through the sacred womb of your soul

If
you want
the Virgin will come walking down the road
pregnant with the holy
and say,
“I need shelter for the night, please take me inside your heart,
my time is so close.”

Then, under the roof of your soul, you will witness the sublime
intimacy, the divine, the Christ
taking birth
forever,
as she grasps your hand for help, for each of us
is the midwife of God, each of us.

Yes there, under the dome of your being does creation
come into existence externally, through your womb, dear pilgrim—
the sacred womb of your soul,
as God grasps our arms for help; for each of us is
His beloved servant
never
far.

If you want, the Virgin will come walking
down the street pregnant
with Light, and
sing . . .





~ St. John of the Cross
Daniel Ladinsky translation
Love Poems from God

I would cease to be

 

God

dissolved

my mind - my separation.

I cannot describe now my intimacy with Him.

How dependent is you body's life on water and food and air?

I said to God, "I will always be unless you cease to Be,"

and my Beloved replied, "And I

would cease to Be

if you

died."

~ St. John of the Cross

from Love Poem from God

translation by Daniel Ladinsky

art by Daniel Taylor

closed for the night

~ St. John of the Cross

read by Robert Bly

I cobbled their boots

How could I love my fellow men who tortured me?

One night I was dragged into a room 

and beaten near death with

their shoes

striking me hundreds of times

in the face, scarring me 

forever.

I cried out for God to help, until I fainted.

That night in a dream, in a dream more real than this world.

a strap from the Christ's sandal

fell from my bleeding

mouth,

and I looked at Him and He 

was weeping, and

spoke,

"I cobbled their boots;

how sorry 

I am.

What moves all things

is God."

~ St John of the Cross

from Love poems of God,

Twelve sacred voices from the East and West

why does not the church tell you?

At last the time came for the bride

to be with Him.

Nothing all the other brides had ever known 

could have prepared me.

Only the beauty and light you cannot describe

has a place in His house.

I can touch God - yes - but not with anything I own,

not with anything I can identify with,

not with anything that

knows 

me.

Purity, have you ever contemplated that word?

I once beheld the root of the Immaculate

and it drew me into itself.

I looked at all through

His eyes.

Why does not my sacred church tell you:

God only sees

Himself.

~ St. John of the Cross

 from Love Poems from God

by Daniel Ladinsky

the dark night

In the delicious night,

In privacy, where no one saw me,

Nor did I see one thing,

I had no light or guide

But the fire that burned inside my chest.

That fire showed me

The way more clearly than the blaze of noon

To where, waiting for me,

Was the One I knew so well,

In that place where no one ever is.

Oh night, sweet guider,

Oh night more marvelous than dawn!

Oh night which joins

The lover and the beloved

So that the lover and beloved change bodies!

In my chest full of flowers,

Flowering wholly and only for Him,

There He remained sleeping;

I cared for Him there,

And the fan of the high cedars cooled Him.

The wind played with

His hair, and that wind from the high

Towers struck me on the neck

With its sober hand;

Sight, taste, touch, hearing stopped.

I stood still, I forgot who I was,

My face leaning against Him,

Everything stopped, abandoned me,

My worldliness was gone, forgotten

Among the white lilies.

~ St. John of the Cross

from The Collected Works of St. John of the Cross 

version by Robert Bly

photo by imogene cunningham

stanzas of the soul / the living flame of love

~ St. John of the Cross

sight, taste, touch, hearing, stopped

~ St. John of the Cross

read by Robert Bly

if you love

.

You might quiet the whole world for a second

if you pray.

.

And if you love, if you

really love,

.

our guns will

wilt.

.

~ St. John of the Cross

.

to just be close

.

I was sad one day and went for a walk;

I sat in a field.

.

A rabbit noticed my condition and 

came near.

.

It often does not take more than that to help at times -

.

to just be close to creatures who

are so full of knowing,

so full of love

that they don't

- chat,

.

they just gaze with

their

marvelous understanding.

.

.

~ St. John of the Cross

from Love Poems from God

translations by Daniel Ladinsky

.

a divine stream

Your body is a divine stream,
as is your spirit.

When your two great rivers merge, one voice is found

and the earth applauds
in excitement.

Shrines are erected to those songs
the hand and heart have sung
as they serve
the world
with a love, a love
we cherish.





~ St. John of the Cross

They can be like a sun, words

.

...

...
They can be like a sun, words

They can do for the heart

what light can

for a field.

...

~ St. John of the Cross

.