“When you’re absolute beginners,” folk singer M. Ward tells us, “it’s a panoramic view, from her majesty Mount Zion, and the kingdom is for you.” What he seems to suggest here is that, at any beginning point, there appears an infinite potentiality to life, stretching out like a majestic panorama before us. W.H. Auden, in hisContinue reading “From Ashes 10: Søren Kierkegaard – Original Sin and the Fear of Possibility”
Tag Archives: anxiety
From Ashes Part 9: The Philosopher’s Wretchedness
When I consider the brief span of my life absorbed into the eternity which comes before and after…the small space I occupy and which I see swallowed up in the infinite immensity of spaces of which I know thing and which know nothing of me, I take fright and am amazed to see myself hereContinue reading “From Ashes Part 9: The Philosopher’s Wretchedness”
From Ashes Part 6: Soul, Be Still (Psalm 131)
Soul, be still, quiet, mind: the Lord of all hems in, behind. Take courage, heart, unravel, thoughts: the first, the last is your resort. No need to run, unburden feet: the good begun He will complete. O anxious child, your father keeps your mind, though wild; He bids you sleep. ComeContinue reading “From Ashes Part 6: Soul, Be Still (Psalm 131)”
“The Concept of Anxiety” Explained
As anyone who has read my Twitter feeds recently can probably tell, I have been on a bit of a Kierkegaard-reading binge – partly for my study and partly for my own interest. After a particularly challenging session of reading the first chapter of The Concept of Anxiety, I composed this sonnet. Enjoy! The ConceptContinue reading ““The Concept of Anxiety” Explained”
Quatrain
From a day of wandering and buzzing, My thoughts tangled up in their thrall, With vines of coiled hopes faintly budding – Dear God, straighten me; be my all.
Safety
Many of the poems that I write here come out of my struggles with mental illness. This poem, I hope, is a testament to the power of writing to help us order our inner turmoil and offer it up as a kind of prayer, refined by the process of writing. Safety The threats you cannotContinue reading “Safety”
Otherwise
As it is, my wheels get stuck And spin around in deep ravines, While I rehearse dark thoughts and lies. The dusk wears down dawn’s hopeful pluck And clanging thoughts know where I’ve been; I wish it could be otherwise. You may knowContinue reading “Otherwise”
Hold, Release
The week has news which wounds and time can seize on moments; the inner life of frantic mind occupies its own time. And sometimes grooves are deep and take us back to moments where this was said and that was heard and there we held on tightly. Echoes shout when walls are here with dullContinue reading “Hold, Release”
The Consolations of Writing 