There is, besides biblical material,
I make an effort to connect with pagan material too.
And this next poem is called "A priest of Hermes".
"The way up from here to there may be closed.
But the way down from there to here
still open wide enough for a slender god like Hermes
to slip from the clouds.
If you give your evenings to learning about the
plans under his influence, the wing and wings creatures,
the rocks and metals, and practice his sacred flute
or dulcimer.
No prayers.
Just the effort to make his day so full of the comforts
of home, he won't forget it.
To build him a shrine he finds congenial,
something as simple as roofed pillars
without the darkness of an anterior.
If you're lucky, he'll want to sit on the steps,
under the stars, for as long as you live.
And sniff the fragrance of wine and barley
as it blows from the altar, on a salty sea breeze.
He'll want when you die to offer his services
as a guide in the shadowy path to the underworld.
Not til you reach the watery crossing
will he leave your side.
And even then, he'll shout instructions
as you slip from your shoes and wade along
into that dark river."