Welcome to the Abbey's Poetry Party #55!
I select an image and suggest a theme/title and invite you to respond with your own poem. Scroll down and add it in the comments section below. Feel free to take your poem in any direction and then post the image and invitation on your blog (if you have one), Facebook, or Twitter, and encourage others to come join the party! (permission is granted to reprint the image if a link is provided back to this post)
On Sunday, February 19th, I will draw a name at random from the participants and the winner will receive a free registration spot in my upcoming online art retreat for the season of Lent – Soul of a Pilgrim (February 22-April 7, 2012).
This week we celebrate Valentine's Day. Instead of writing love letters and poems to our lovers and beloved ones, I am inviting you this week to write a poem that is a love letter to something from daily life, something absolutely ordinary, but when viewed in the right moment it becomes luminous. It could be a seagull hovering over the water, steam rising from a cup of morning coffee, the beginning shoots of spring, even the dirty laundry left from someone we care about deeply, whatever it is that is calling your attention this week in the most ordinary and extraordinary way.
Click on the "leave a comment" feature and scroll down to the bottom to share your poem with this community.
You may also like:
- God Loves Us When We Dance
- "Today is such a day"
- Shoveling Snow With Buddha
- Monet Refuses the Operation
- Happy Anniversary My Love
[Love Song to Light]
A wise man, noted
that love not blind, sees
more and chooses on seeing
to turn; and so I see
and cannot judge
the bright loud colors
you wear, splashing them
light paint in my eyes
over the coffin of my own sorrow;
or the way you laugh, and dance
and tease around the graffiti
and the huddled lump
that might be a person sleeping
among the drifted trash
or steal in, shaking me
from the cobwebbed comfort
of my bed to all the needs
you will not cease to open your hands
and show me, and show me
until I do something.
Ahhh
Candles lit
Hot tea
A quiet morning
My entire being
Longing
to sink
into this time of
silence and solitude
Eyes closed
Suddenly
A bark from the other room
Intrudes
Interrupts
my agenda
Needful dependence
of another
now takes
center stage
Jarred and
slightly frustrated
I rise to
attend
to this one
whom I love
so dearly
yet apparently
did not get the memo
that this was MY time
Standing outside
The words of my lectio
return to me
singing ever so
quietly
and
tenderly
“Love is patient.”
“Love is kind.”
In a moment
all is transformed
with a simple question
whispered
ever so softly
from within
“Interruption?
Or
invitation?”
Tension melts
I smile as my
eyes hug this
delightful companion
Unnoticed gifts
burst on the scene
Warming sunshine
A tiny purple bud peaking forth
A blackberry blossom
enticing me
to lose myself in its
intoxicating fragrance
Invitation.
Is this not an
Invitation to love?
What if I embraced
all interruptions
as invitations?
My thoughts turn to
You
Our “barks”
Our needful
dependent
cries for help
are not interruptions
to You
are they?
But rather
invitations of love
Invitations for beloveds
to share
a kiss
an embrace
a dance
Interruption?
Or
invitation?
May my life
be open
to these
disguised romances
that await
I sought my Beloved
and found him
in a most
unexpected
place
'what if', indeed; nice – thanks for posting.
Yes, thanks for this.
Over Scotland
High flying, window glass reveals tattered floor-
Pristine heaven greets eyes open to curving planet yonder
Stretching, reaching, sky-borne, we soar.
Place of kings bringing wonder to hearts that wonder.
Stipple green, ground richly steeped in lush, purple hue-
Woven pattern of road-cut scenes moves closer,
Sky meets peripheral sky, horizon’s hazy blue.
Shadows run as daylight comes.
Well-fermented scenes from ancient dreams-
Walls of stone, hearts of flesh, eyes of steel,
Pageantry in motion, all is as it seems.
Like God in man, surreal kisses real.
lovely.. thanks..
MY WORLD
I am nourished, sustained and called to growth,
By the things in life that surround me.
I live a life of abundance and companionship
With my Center and all He has created.
It has been said, “no man’s an island” and my life
Proves that true. For as I look at the world around me,
He supports me from all sides and sustains me
With all His creation in place.
Every morning I awaken, to yet another of His miracles,
Whether the sun is shining or obscured by clouds,
They reflect His great power and unconditional love.
Another chance for me to experience Him in all his glory.
And all those things around me, which to others are insignificant,
Also have their special purpose, supporting, enhancing or defining
My existence! Even the dish cloth I use, is designed to lessen my load.
The bee I find inside my flower bed, enriches my life too.
Every plant, insect , animal and human being I encounter has it’s
Purpose in my life. Living with them in harmony, I pattern my life
Without strife. In peaceful connectedness with His creation,
My life becomes so full, for I too have a purpose, to give back to Him
What He has given me.
So if I seem abundantly gifted; its because I spend my gifts,
To make this world more perfect, to match the gift giver’s plan.
The more I use my gifts, the more my cup is filled,
Until it is overflowing, into the soil He tilled,
Enriching the world I embrace.
