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RHYTHM

A POEM

By Susan Heyboer-O’Keefe | September 1985

You are the maker of maps,

Straight edge and compass in hand.

I am horizons unknown:

Lead they to ocean or land?

We meet upon lines of our chart

To puzzle out the sly and subtle art

Of marital intersection: heart to heart.

Quadrant by quadrant we move,

Plotting our course with such care —

Pen and ink symbols for love,

Paper for essence laid bare.

Life’s meaning is created by its frame

(For without rules, one cannot play the game),

And even love grows deeper for the same.

Yet on a night without stars,

Hope bids us break measured pace,

Yield to multiplied love,

Trustingly leap into grace.

Fragments on the Death of a Muskrat

Ballpeened by a bumper,

Struck down by steel,

Bowled hard over pavement,

Done in with…

Praise

Oh endless pattern in the trees.

You weave a world for me

Of endless beauty,…

A Poet under the Mercy

Many of Vanauken’s poems are reminiscent of Browning, Donne, the early Charles Williams, and others, in style, tone, and theme.