Tag Archives: Poetry

September 2, 2014 · 9:24 am

The Summer Ends

This seemed like an appropriate poem to share today. Wendell Berry is one of my favorites.

Wendell Berry

The summer ends, and it is time
To face another way. Our theme
Reversed, we harvest the last row
To store against the cold, undo
The garden that will be undone.
We grieve under the weakened sun
To see all earth’s green fountains dried,
And fallen all the works of light.
You do not speak, and I regret
This downfall of the good we sought
As though the fault were mine. I bring
The plow to turn the shattering
Leaves and bent stems into the dark,
From which they may return. At work,
I see you leaving our bright land,
The last cut flowers in your hand.

—-Wendell Berry

Why we read Wendell Berry (brtom.typepad.com)
Wendell Berry on His Hopes for Humanity (thefirstgates.com)

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Filed under Poetry, Wendell Berry

Tagged as environment, Fellowship of Southern Writers, Kentucky, National Humanities Medal, Nature, Poetry, Wendell Berry, writing

February 25, 2014 · 1:45 pm

Where Does the Dance Begin, Where Does It End?

Don’t call this world adorable, or useful, that’s not it.

It’s frisky, and a theater for more than fair winds.

The eyelash of lightning is neither good nor evil.

The struck tree burns like a pillar of gold.

But the blue rain sinks, straight to the white

feet of the trees

whose mouths open

Doesn’t the wind, turning in circles, invent the dance?

Haven’t the flowers moved, slowly, across Asia, then Europe,

until at last, now, they shine

in your own yard?

Don’t call this world an explanation, or even an education.

When the Sufi poet whirled, was he looking

outward, to the mountains so solidly there

in a white-capped ring, or was he looking

to the center of everything: the seed, the egg, the idea

that was also there,

beautiful as a thumb

curved and touching the finger, tenderly,

little love-ring,

as he whirled,

oh jug of breath,

in the garden of dust?

——Mary Oliver

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Tagged as Mary Oliver, Nature, Poetry

January 27, 2014 · 10:56 pm

Song of the Builders

On a summer morning

I sat down

on a hillside

to think about God –

a worthy pastime.

Near me, I saw

a single cricket;

it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.

How great was its energy,

how humble its effort.

Let us hope

it will always be like this,

each of us going on

in our inexplicable ways

building the universe.

Mary Oliver

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Tagged as Mary Oliver, Poetry

January 10, 2014 · 4:40 pm

Reading the Letters of the Dead

I came across this fascinating and thoughtful poem. I hope it probes your mind as it did to mind.

Why were the dead so timid while
they lived? In mind, they step in

groans; toes en pointe to test the sand.
Despite traversing seas and rushing

gold—they still seem cautious
to a madness. Why did they not act

more like us? I kid. Still, why were
the dead so timid while they lived?

—-Jennifer Hecht

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Tagged as Death, Interior life (Catholic theology), Poetry

December 27, 2013 · 9:31 am

Morning Glories

Blue and dark-blue

Morning Glories

rose and deepest rose
white and pink they

are everywhere in the diligent
cornfield rising and swaying
in their reliable

finery in the little
fling of their bodies their
gear and tackle

all caught up in the cornstalks.
The reaper’s story is the story
of endless work of

work careful and heavy but the
reaper cannot
separate them out there they

are in the story of his life
bright random useless
year after year

taken with the serious tons
weeds without value
humorous beautiful weeds.

——Mary Oliver

Talk About Poetic Motivation – Seriously, Mary Oliver is Great (ourcosmicdust.wordpress.com)

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Tagged as Dreamwork, Gardens, Home, journey, Mary Oliver, Plants, Poetry, Shrubs

December 16, 2013 · 10:09 am

Christmas Hope

There is a wondrous poem found in many places on the Internet. Maybe you have seen it. It does a wondrous job of reminding us of that truth. It is titled, “Do You Still Have Hope?” I’m going to shorten it just a little bit, but hear its message:

If you can look at the sunset and smile, then you still have hope . . . If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower . . . If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly . . . If the smile of a child can still warm your heart, then you still have hope . . .

