Bowls of gold

Bowls of gold

bowls of incense

golden bowls of incense

fall with the hands

holding them, they fall

but do not break

do not shatter

but they fall spilling

the incense

Who poured the incense

into the bowls

who collected the fragrances

who gathered the smoke

and aromas spilling

from the bowls

golden bowls

golden bowls of incense

Voices: Smoke and Snow

Smoke of a thousand candles

shade its walls, a rising incense,

sweet offering rising, glimmering

hope, giving warmth. Voices

rise as one voice from one body,

sweet offering of choral incense.

Outside, snow falls, whitened

rain of jacketed insulation

offering song across the earth.

Photograph by Sylwia Mazurek via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.