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Invitation to Poetry: Community

Welcome to the Abbey’s 62nd Poetry Party!

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!  (If you repost the photo, please make sure to include the credit link below it and link back to this post inviting others to join us).

Each month we have a new theme and for November it is community, drawn from the third principle of the Monk Manifesto: “I commit to cultivating community by finding kindred spirits along the path, soul friends with whom I can share my deepest longings, and mentors who can offer guidance and wisdom for the journey..”

Write a poem about your own longing for community.

How do you connect with soul friends?

What are the gifts your community offers to you?

Photo Credit: Anna Seccombe (please use this credit if you repost this invitation on your blog and link back to the Abbey as well – thank you!)

Share your poem below in the comments with the Abbey community.

On Sunday, November 25th, I will select one name at random from the submissions and the winner will receive a space in my upcoming online retreat – Birthing the Holy: An Online Retreat for Advent with reflections by Macrina Wiederkehr, OSB and myself, and the wonderful art of Mary Southard, CSJ.

November’s theme is Community (Abbey Resources):

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55 Responses

  1. there is very little that i know
    but one thing seems certain:
    i do not walk alone
    (no matter how alone i am).

    there is a longing within,
    an unquenched thirst,
    to know the wholeness
    of the holy Uncreated.

    it is not my longing
    but our longing.
    come, walk with me –
    let us drink of Him.

    let us drink of His healing,
    let us drown in His light,
    till selves be lost
    in sacred One.

  2. Community is breathing
    Community is loving
    All over the world
    Where ever there is life
    There is a need to belong
    To fill the emptiness
    To close the space
    Finding the the sacred, The Divine
    Whole together

  3. The Clown Community

    jouncing and jerking
    on one flat tire
    we pull up, pile out

    our big round bottoms sway
    as we stumble forward
    on our gargantuan clodhoppers

    under red blobs of noses
    our mouths are painted up or down
    but our eyes are real
    and see
    our gift to you,
    incandescent laughter,
    holy in your hearts

    also see
    the sanctimonious mean
    fully robed
    in the front row

    see
    Mr greedy self-righteous

    we relish
    mocking their pomposity

    we are the clown community

    by our foolish humility
    we prick balloon egos,
    lighten the limited days
    of little bald headed children,
    raise up the sad,
    bring down the proud,
    and heal the wounds of life

  4. A Thanksgiving Poem for Friends

    I know a deep and endless yearning
    for a community of people
    who share a vision of a world made whole,

    who draw near to one another to create
    that which could be but is not yet,

    who seek a space to breathe
    in sacred meanings,
    to live out strength renewed,

    who cup together many palms to shelter
    God’s warm and beating breast
    and then in turn extend that brief, small warmth
    out to the needs of all God’s own.

    Now and again I know in fleeting form
    and celebrate this community of the whole.
    It never takes the shape that I expect,
    its layers deep and rich,
    fragmented and complex,
    take me always by surprise.

    Yet I suspect it ever forms
    a grounding strong that lies beneath
    my blindness and my cares,
    upholding me, enfolding me,
    bringing me to fruition.
    In naming it and claiming it
    I see it here today.
    The ache within is silenced in the now. – Jeannie

    1. This is breathtaking, Jeannie ~ the yearning, the imagery, the ache silenced in the now, ~ all of it.

  5. Sisters sojourning
    Sometimes together
    Sometimes separate
    But never alone
    Approaching,
    Crossing through
    Journeying past
    Thresholds of wonder

    Passing to and fro
    North
    South
    East
    West
    Shining lights
    Leaving stones
    Sharing amulets
    Blowing a feather forward

    In the center
    Darkness
    Time to reflect
    Inward on the lights
    The stones, amulets, and feathers

    The sisterhood
    Weaving a tapestry
    Of paths, of routes
    Guiding each other
    Supporting each other
    As Amma God holds us
    Hearts aglo in Her grace
    –Karla, 11/22/2012

  6. Sanctuary

    We gather bringing our gifts
    Mothers, sisters, daughters
    All.

    Rich with experience
    Knowledge, wisdom, insight
    Mother.

    Companion of days
    Joyful, sorrowing, laughter
    Sister.

    Full of promise
    Anticipation, hope, possibility
    Daughter.

    A three fold strand
    Woven, braided, bound
    Strong

    We become, together
    teaching, sharing, learning,
    Community.

    the idea for this poem came from the fact that the word “community” is derived from the Latin communitas (cum, “with/together” + munus, “gift”).

      1. As thou art a blessing to take the time to not only read but to respond individually to each poem in a meaningful, articulate way that shows you took time to understand what you read. A gift of encouragement is a beautiful gift, thank you for sharing yours.

  7. What is BOLD?
    We are women who come from different faiths but our mutual love of God and the gift of caring, have brought us together.
    Blessed to be in our 50’s & 60’s, we welcome you to join us,
    younger or older, any age is a good place to be at this precious time in all our lives.
    We are inviting kind hearted, God loving women who would enjoy sharing a morning in conversation, laughing, listening, prayer and perhaps a tear or two.
    Be BOLD, join us in the…Blessings Of Love Divine!

  8. Being Community:

    Gathering
    Separating

    Nearby
    Distant

    Embracing
    Releasing

    Speaking
    Listening

    Giving
    Receiving

    Leading
    Following

    Weeping
    Laughing

    Breaking bread
    Being bread

    Separating
    Gathering

    Being
    Community.

      1. Thank you Amber for putting flesh on the bones of the words – ‘giving/receiving’ – to each of us ‘gathered’ here – what a sweet, communal, Sunday surprise.

  9. An Invitation and Benedictus

    Come wade in the garden with me
    for night is certain to happen
    form a noteworthy tower of rock on a stump of tree
    amidst the taste, texture, sound and hues of dusk
    to make sure the night
    as we both , together, await the new dawn