Christianity impacted profoundly upon traditional religious and political structures, although Islanders today see it as a fulfilment of the traditional belief system rather than a complete break with the past, as they were previously encouraged to do. (Anna Shnukal, “Torres Strait Islanders”, Multicultural Queensland 2001) You me Torres Strait Islander people, you me a lightContinue reading “Coming of the Light (The First Missionaries to the Torres Strait, 1871)”
Category Archives: Poetry
De Profundis (Psalm 130)
Out of the depths, I cry and I sweat. Wasting and waning, I call out to you, For I believe there may still be hope yet. “The Lord,” I say, “is my portion”, and yet Weighty with sin I cannot stand before you – Out of the depths, I cry and I sweat. From murkyContinue reading “De Profundis (Psalm 130)”
The Priest Who Chuckled in Poetry
This week, Melbourne priest, poet and teacher Father Peter Steele SJ passed away, at age 72, from cancer. Peter taught me poetry in my final year of Literature at the University of Melbourne, and had such a significant influence on me that I have had to write something in honour of him here. Click onContinue reading “The Priest Who Chuckled in Poetry”
Sestina
Silent as winter the sleepy child plays With teardrops and glistening, hopeful rainbows, A smile and a whimper, singing for sleep, Slowly enticing the fullness of dreams, The light of the daytime long, long away, The darkness of bedrooms a sweeping blanket. Half-hiding, half-swimming within the blanket, The happiest, loneliest of children plays, DivingContinue reading “Sestina”
Rondeau
When I am set free I’ll be A marvellous, bright thing to see, A humbled crown of godly pride, A rosy thorn within the side Of all I used to be; I will shine there such glory I could not create if I tried. Christ will glow and glow inside, When I am setContinue reading “Rondeau”
Pillars, Rocks and Scales (For Peter and Paul, Apostles and Martyrs)
Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. (1 Peter 4:12) I. Readily he left his nets, Left the boat to walk upon The water just as Jesus did, Only then to sink within The waves, thenContinue reading “Pillars, Rocks and Scales (For Peter and Paul, Apostles and Martyrs)”
Beggar’s Yelp
Son of David, I have nothing but my filthy rags and my wounds, my static place beside this wall, my cracked and open hands, the dirt upon my swollen skin, the cracks in my voice as I cry out to You; my beggar’s yelp. Your crown is hidden, yet I seeContinue reading “Beggar’s Yelp”
Gnosis (For Irenaeus of Lyon)
Against the stormy sea of gnosis (rising, so transcendently, on waves that lifted high above the flesh, the concrete, physical!), while wandering philosophers preached gnosis all throughout his see, sweeping all their hearers up in currents of their eloquence, a Bishop stood and bucked the tide, and lifting up a bulwark to hold against theContinue reading “Gnosis (For Irenaeus of Lyon)”
The One True Image (For Cyril of Alexandria)
If any one confess not, that the Word of God the Father hath been personally united to Flesh, and that He is One Christ with His own Flesh, the Same (that is) God alike and man, be he anathema. (Cyril of Alexandria, Adversus Nestorii Blasphemias) Icon contained in an icon, he holds A picture ofContinue reading “The One True Image (For Cyril of Alexandria)”
Blurt
Fury-laden words spill out, comingled in their metaphors (serpents hissing balls of fire, tongues of rage bursting in rivers), all these land, in a tangled & explosive mess, no logic or coherence, all in fragments, & shards, & shards of fragments & yet, arranged by the page, thoughts slow down in lines which order,Continue reading “Blurt”
The Consolations of Writing 