Welcome to our Poetry Party #42!
I am posting this week's Poetry Party since the third week of Advent begins today! I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your poems or other reflections. Add them in the comments section and a link to your blog (if you have one). Make sure to check the comments for new poems added and I encourage you to leave encouraging comments for each other either here or at the poet’s own blog.
Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog if you have one and encourage others to come join the party! (permission is granted to reprint the image if a link is provided back to this post and full credit is given – © Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts)
On Friday, December 18th, I will draw a name at random from those who participate and send the winner a copy of my newest zine: Crossing the Threshold: New Year, New Beginnings.
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Poetry Party Theme: Sharing Our Deepest Joy
Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
Sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
-Zep 3:14-18
Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in God always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
-Phil 4:4-7
For this third week of the season of Advent I am hosting a Poetry Party to invite you to help break open the meaning of the sacred texts among us. In a time of year when we are told that our happiness is to be found through excessive consumption, the first two scripture readings speak of a deeper joy – a rejoicing of the heart which emerges from a place of equanimity, exultation, and profound gratitude for life's moments.
The Gospel reading from this week calls us to share the fruits of our gladness with generosity and kindness: "The crowds asked John the Baptist, “What should we do?” He said to them in reply, “Whoever has two cloaks should share with the person who has none. And whoever has food should do likewise.” (Luke 3:10-18) Our joy binds us to a responsibility to extend it to others, especially those whom we encounter who have nothing. Happiness may allow us to rest comfortably on our own, joy calls us into the world.
Do you remember the profound and un-self-conscious joy you experienced as a child? When delight erupted from your deepest self in carefree moments? How are you being invited in your most joyful moments to share beyond your most intimate circle?
I invite you to write a poem this week describing the deeper joy of Advent – deeper than mere happiness – and to describe when you listen to that joy, what is your call into the world that emerges from its heart?
© Christine Valters Paintner at Abbey of the Arts:
Transformative Living through Contemplative & Expressive Arts
You may also like:
- Courage Unparalleled
- Welcoming the New
- Invitation to Poetry: Going Home
- Happy Feast of St. Hildegard
- The Summer Zine is almost here!
There is in this 3rd Sunday of Advent where even the color on the candle of the Advent wreath changes, a kind of: we're almost there moment. Gaudete Sunday. We see a new color. O Come O Come Emanuel has a belief to it. Wise men have been on this journey for so long, yet we only meet them after the birth. John wants that path straight for Jesus. The extra cloak is a room not a stable. Be still and and know that I Am God.
Thank you for the invitation, Christine!
Here's my response:
Joy, unearthed
http://virtualteahouse.com/blogs/beth/archive/2009/12/13/joy-unearthed.aspx
Dear Christine, Thank you for mentioning the lectionary texts for this week's Poetry Party. I want to thank you, too, for putting me onto Jan Richardson's blog "The Advent Door" last year. There, she reflects on the lectionary texts in profound ways, both in her words and in her art.
Here is my haiku for Gaudete Sunday:
May I speak your Hope
Saturate me with your Word
Joy be on my lips!
Father of two without a job
We meet for a common goal.
He needs his GED
It's his next step
for opportunities
for further education
for pride and self-esteem.
I know he can do this
I've witnessed it many times.
Sacred joy connects us.
Joy Amplified
I see you as my children
I give you my life
I toil for your benefit
You are my joy (1 Thes 2)
I see you as my brothers
I watch you stand firm
I long for your encouragement
You are my joy (Phil 4)
I see you as my children
I watch as you live
I rejoice in your truthfulness
You are my joy (3 John 1)
I see you as my brothers
I watch you under fire
I see your faith bring patience
You are my joy (Jam 1)
I see your incapacity
I serve you in your need
my life sacrificed for yours
You are my joy as I am yours
I see you as my branches
I watch you bear fruit
I abide in you as you in me
I am your joy (John 15)
Here is my poem:
Alas, my Lord!
Do you not mean for me to give away everything?
Do you not call me to joyfully give of all I have?
Alas, my Lord!
You are calling for balance-
You are calling me to share-
You are calling me to give a portion of what you have given to me.
Alas, my Lord!
By giving one of my coats
Just one of the two of my blessed coats
To another
Alas, my Lord!
The scales are then even, are they not?
Alas, my Lord!
I then wonder, O my Lord!
Who is the one brought up to balance the scale?
Me or the other?
Alas, my Lord!
Alas, my Lord!
