This poem is not necessarily complete but I am trying to be disciplined and regular in posting here, so I am sharing it with you all as it is. The Soul Garden In the day of darkness I rose far too early And went, joints aching, to the garden where All the flowers ofContinue reading “The Soul Garden: a poem in progress”
Author Archives: Matthew Pullar
Untitled Poem
The day draws down its blinds and aches in my bones bring bed to my mind. The promise of sleep pulls me downwards as if to balance the burden of gravity. And there, horizontal, the body may mend, and weakened souls may suspire. While the week shuts its eyes and stars keepContinue reading “Untitled Poem”
Dame Juliana and the Mule (For Julian of Norwich)
(This poem comes with a thank-you to my friend Bei-En for providing the story about Julian shaking her fist at God.) All shall be well, she said, and all Manner of thing shall be well. And yet A story – perhaps apocryphal – Tells of one glum day, when she Went out upon a mountainContinue reading “Dame Juliana and the Mule (For Julian of Norwich)”
The Treasures of Candace (Fifth Sunday of Easter)
Go to the south of the road where In the wilderness sits one who Has seen his nation’s full wealth, Held in his hands the treasury key, Has borne the trust, the security Of Candace, his queen. Go to where he sits, treasure locked In between his hands. Hear him Ask, beg, plead to haveContinue reading “The Treasures of Candace (Fifth Sunday of Easter)”
The Least to the Greatest (For Saint James the Lesser)
The world will know enough about us, if it know this much: and even if the world know it not, it suffices so long as God knows it. (Christina Rossetti, Time Flies: A Reading Diary) In Portugal a statue stands Where with one hand he holds a flame And with the other he lifts highContinue reading “The Least to the Greatest (For Saint James the Lesser)”
Contra Mundum (For Athanasius of Alexandria)
He wrestled with the Emperors; His pillar stood firm, unshaking, While all around the edifice Quaked and quivered, prone to fall. The world threshed about like a serpent, Enthralling the Bride in its grip, And charmed bishops and kings with Its every sleek and fork-tongued word. And as the wand’ring minstrel sang Songs of theContinue reading “Contra Mundum (For Athanasius of Alexandria)”
Enough (For the Feast of St Philip the Apostle)
Show us the Father, you pled, And that will be enough for us. He looked into your eyes and, with All the gathering frustration of the teacher Who day after day is ignored, who teaches Quadratic equations that they be forgotten, Beats out iambic pentameters that They be lost in the drumming numbness of heads,Continue reading “Enough (For the Feast of St Philip the Apostle)”
Untitled Poem
The thing that takes bravery is a sheer wall, and you’d rather scale it carefully, with the abseil of sight and the guide-rope of reason with the cheers of your onlookers spurring you on. Yet these ledges fall off when you hold them too hard, and there’s no room by this wall for onlookers,Continue reading “Untitled Poem”
The Broken Mystic (For the Feast of Catherine of Siena)
Oh, wretched man, the darkness of self-love does not let thee know this truth. For didst thou know it, thou wouldst choose any pain rather than guide thy life in this way; thou wouldst give thee to loving and desiring Him who Is; thou wouldst enjoy His truth in firmness, and wouldst not move aboutContinue reading “The Broken Mystic (For the Feast of Catherine of Siena)”
The Shepherd, the Wolf and the Hired Hand (Fourth Sunday of Easter)
The hired hand once saw the wolf That came upon the fold of sheep And, hitching up his garments, fled Far away from the looming wolf And hid himself safe in the woods. The sheep stood waiting, helplessly, And bleated to the silent woods, The cold indifference of the night. The shepherd in another foldContinue reading “The Shepherd, the Wolf and the Hired Hand (Fourth Sunday of Easter)”
The Consolations of Writing 