His gentle character has always impressed me very much. My humble tribute to this Savant of Peace. This is an offhand poem composed directly on the computer. Date of composition 03/04/2005 on the very day he expired) .
*******************************************************************************
From the pastures of life,
The Good Shepherd hath gone.
From the sprawling meadows,
The winds are now gone.
And heavenwards
Lambs send a beckoning glance.
And the passing clouds
Answer not their silent calls.
Where is the true cross? ,
The last post and anchorage now?
Where is the dale of love? ,
The spring and the cooing nightingale?
With his etherial lute,
He enlivened the woods.
From the Cestine Chapel,
It was peace unto the world.
From Cravo to Cestine,
From a peasant to a Good Shepherd,
The flight was a long one,
The taverns were umpteen.
And under his care
The lambs were blest.
Over the winding lea
He followed them home.
And the lambs slept in peace,
Pastures were in their waking dreams.
And in the Brooklyn of life
They were on the lap of his gentle winds.
And he pardoned the lambs,
Cross was his true spirit.
And from the chains of Papal authority
Galelio was given a revamping life.
And the shepherd hath now left the vales,
The lambs are in search of springs.
They may see more shepherds
But where are the bygone comforting winds?
*******************************************************************
Ravi Panamanna
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/pope-john-paul-ii/
