Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Arising


Today is St. Patrick's Day,
and
I have no ritual, no essay. 

What was his story again?
Something green, about snakes
and the Christ.  The only interest
this holy day holds for me
now is the Breastplate, the invocation.
I arise today
Through the strength of Heaven 
My stories are dissolving, fading out,
like the last scene of a movie
when the landscape goes
out of focus until all is golden light
filling the screen. 
Light of the Sun
My stories are riding into the sunset,
they are getting married, and I am
giving them away,
they are dying in their sleep
of old age.
Radiance of Moon
I am turning
to poetry.
Splendor of Fire
The question has been posed:
Your desert island book?
For me, a very large anthology
of sacred poetry spanning
all times and places.
Speed of Lightning
My back is to St. Francis and my stories
go down with the sun behind him.
I am facing Sister Clare, and even she
has nothing to tell
but Shine.
Swiftness of Wind
All the stories are a trick of mirrors
and light.  Forget the mirror -
who needs it, when you have the source?
Depth of Sea
I have told the story of why
I joined the church,
of the horrors of self-made religion,
wrong-headedness and failure, the need
for cleansing.  Yes.
But this is only the part
that happens in front
of the audience, there is
also the backstage,
the fear of glimpses
of utter reality, absolute freedom
and emptiness, which sitting
in a church soothed for a while.
Four walls, a safe structure,
a place to lick wounds,
a well-lit path at the edge
of a forest that can never stop
inviting.
Stability of Earth
Now
I see the forest and the trees
as I stand among them
with no exposition,
no tale of bread crumbs, bears, or witches
to frighten, console, or instruct,
with in fact nothing
but an endless poem
that both does and does not
need me to get itself heard.
Firmness of Rock

11 comments:

  1. Beautifully written. I love how you have interspersed your thoughts with the invocation -- and both are so lyrical and full of imagery and your spirituality.

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  2. Hi Polly

    this is an interesting new approach that has served you well:

    Mystery of Life

    Happy days

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  3. This is amazing and rather beautiful.

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  4. Fascinating, Polli. So poetic. I love it. I think I can relate to what you post here.

    Blessings.

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  5. This is absolutely gorgeous, and all of it true, every word. Shine. What else do you need to know?

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  6. There are so many pieces to this poem that stick to my guts and make me feel as though I have eaten the best meal of many days. THIS IS WONDERFUL!!!

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  7. Polli, This is simply beautiful. So much depth here and very, very good poetry.

    I'm so drawn to the images of the stories fading away and dying in their sleep of old age. The gentleness of the poem, the healing and the release all call to me and resonate in my heart.

    Love....

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  8. 'success and benediction attend thee' :)

    peace and good,
    todd

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  9. wonderful, polli. btw--no snakes in ireland even before patrick... my love of celtic spirituality continues to expand. i learned i was living it before i even knew there was a name. your words woven in with the breastplate are stunning and resonate deeply within me. thank you!

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  10. so cool... the last word verification was 'wings'. i love it!

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  11. Thank you, all. I'm somewhat surprised at the strong and positive response to this post. I pulled it out of my arse, so to speak. I guess sometimes that works the best!

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