If you can see the good in other people . . . If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep, If the sight of a rainbow still makes you stop and stare in wonder . . . If the soft fur of a favored pet still feels pleasant under your fingertips, then you still have hope . . .

If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism . . . If you give people the benefit of a doubt . . . If you still offer your hand in friendship to others that have touched your life, then you still have hope . . .

If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings a pleasant surprise . . . If the suffering of others still fills you with pain and frustration . . . If you refuse to let a friendship die, or accept that it must end, then you still have hope . . .

If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection . . .

If you still buy the ornaments, put up the Christmas tree or cook the turkey . . .

If you still watch love stories or want the endings to be happy, then you still have hope . . .

If you can look to the past and smile . . . If, when faced with the bad, when told everything is futile, you can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase . . . “yeah . . . BUT . . .” then you still have hope . . .

Hope is such a marvelous thing. It bends, it twists, it sometimes hides, but rarely does it break . . . It sustains us when nothing else can . . . It gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead, when we tell ourselves we’d rather give in . . . Hope puts a smile on our face when the heart cannot manage . . . Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes cannot see it . . . Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction . . .

Hope is a wonderful thing, something to be cherished and nurtured, and something that will refresh us in return . . . And it can be found in each of us, and it can bring light into the darkest of places . . . Never lose hope . . .

My Poem ‘The Christmas Tree’ (poetofthesphere.com)

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Filed under Advent, Christmas, Hope

Tagged as Christmas, Christmas tree, Decorations, Hope, Poetry

September 24, 2013 · 1:44 am

Song of the Builders

On a summer morning

I sat down

on a hillside

to think about God –

a worthy pastime.

Near me, I saw

a single cricket;

it was moving the grains of the hillside

this way and that way.

How great was its energy,

how humble its effort.

Let us hope

it will always be like this,

each of us going on

in our inexplicable ways

building the universe.

—-Mary Oliver

The Ponds – Mary Oliver (fireflydance.net)

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Filed under Contemplation, Mary Oliver, Poetry

Tagged as Business, Conservation, Dog, Energy, MaryOliver, Parade of Homes, Poetry, Technology

September 21, 2013 · 4:04 pm

Love and Vulnerability

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable.

——C. S. Lewis

No matter how much we try, it is impossible to love without vulnerability. Lewis points this out with his usual bold clarity. The reality is that all love relationships involve some hurt and pain. The high divorce rate and the overall lack of commitment that plagues our society are outward signs of our inward fear of the hurt that comes with love. We have tried very hard to establish a society that loves without vulnerability, and we have failed.

The ultimate example of love with vulnerability is Jesus. Over and over again He tried to tell His disciples of the cross He must bear. More than once He hesitated at His own mission, but in the end He submitted to the Father. How many times must it have occurred to Him how much easier it would be to just forget the cross and move on? Just let man get what he deserves. In the same way, it is easy for us not to love. Why should we? It just hurts! Like Jesus, we are compelled to love and with that love to give ourselves to others. That is our Christian service.

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Filed under C. S. Lewis, Devotional Quotes, Love

Tagged as Arts, C. S. Lewis, Four Loves, Jesus, Online Writing, Poetry, relationship, Romance

April 16, 2013 · 10:39 am

Silent Love

Augustine of Hippo

“Love, and do what you will. If you keep silence, do it out of love. If you cry out, do it out of love. If you refrain from punishing, do it out of love.”

― Augustine of Hippo

Augustine speaks of silence as a form of love. I propose that in our silence , we show the ultimate love to others. Our world is a place of “getting it straight,” but Augustine tells us that is not always the answer. Jesus says, “Turn the other cheek,” and by doing so we have expressed true Christianity. The challenge is to know when to speak and when to refrain from speaking. The twenty-first century world tells us that every doubt must be addressed, every question must be answered, every offense must be rectified, but that is not always so. Might we hear the word of the great Church Father, and know that silence is, at times, pure love. Think about it.