Strangely Spiritual Verse Fig Leaves Our fig leaf clothing Hiding our sin With our own shabby tailoring Chlorophyll offerings Where sin demands blood. Altars A thousand blood-stained altars A thousand cruel wars (As unlikely as it seems) All tell the Bards great story To the ever squeamish us: Our only hope is blood! Shadows In Spring The unfolding of the leaf sings the song Which squelched, wells up within each narrow chest Of birth and death and birth again to come (The song the Singer sang from eons past) The swelling bud casts shadows year by year The vast unfolding of eternal life. The Dew (The Day) The dew Drops of cool clear Crimeless blood on scalpels Of green, the bright shout of the sun: "Born fresh!" The Conquering King The fear of the unknown, The dread of fear itself, The brutality of war The nameless, battered wife, Thorns,thistles, sweat and death; The signs of mans domain We too groan and wait For the conquering King. Paradox Door Who could guess that our l