Copyright © 2009 by William R Mistele

A Song for the Forty-Nine Judges of Saturn

I was Balaam

I spoke to God face to face

I never sought to taste His grace

I sold my abilities to the highest bidder

I opened my mouth to curse Israel

But only a blessing came forth:

Now spoken in Hebrew morning prayers

Around the earth,

“How goodly are your tents, Oh Jacob,

Your dwelling places, Oh Israel.”

Though the divine I did betray

I am here to say,

There still remains a way.

I was the Prophet Isaiah

I wandered naked for three years beneath the desert sun

To proclaim the destruction that was to come

I was the object of ridicule and scorn

But what I saw came to be

I also spoke of peace

That war shall be no more:

There will come a day

When men discover their divinity

The darkness in the human heart shall pass away

I am here to say,

There is a way

I was Saint Columba

I lay down in the dust to die

With despair did I cry

I searched for God’s face

I tasted God’s grace

And I, I’m here to say,

That in spite of all the pain

There is a way

I was a Magi, a man most wise,

In the sky, I followed a star

I saw the Messiah both near and far,

The angel Gabriel interpreted my dreams

He told me

Life is not what it seems

The beginning and the end

Are either an enemy or a friend

It depends on what you intend

And I am here to say

There will come a day

When all suffering shall pass away

Love shall take birth in everyone

And in the end we shall all ascend

I was Saint John of the Cross

I turned away from the sun

I made darkness my friend

Because love I did intend

The outer world lost its grasp

My heart it could not clasp

Its hold over me did not last

I was set free

I crossed all boundaries

And in spite of the endless pain

The wandering in a dark void of agony

I am here to say

I both died and was reborn

In the arms of love.

I was William Blake

The voice of the Bard spoke through me

On my lips

The taste of eternity

Though I wished for a voice of thunder

And a heartbeat forged from lightning

To speak with that brilliance

And with that fire

I was content

Because God did impress in my flesh

The ecstasy of two who melt together

In bliss and rapture

And so I am here to say

This wonder shall never pass away

Hidden in the breath of every man and woman

Lies a voice of thunder

And a heartbeat forged from lightning

With that brilliance

With that fire

Words wait to express

The beauty of the universe