Some Artwork by Cecilia Crommelin-Boissevain
Cissey's Poetry
In His Time
Why, when lying in the warming sunshine,
In the grass in this radiant spring,
Doth life seem to me an enigma -
A sorrowful, blighted thing?What happened to my sunny illusions
That right will be blessed with right,
That truth will end in blessing,
And give light in this terrible night?My soul in her highest moments
Doth know why this suffering must be;
It is itself the bearer
Of Light that will presently be.So I will take up my cross like a warrior
And proclaim the coming Spring
I'll go forth and bring the truth of Truth
To each sad and suffering thing.
Rest
Now the downs in their purple blue garment
Bathed in golden light,
While the sun dipping down into her bedding
Makes way for the peacefulness of night;And the moon from her lofty height shedding
Tranquility for the joy of man
But sadly he knows no resting,
Ignorant of God's original plan.Oh, why on this earth full of trouble
Don't we sink on the sand by the sea,
And grasp from her peaceful bosom
The secret of what God meant us to be?
Jesus
Thou mystic Christ,
Alive before worlds took form,
Never encircled or limited,
Sadly, became so by church, and sect, and norm.Patiently and lovingly He waits
For strifes to cease and man to forgive,
When in the heart of man again
Is born what Christ alone can give.He takes away the stain of sin;
Teaching us how to live on earth
And prepares man to die and meet his Christ
Now born anew, and sure of one's eternal worth.
Nature's Music
I am a glistening dew drop
Suspended on a cobweb you know so well,
Tuned to the Iolian harps of the sea
That gayly sing through the pink pearly shell.Plucked by the breezes which fling their whispers
Into the ears of those in love,
I am accompanied by the buzz of insects
Lifting dreamers in reverie to realms above.Those in repose amidst the flowering dunes
Delight in nature's harmonies,
They hear my old familiar tunes
That wed together dreamers -
And those who are blessed with love.
The Age-Old Problem
My heart feels so young
Though my hair be turning grey,
And I call to the years
As they swiftly pass away;But laughing and mocking they rapidly fly
Leaving me there to wonder and lie,
All alone with my thoughts
And a heart still so young and spry.But my heart is built on an eternal plan
So years are nothing to me;
Through love I can span the years,
Even the earth and sea!So there's really no need to worry
As I ponder the years that flee
Because it's young, and strong, and happy
That I will always be!
Wait Patiently
Oh, wait patiently on the Lord,
For in Him we will find our rest;
Didn't He write the Law of Love
Through which all men can be blessed?In life's journey we grumble and fight,
Hurt and bleeding we rise and fall;
Blindly groping for harmony and light,
But finding none on this terrestrial ball
We realize that even suffering can be right.In God's wise plan and Law of Love
Our journey may be short or long;
But all paths lead back to Him at last;
So no worries for those who to Him belong
Thankfully it is He who gently holds
Our Future, Present, and our Past!
And He Saw That It Was Good
Lord, am I really thine own reflection?
As I turn my agonized heart to thee;
Thou once smiled, I am told,
At thy world's perfection
And when thy thoughts fashioned and molded me!But are we really so close
To thy glorious heart
That with all its beauty and perfection
Even we are a significant part?And will this sorrow bring me to thee
When the shadows of things no more will be,
And our sufferings finally lay at rest
In thy father's breast?Not in peaceful repose does the world lie at thy feet,
But through thunder, lightning and upheaval
Thou continues to fashion with crucible and heat
To make and break through trial and defeat
Ever working us towards thy wise and noble feat.Even so did Michael the Archangel
As he fled upon his way
Pause to gaze in wonderment
At a soul being shaped from clay.
A masterpiece soon emerged from fire alone
And burned-out ashes and broken stone.Reverently he trod 'round the fiery forge above
His Master having taught him to respect every particle of creation
As an animate expression of his Love,
And the soul which He had just plucked away
[For his time was truly spent]
In order to work in other realms above
In keeping with God's great eternal Intent.
My God, My God, Wherefor Hast Thou Forsaken Me?
Lord, teach me the art of loving
Lest I die in the gutter alone;
Is there any way of stilling
A heart that's turning to stone?Why give us a heart to love with
If there's nothing to love in the end?
And the world can do well without us,
[There's really no use to pretend].What more can we expect than disillusion
As we sojourn along on our way;
As weary day turns to night,
And weary night turns again to day!Please forgive me, thou loving Father,
As I no longer welcome the day,
Too often I've offended You in my thoughts,
And now I've quite forgotten to pray.
Bach
As I sat in the moonlight one lonely eve
Methought I heard in the murmuring breeze
As it rose and sank to the sound of the sea
Making together one glorious symphony,
Bach's voice, and he was calling me.
He told me how a soul made free
Can speak to those who have inner sight.
And while 'round me circled a ring of light,
The world was groaning on that lonely night
Vainly striving without God to be tuned aright.
