Poem for Monday

Psalm 139
By James Vasquez

My thoughts you know e'en from afar,
For you, O Lord, have searched me well,
Before my tongue gives form to words,
Their meaning you will tell.

And when I sit and when I rise,
Or lying down or going out,
Of all my ways you are informed,
Nor have I cause to doubt.

You hem me in, behind, before,
Your hand upon me heavy lays,
Such knowledge is too wonderful,
My ignorance betrays.

And where shall I from you retreat,
Or from your watchful Spirit flee?
In heav'n or yet in Sheol shall I,
Your very presence see.

And rising on the wings of dawn,
Or 'cross the blustery sea I nest,
Your hand will ever hold me fast,
And guide me to my rest.

Nor may I say, "The darkness will,
Enclose me round about as night,"
For night will shine like day with you,
And darkness is as light.

I praise you, Lord, for fearfully,
And wonderf'ly have I been made,
Your works I know full well for they,
Are wondrously displayed.

My inmost being while in the womb,
You knit together and each day,
Ordained for me within your book,
You wrote in full display.

How precious, Lord, are all your thoughts,
How vast, unknown to me their sum,
As grains of sand, were I to count,
Nor to their end would come.

Awaking with the dawn's first light,
Or ere the night is halfway met,
I find myself of life assured,
And in your presence yet.

Away, you men for blood athirst!
Deign now, O God, their lives to end,
With ill intent they speak of you,
And your blest name offend.

Do I not hate, O Lord, the men,
Who rise against you in their hate?
I count them naught but enemies,
May ruin be their fate.

Now search and know my heart in full,
My anxious thoughts, O God, now test,
Though vile my ways are found, now lead,
Through paths forever blest.

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This translation/interpretation of the psalm is from the May 2007 edition of The Jewish Magazine. I figured I should have something Jewish in here to go with my Pagan celebration report.

I celebrated Beltane (and Cinco de Mayo) with and a handful of other women in Virginia in a backyard filled with azaleas and a fire pit -- it could not have been a prettier day and the woman hosting did a better job of starting a fire using dry sticks and a circle of bricks than we have ever managed on a camping trip. (I would not have worn a long star skirt if I had realized we would be jumping over the fire, however!) There was lots of good food, including bean and cheese casserole and strawberries in some kind of decadent warm cream sauce. We were saying aloud our wishes for the season while tossing bannocks (well, actually shortbread cookies) into the fire, and after I got done with the serious stuff I wished that Snape not die in Book 7, so I have done my fannish duty. *g*

Then, practically the minute I got home, my parents invited us to come over for a pizza, so we did. Younger son woke up feeling much better and had spent most of the day at a Hebrew school trip to a local amusement park, while older son went to his good local friend's house whom he doesn't see on weekdays because they're at different middle schools, while stayed home catching up on work he didn't get to do during the week because they had some training thing going on and read about places we're planning to visit next summer while his pushy red-haired girlfriend our cat Rosie sat on the couch with him and shed on his jeans. (I can always tell when he has been snuggling with Rosie.)


Crescent moon and Venus seen in April beneath crab apple blossoms.


The Chalice Well in Glastonbury, open for viewing (the vesica piscis design appears on both the top and underside of the well cover).


Roundel with phallus, made from the base of an antler, worn as an amulet by a Roman soldier at Caerleon.


The armory at Dudley Castle where school groups get educated on medieval medicine, folklore and embalming.

Have discovered that Carol Herzer's gorgeous Illuminated Tarot (a Rider-Waite adaptation) is online here! There are good-sized images of the entire Major Arcana and some of the Minor Arcana.