Alas, my Joy!
joy
small fingers tickling the ivories
singing Christmas carols
while the lights twinkle like stars
calling the wise men to play
and the ornaments twirl like halos
on the heads of mischievous angels
and the bread bakes filling the house
with the smell of family
and I sit holding hands
with my beloved.
Grady and Martha – I really enjoyed these.
Is my joy in here somewhere,
Though I see only darkness and sorrow?
Like water snaking through stone and earth,
Emerging,
Bubbling,
I find laughter.
I place my hands in Mary's lap,
And here receive sweet embrace.
This ancient source that draws so many,
Drinking,
Anointing,
I find grace.
The well is full!
The well is full!
not knowing what your poetry-writing theme was, I wrote this last night:
Late-autumn
scampering through the fence
a busy squirrel–
intent to not forget
where simple joys are hidden.
Bette Norcross Wappner (b'oki)
advent
coming towards
what
i know what
happens
his birth
then
does it require
slaughter
of innocents
when does
faith
replace fear
his birth
all birth
is but a
beginning
needing more
than time
to grow.
dona nobis
pacem.
Walk with Two Suns
In the dark mid-winter you must walk with two suns. Kindle the flame of your internal heat. Set your chakras spinning, let the kundalina rise. Be drunk with joy.
And should you wake shivering in your cold castle cry out to the gods of earth, fire, and flowers. Demand solar powers. Be drunk with dreams.
You are the bloom reaching for warmth. You are a land fecund with fruit. Be drunk with light.
Carnal and sacred in your flesh, blood, and bone….entrain to the rhythym of the eternal return. Be drunk with hope.
In the dark mid-winter you must walk with two suns.
This is what came to me when thinking of joy and thinking of this season of light. More earth-centered spirituality than explicitly Christian….blessings!
adore this theme. hope a poem pops in soon!
xoxoxo
Bette – I just love the squirrel image! And, Patricia the Walking with Two Suns speaks to me deeply. May I share your poem with my Earth-spirit group?
My poem for the Party, "Joy-Waiting in Advent", is here:
http://writingwithoutpaper.blogspot.com/2009/12/joy-waiting-in-advent-poem.html
Zion light
breaks
crawl gate opens
drag tents of flesh
faint spice
Just stillness
Occupies
Yesterday
today breaths
beat
rhythm then melody
mounts children of Zion
fresh songs
walk about
Zion
go dance her
rejoice towers mark
her bulwarks consider
her palaces
tell it
generations
follow refuge God
our city ever
and ever mountain
guide
*From Ps.48
Hiking down the Grand Canyon on a burning hot day in the '60's we were directed by a group of construction workers to a rushing waterfall in a little valley. Clothes and all we stood there experiencing the drenching exquisite cooling of its waters. That experience reminds me of God's love, a waterfall of love.
Standing in a Waterfall of Love
In the hills
of West Virginia
cabin holds
those I love
In my arms
sleeps new grandchild
Dark lashes rest
on angel cheeks
while snow stars melt
in our hair
Close your eyes
and you are there
standing in a waterfall of love
Sons and daughters
dressed in black
renaissance faces
Italian graces
Crowd of cousins
holding roses
black and red
around her grave
A grand farewell
bella momma
Close your eyes
and you are there
standing in a waterfall of love
I'm the "teacher"
he's the "student'
waist-high powerhouse
grabs my hand
Its after lunch
time to dance
La Bamba blasts
away our stiffness
we swing and shimmy
shout and laugh
My little class
behind in tests
my little class
ahead in love
my little class
they can dance!
Close your eyes
and you are there
standing in a waterfall of love
a golden waterfall of love
First, I must say that Elaine's poem makes me want to dance. So wonderful! I'm stealing it. Now…my humble offering…
Neighbors
May the unabashed joy
of childhood
be ours again.
Break the restraints,
open the gates,
adore the adorable.
Our hearts can be full
to overflowing, even
in times of struggle.
Don’t brand your days
as good or bad.
Joy and sorrow are neighbors.
"May all beings be free of harm.
May all beings experience joy."
Yesterday a friend and spiritual advisor gave me a copy of "Illuminating Mystery." I found it be intriguing and to "speak" with a kind-red "voice." In browsing your web site and some of your offerings, I saw that you educational background is similiar to mine so thought I'd drop a line. Like you, my training is in theology, psychology, depth work, spiritual guidance and, like you, I am an artist. But unlike you I have chosen to follow a buddhist path. We walk in different ways but we can perhaps be acquaintences along the way for surely we will cross paths again?
Doc Rob
Deb—you may certainly share my poem. And Elaine loved the imagery of a "waterfall of love". Deep blessings to all!