Sing
Embrace
Caress
Hold
Touch the cross
The cords of the strongholds unravel by power
The strings of my heart tied to the horns of the alter
Whoop it up with parade to a place of protection
[...] to join in the Poetry Party again at Abbey of the Arts! In honor of Valentine's Day Christine has invited us to write a [...]
Letters of Love
Six days a week love is carried around town,
addressed to Ms. Sue and Mr. Tom
and Chaundra and Shawn
and Mr. and Mrs. Long.
Coming from across the country and around the corner,
these letters are written from the heart
or chosen with care at the card store.
They tell of
…a mother’s love for her daughter just starting college
…unspoken love after months of silent admiration
…gratitude after 47 years of marriage
…a sweetheart far from her beloved
…forgiveness after words spoken in anger
…love that is patient and kind and endures forever.
The good news is this love is not reserved just for Valentine’s Day.
With “Forever” stamped in the right hand corner,
this love is carried on paper and in our hearts.
This is wonderful… especially during this era of e-mails. Nothing better than a card in the mail.
The dancing flame
Fills the hearth and woes the soul.
Invitation opens
Purifying, refining, healing, guiding.
Silently space opens,
Agendas shed.
Breath inhaled.
Presence known.
The Spirit leads,
Steps enliven.
Divinity stirs, quickening within
Possibility awakens.
The dance begins.
I've posted my poem on my blog here: http://meditativemeanderings.blogspot.com/2012/02/love-poem-to-wren.html
But here it is also for ease of reading:
A Love Poem to a Wren
in memory of Gerard Manley Hopkins
oh, to have wings delicate,
untethering my existence from
this kidnapped planet—
to flutter beyond mere feather,
eschewing gravity
ever so briefly.
to skim the reverent waters,
to see all anew—
the vantage unfolding
the fragility of dappled branches,
pardoned, scrubby fields,
plausible seas toppling over
parchment edges.
to be unpinned from the page,
struggling forward toward
that singular moment
before the letting go—
then ah, bright wings
flex angelic,
and at last I—
somehow, I understand.
Our Magnolia Tree
The tree is thick with buds, my love
My hands rest on her sturdy trunk, my love
I touch the velvet moss, my love
The early sun lights up that green, my love
Can they be but five springs, my love
That encompass the whole long story
of you and me as one, my love?
And now, my love
You are free, my love
And one day, my love
We'll be together, my love
Together for love.
Feet trudge heavily in the darkness
over the infertile paving
between structures
Eyes see
slow as molasses
then quick as a gasp
the scatter of stars
tossed with loving abandon
a cadence of fluid grace
over the strictly metered ground
Counting Everything, Everything Counts
Counting everything
I seek the sacred in the day-after-day
Cultivating the ability to see without looking
Anticipating delight without the constraints of expectation
Simply showing up for what matters
Even when I'm unsure why it matters
Especially then…
Everything counts
One step, ten, halfway, all the way
There is no wrong direction, there is no right of way
And sometimes trying means trying too hard
Trusting the cumulative effect
Gathering gifts, sowing seeds, leaning in, looking up
Love letter to Keegan’s debris
I see signs of you everywhere.
The Baritone is abandoned on the floor after practice.
I see your sweet face, puffed with each note.
The furrow in your brow shows your concentration to keep those untrained cheeks flat.
Dirty socks lay the hall.
Free the feet! And off go the socks the moment you arrive home from school.
The empty hamper is 10 feet away and longing for dirty socks.
No need to leave post-it notes to remind me you are here and there and here!
I open a drawer and find a post-it note on my lip balm.
Laughter bubbles out.
Don’t worry, I know you are here.
Lying in shade
On dry, scratchy lawn
Beside my rescue dog
I take this moment
To breathe
On winter afternoon walks
I am heliotropic.
I want to see the western sun as it sets
as its light diminishes.
I alter my route to face it;
if I must, I turn my head to look
as if the setting sun is my hope,
my icon of peace.
Warm, wet, wonderful, sweat hour
Perspiration on the floor glistens
Reassuring me of a greater power
My whole being–mind-body-soul glistens
Glory to my parts that move in precision
Working in perfect harmony …human being
Made unique in his image…His will be done
My sweat …a gift of a Supreme Being
Your loving heart causes mine to beat
Your love gives me hope, truth, breath, Spirit
I move, I run, I swim, I dance…. I retreat
I still, drip, listen, knowing your righteous path
Astigmatism
is this what happens
when vision clears?
i drop into myself
heartbeat by heartbeat
and feel blue blush
whispers against
the curve of my ear.
i breathe them
in
and step
with an ecstatic scream
into a new reality
where you wait.
Space and stillness
finding the very essence of life
there
Space and stillness
waking to quiet worship
time
Space and stillness
from which to enter
the world of work
Space and stillness
making room for
fellow travellers
Space and stillness
to cherish the loved ones
and companions
Space and stillness
to return and find
I never left
…. my child, spread those wings and fly ….
from Mother