A Prayer
God of my heart,
Permit me no passions
Save those that constantly wed me to Thee.
Deep in thy loving all-encircling mercy
Thou wilt forgive the struggle within me.I feel Thee in light,
I see Thee in darkness,
Thy beauty alone gives me inner sight.
And, lost in the fathomless depth of thy love
Thou wilt lift me out from this temporal night.
The Flight
My body has been loved,
Cared-for and pampered,
But my soul has fled away on a solitary quest
In search of the fountain of good and beauty
To quench its thirst for the absolute Best!Eros did call as I fled on my way
And his seductive voice thrilled me through
Full sunny and gay;
But the gap was great 'tween him and me,
And I revelled in space
Once more to be alive and free!
Choice
The beasts on the hill
Are bound to be loved,
Nestled within the feathery wood
That borders the rill.But I am alone, for my prince and beauty
Has fled away on the paths of duty.
And for ever and ever while trees do grow,
Animals mate, and the rill carries on,
It is for man to stay or go,
Having to decide between right and wrong.
Love
I thought I had found perfect love here on earth
But soon found that worship of a man is vain and dearth;
I gave my heart, my soul and my thought
Desiring to buy what was real and full of worth -
Seeking the very best that's true here on earth.But now I creep to the throne of God
And under his pitying gaze my feeble love I lift
Knowing that it's only his gift of Love that endures,
Turning my gift of love into something of worth.
Music
The cry of a seagull and the waves of the sea,
The sound of children playing,
And the buzz of a bee;
The song of the robin,
The rustle of a tree,
Yes, these are all like music to me.
They awake in my soul
What Christ planted to grow,
So joyfully I listen,
Loving his harmonies below.
Awake, O my lover, and listen with me
It's His Voice you're hearing
In the air, the tree and the sea!
So let's walk this earth with an ear to his song
Attuned to his harmonies so appealing and strong
The better able to proclaim His goodness and mercy
The ages along.
The Dunes
The moon came riding over the dunes
And calmly gazed out upon the sea;
Insect minstrels were humming their tunes
And wild flowers wafted their scent over to me.It must have been at such a rapturous moment as this
When the world was holding its collective breath
That Christ infused it with life
Through His brotherhood kiss.
Dreams of a Child
Oh, how could I as a child
Dare to think the world was something good?
My innocent heart was asleep
Slumbering with the carefree dreams of childhood.But then one fateful day
Sin arose in my heart
And from where I lay
I found it had stolen
My innocence
And childish dreams away.
Another Day By The Sea
Now thou art cruel and dark and grey,
Foaming and tossing and dashing thy spray;
You frighten me, and even the clouds rush away,
Though I appeal to thee for calm,
You will, of course, not hear me
Nor will you oblige me this day.O why such a stormy demeanour and deep unrest,
Why do you carry so much fury upon thy crest?
Are you burdened with guilty secrets dark and deep?
Having claimed innumerable lives
Which caused many sorrowing ones to weep?
Stop, now, thy passionate fury, O sea,
Thy relentless rage is maddening me!
To The Sea
I cried to the wonderful deep blue sea
"Return life's joys back unto me!"
But she smiled, relentlessly proud of herself
Festooned in beauty and radiant health.You too used to sing to me of love
Lifting me to the very heights up above
But now I know thee with all of thy wiles
No longer to be duped by those innocent smiles.Thou too are now old and dreary like me
The flower has faded, the bloom a history,
But passion still lives within thy breast
Surging like tides, waves, and unrest.But thou knowest that above thee there lives
One who has promised, loves and forgives,
A Life-giver far beyond the ebb and flow of tide
With a home where storm-tossed souls like us
In peace will forever abide.
Aan de Zon
Ik wou dat de zon my kende
als zynde zyn eigen ding
geboren uit zyn lendenen
ik, een sterveling.Want licht is wat ik lieve
al ben ik een sterveling
en niets zal my dit dieven
dat ik ben zyn eigen ding.En dit is myn lied o zonne
dat ik ben een kind van licht
en op Uw stralend leven
houd ik myn blik gericht.To the Sun
I wish the sun knew me
as something that came from itself
born from its rays,
me, a mortal.Because light is what I love
although I am a mortal,
and nothing will steal away
the fact that I am a part of it.And that is my song, my son,
that I am a child of light
and on your radiant life
my face will shine on you.De Storm
Waai omme, waai omme o winde
Waai uit de verte my aan,
Ik zit hier zoo eenzaam te wachten
De stem van God is my ontgaan.Wai weg onze kleine gedachten
Breng boodschap na boodschap my aan
Leer door Uw machtig gebulder
De stem van God beter verstaan.The Storm
Blow, blow, O wind,
Blow from afar to me
As I sit here alone waiting,
The voice of God is my expectation.Blow away our little thoughts
Bring to me news from afar
Learning through your mighty rumble
To understand better the voice of God.
(Click to enlarge)