Showing posts with label St. John of the Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label St. John of the Cross. Show all posts

Thursday, December 24, 2020

if you want









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


Sunday, November 29, 2020

closed for the night










~ St. John of the Cross
read by Robert Bly




Thursday, May 28, 2020

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





Saturday, November 23, 2019

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



Saturday, February 3, 2018

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

Saturday, January 18, 2014

stanzas of the soul / the living flame of love









~ St. John of the Cross


Saturday, April 13, 2013

sight, taste, touch, hearing, stopped









~ St. John of the Cross
read by Robert Bly



Thursday, February 24, 2011

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

.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

The Dark Night (excerpt)


.
.
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 that the blaze of noon
To where, waiting for me,
Was the One I knew so well,
In that place where no one ever is.
.
I stood still; I forgot who I was,
My face leaning against Him,
Everything stopped, abandoned me,
My being was gone, forgotten
Among the white lilies.
.
~ Saint John of the Cross
.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

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






Sunday, September 13, 2009

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

.