You’ve heard, of course, how Blaise Pascal played dice – An arbitrary way to find the truth, As though the logic, weighed up in a trice (A coin tossed in the air), could render proof Redundant. Can eternity be found In such impulsive propositions? We Feel that faith should demand much surer ground. All theContinue reading “Apologetic”
Category Archives: Devotional
Remembrance
These tragedies that war upon the screen, These day-to-day reminders that all’s sick: They cut into our vision as we dream And lie within stale hearts. The silent prick Of death we can repress, but not the waves That fight like foes upon our passive shores, Waging war where war was not. The graves ThatContinue reading “Remembrance”
Voices in the Garden (After Denise Levertov’s “On a Theme by Thomas Merton”)
“Who told you that you were naked?” His voice Cuts through the trees and fig-leaves. Naked, you stand, glory shattered, Illusion broken, image disconnected, Heart unsure now how to beat. “Did you eat the fruit from the tree?” His voice Asks yet does not need to be told: Your lips stink to heavenContinue reading “Voices in the Garden (After Denise Levertov’s “On a Theme by Thomas Merton”)”
October’s End
What, are we in limbo – The street filled with skeletons And faces deathly white? Pallid, strangely festive, Sun still high, dusk not yet set – All the in-betweenness of life And death combine in suburban street. Scout Hall silent for once in the week And houses ring with trick or treat Before the dayContinue reading “October’s End”
Timid Heart
Timid heart, Scared of dirt, Frightened soul, Fleeing all, Fledgling man, Adam-stained, Broken saint, Breathing faint, Ageing child, Lost and wild, Fractured mind, Wounded, blind, Death-marked Cain, Madman, sane, Searching eyes, Veiled skies, God-child dead, The curse unsaid, Ransomed One, The curse undone. Timid heart, Scared of dirt, Grace-scarred hand, Eternal plan.
W.H. Auden: Undoing the Folded Lie
As October draws to a close, it’s time for an essay to draw together our month spent with W.H. Auden. He is a controversial figure in Christian poetry, and so this essay comes with a minor warning that it may not be to everyone’s reading taste. But he is, I think, still a rewarding poetContinue reading “W.H. Auden: Undoing the Folded Lie”
This is the day –
leaves dance in spring-wind, the flowers sit and sway and calm the street. The still-point-petals line the garden; brick-walls gleam and fence-posts stand attentive to the silent day. The day hums in rest; Continue reading “This is the day –”
Audenesques
For my last Auden poem for the month, I have decided to fuse much of his poetry together in this homage to his work, great and humble alike. Along with the many famous, more memorable poems, Auden also wrote several poems which were kinds of collections of miniatures, poetic vignettes, sometimes sweet, sometimes stark andContinue reading “Audenesques”
Faith and Sight
I. “Am I okay?” the question asks itself. The mind retreats within to make reply And eyes forever dart towards the shelf (The cupboard open, fruit left out to dry). Unsettled souls put back the oil of joy And rifle through supplies to find the seed. The memory bank’s a plastic, moulding joy, Responsive toContinue reading “Faith and Sight”
Sonnet
Do not mistake the fold for where we live: It overlaps the outside and the in, Suturing together, and it binds What otherwise would float and duck and dive In nexus-waves of incompleteness. Yes: It’s true that we are nothing if our minds Are not caught up in Being’s dance. The less We live toContinue reading “Sonnet”
The Consolations of Writing 