Dover Beach Poem by Andrew Lee

Part I

The pebbles have no names or status divide,
and appear religious in their special way.
We shall invite them to our poem.
In turn, they invite us to a spring less touched by time.

Are they siblings huddling together in unity?
Are they another kind of hologram or wisdom stones?
Do they look like crystallized droplets
of God's tears - tears of hope, healing, renewal?

Or do they resonate the birth pangs of human faith
and cruel battles against aggressors at the world's naked shingles.
The waves have dissolved blood, toil, tears and sweat,
becoming prisms that reflect a suffering God.


Part II

Evening comes. The self has become lighter.
Can we invite the pebbles to enquire along with us?
Is the green sea before us an Experiment or an Accident?
Are those seagulls, pelicans and sparrows,
ventures of an impersonal Chaos?
Shall we climb a tree, a hill, to look over the rim?
Or content to be surprised by the glow on our suntanned faces?

Or we enter the thin places between heartbeats,
saying the prayer of Saint Francis, before disappearing …
We find long-lost friends along the shore,
and we step beyond poem-writing, to peek
into the many-splendored thing -
the ocean with sunlight sparkling on it.


Part III

In the twilight, the sands, waves and beaches
become dressed in shades of gold,
and we appreciate how His Spirit keeps flowing until now,
residing among the hills and mountains,
sustaining us in a quiet way.

When we look back in the direction of the earth,
the morning and evening lights are gone,
the beaches and the waves are gone,
the sounds and furies at the world's naked shingles are gone.

From the Viewpoint of His timeless Garden,
this visible world occupied
a small but crucial part in His Eyes.
The visible world arose and passed away,
like a season of storms,
experienced by Him through His Spirit.

From the viewpoint of His Spirit in the visible world,
space-time events and human choice-making continue,
in line with earth's ticking clock.
We are small but a precious part of His decision
to heighten His Godhood,
by having His Spirit suffer the pains and afflictions
of undergoing cycles of human experiences on earth,
for the purpose of actualizing faith, courage and endurance
which cannot be actualized in a peaceful, pain-free Heaven.

It is His decision to take the Final Test:
His Moral Resolve and Qualities
cannot forever remain untested
and unproven in a peaceful Heaven.
He poured part of His Spirit
into the fragile bodies of His children on earth.
He let His children choose to partner with
and be guided by the Spirit.
His Spirit struggled and suffered together with His children
to work towards attaining a Higher Godhood...

We return to the evening light at the beach,
knowing that we have not lived in vain.
No good intention and effort will be forgotten.
They are stored in His ocean of Remembrances.