what's captured your body
Is frightening and strange
And what we've created
It will not end in tears
We'll walk through this together
Through the early years
© 2000 Jim Gillies
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