Wordless song

Wordless song within the waters,
whales draw breath and dive and sing.
Hymns no human tongue can offer
set the ocean echoing.
Wordless singers wake our wonder;
what can human voices bring?
We will offer words for praising
God the Maker of all things.

Wordless song in early morning,
songbirds sing as day draws near.
Carols publishing their presence
please the waking human ear.
Wordless singers claim their places,
with a flag of song unfurled.
We will sing the name of Jesus,
word of joy that claims the world.

Wordless song within the forest,
wolves are howling in the night:
haunting psalms outside the circle
cast for us by campfire light.
Wordless singers, like the Spirit,
on whose pleading we rely.
Let us dare to name the yearning
in the Spirit's wordless cry.

--Richard Leach, 1994