Wilson Ogg

Berkeley, California, USA

Wilson Ogg is a poet, lyricist, lawyer, arbitrator, mediator, educator, and curator-in-residence of Pinebrook, an historic house and gardens in the Berkeley Hills. Educated at the University of California and Boalt Hall School of Law, Berkeley (B.A.and J.D. degrees). Awarded a Cultural Doctorate in the Philosophy of Law, he is listed in Who's Who in American Law, Who's Who in America, and Dictionary of International Biography and is a member of American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), American Bar Associaton, and the World Literary Academy. His poetry is published in numerous anthologies in America and abroad, including the 1994-1997 editions of the Pamassus of World Poets.

My Steps Are Steady

Above the bustle of the valley,
Above the bustle of the valley
Comfortable and secure
---in our joy one with the other
I have no want to climb the steep ladder
---to the hustle down under
To the hustle down under,
What if I should lose my balance
---and will they accept
---what we have to offer?
Will they accept
---what we have to offer?

You load me with a woven basket
---heavy with the fruits
---of our marriage
Heavy with the fruits
---of our marriage
You lead me through the threshold
---with my eyes open
With my eyes open
---to the perils of the downward climb
I am to descend not backward but forward
---in full view of the chaos below
In full view of the chaos below.

You and I bless our offerings
---and I overcome the limitations
---of our fruitfull union
I hold freely our prodigy,
My steps are steady
My steps are steady
Fear dissolves in the joy of love
Fear dissolves in the joy of love
We and they unite as one
We and they unite as one.

When we Romp and Dance

We are not destined for toil but for frolic
Those who labor miss their clues
And act meagerly their roles
We who play need no utterance but
---the breath of life itself.

In our rollicking, we capture nature
That plays hide and seek with us
---shunning and yet yielding to us
In our taking, we find beauty
---skipped by those who submit to
---life's grind
From castaways of others are gems of
---artists and gist of thinkers.

And when we romp and dance
Love wells up within us
Waxing our compass one to the other
In granting us a parcel of eternality.

The Coming of the Night

You and I could now fulfill
---the thrusting uplift
---of our spirit
We choose instead to know
---our mother and father
Thereby discovering
---the begetters of our race
Whose stone spurted forth
---before we knew the light
And when our day is spent
---will bear fruit with
---the coming of the night.