Poem of the day

The Lie

It is dangerous to know me

dangerous to love and to try to understand me

for I am as intangible as the mist

to grasp me is to grasp at a wave as it crashes against the shore

or embrace sand, or take a drink of moonlight

It is dangerous to come close

into the secret chambers of my heart

what will you find there?

Will you find the image you have engraved in your mind?

Will you behold a vision pleasing to you?

Or with the air of unfamiliarity

will you flee in terror?

If you wish to love me

beware

Better it were that you should run far from me

remain untouched by me

for I am like Shiva, the destroyer

I take up the hearts of men

and for a time all is peace

but then the world comes to an end

O God,

am I caught in a never-ending cycle of death?

Doomed to destroy those who come seeking life?

Oh men of this earth,

why do you come to me seeking beauty?

That which you seek is the image of the divine

I will be your undoing

seek God instead

for in me is the road down to Sheol

into despair.

My lovers do not dally with me for a time

and then move on, unaffected.

They assimilate me into their hearts

and see nothing but me in their futures

So that when I disentangle myself from their arms

I take with me their souls

and they are left

broken and shattered

Poem of the day

Before Morning Prayer

It is not easy to get up usually
but for some reason
I rise from my bed,
from my warm, comfortable bed,
with a sense of peace.

My shower is filled with my usual worries
and I lean against the walls
expecting to feel despair.

And yet from my lips comes
"Oh Lord, Thy will be done"
and I realize
that no suffering is beyond You
no pain is so menial that You
do not feel it also.

As I dress and behold myself in the mirror
I feel a calm, and a warmth in my heart
for this fleshy body
Your Divine Image hidden by our perception

Though a hard heart may keep me safe
I wish to be as soft and vulnerable
as the downy breast of a dove.
Cultivate Your Peace in Me.

Jesus, You are so good to me
though my heart be heavy at times
though the world seems too much for me
though I feel I cannot go on,
You are there

You are the first, my Lover
my Divine Lover who thirsts for my soul
I desire You, permeate my being
I love You, be with me until the End

How wonderful it is to just praise You
But I should probably go pray
for my intentions and the intentions of others
and because I really should finish my rosary

Poem of the day

A Song for the Warrior of my Heart

Son of the mountains,
Warrior of the high places,
Where do you set your alter,
That I might go with you to worship your God?
On what high peak do you make your home,
So that I might ascend unto the mountain of spices,
And see the lights of the morning sun with you?
O Eternal light which dwells in you,
There is no ill which you can set your arms to,
For a healing is in your touch.
There is strength in your limbs
and power in your voice.
I touch my head to the grass at your feet
In homage of your scars.
O warrior of the Word incarnate,
O lover of love,
Let my heart be as brave as yours,
Let my strength be as true.
For just as gold is tested in fire,
So are acceptable men in the furnace of humility.
Your hands are a mystery to me,
Too great are their movements for me to understand.
They move with power,
They have struck down evildoers in their stride,
And have conquered the deceivers.
Before them men crumble and are laid to shame.
But in them I find my refuge,
In them I find peace and a quiet joy.
Like the sigh of an autumn zephyr on the wind,
Is the sigh of content which escapes from my lips,
When those hands are my safeguard.
My brother, my warrior,
Defender of my honor,
I watch you through my veil,
and peer at you through the cascade of my hair,
So that you will not see,
this trespass of my eyes.
May my mind be free of wickedness,
and my heart free of evil thoughts.
For just as impure water makes a flower wither,
so too impure thoughts are as poison to the soul.
Oh my brother,
Let me never shame myself in the council of your peers,
nor before the gates of thy father's house.
Let there be one mind between us,
and one will.
Perfect love casts out all fear,
therefore, let there be only joy within our hearts,
only a devotion to the sacred heart,
which burns our sin away.