www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall Poetry

I have been desiring for a long time on the Forum to take a more poetic path. Perhaps we need to stop to see, appreciate and celebrate the beauty that is around us and that we experience in our daily lives.

I am not just speaking about the climax of beauty we experience liturgically in the meeting of "heaven and earth", but that awe and wonder that we take from those deifying encounters in our parish or domestic Churches out to the smallest details of life. (I hope the Admin will find this sort of thing acceptable including my boldness in doing so).

I would like to offer this gem to start from Count A.K. Tolstoy (not Leo):

Blessings on You

Forests and fields, blessings on you!
Blessings on hills, on vales and rills,
On freedom and on skies of blue!
Blessings upon my pilgrim�s staff,
Blessings on this bedraggled sack,
And on the vastness of the steppes,
The sun�s bright light, the dark of night,
The narrow, lonely, winding track
Beneath this beggar�s steps!
I bless each grass-blade �neath the sun
And every star above.
O, if my soul could be but one
With all of you within my love,
And I could lock in my embrace,
All friends, all foes, my brothers all
And everything on this earth�s face!

Dear Diak,

You are off to a great start.

Soon you will be a Byzantine Salesian. :p

An Eastern Missionary in the American West!

I love it. I can just see the little man walking along with his staff, singing praises to God for his creation. Ahhh, but that we would all take time to walk with a staff and sing his praises.

One doesn't have to be a poet to be in the "poetic mode".

It's a way of looking at what is around us and recognizing the mystery of creation we are gazing at, wondering at, realizing the gifts that have been given us. This can only lead us to a more intimate and marvellous encounter with the Most Holy Trinity, the origin of the mystery and all creation.

Randy,

I didn't know you have a poetic heart!

I, too, write poems. Which is a rarity for a Deaf person to do so.

I write it especially for myself, in difficult times and I'm able to express it much more profoundly in poetry than writing a letter to myself.

Sometimes when my joy was indescribable, I write poems too.

I guess poetry does a better job of helping express the profoundness of one's heart at the time of writing it and it does better job of helping the writer to go deeper within himself/herself to take a better look at how one is feeling or experiencing. Amazing, isn't it?

Thanks, Randy, for sharing this nice poem. Perhaps I could write up some new ones on the forum.

Thanks Randy for being an inspiration to start writing poems again. I haven't done it for a long time. I'm also in the process of trying to be mentally prepared to write a book about experiences as a Deaf man in this harsh reality of a hearing world.

G-d bless!!!

Christos Anesti!

SPDundas
Deaf Byzantine

Randy,

A beautiful choice, one of Count Aleksey's most lovely poetic works.

Many years,

Neil

From a more modern poet and one of the masters of the Great Books program, a true magister, Mark Van Doren:

He Loves Me

That God should love me is more wonderful
Than that I so imperfectly love him.
My reason is mortality, and dim
Senses; his--oh, insupportable--
Is that he sees me. Even when I pull
Dark thoughts about my head, each vein and limb
Delights him, though remembrance in him, grim
With my worst crimes, should prove me horrible.

And he has terrors that he can release.
But when he looks he loves me; which is why
I wonder; and my wonder must increase
Till more of it shall slay me. Yet I live,
I live; and he has never ceased to give
This glance at me that sweetens the whole sky.

Here is a nice Paschal poem from Alexei Roslavliev:

THE PASCHAL NIGHT

Springtime skies
Are deep and mellow.
Through the fence
Peep blooms of yellow.
As soon as bright stars
Light up the heaven, �
I�m out in the field
With thoughts of the Saviour.
From church to village,
Across the stream,
The bells their message
Afar will ring.
The winged flight
Of angels I�ll hear,
The Risen One�s steps �
He�s near, He�s near�
My orphaned soul
His light will embrace.
I�ll worship, O Lord,
Thy unseen trace.

Christos Voskrese!

Our CaelumJR writes and performs beautiful music.

He is so discriptive and poetic. One of his songs is about walking the Emaus Road, he so wonderfuly describes wanting God to be the way he wants him to be, and how on the road he was there. Another of his songs relate to the Dark Night of the Soul, he speaks of being on an escalator and what happens at the top, the glorius light.

I have their CD, it is really neat!

They truly use their gift of poetry/writing for evnagelization and the glory of God. From their site.....

As in any missionary enterprise, prayer and reflection formed the heart of our writing and recording. From the first moment, we began each session with a "Hail Mary" and an invocation to the Polish priest-martyr and the Little Flower. Icons of Christ and the saints were a constant presence for us.

Little did we realize, though, how influential our personal and musical dedication to these great saints would be in this project! Several key themes emerged as we wrote the lyrics of our songs.

Not surprisingly, these themes were very Franciscan, Marian and Theresian in nature, with an overall focus on the restoration of the Kingdom of God through true devotion to Jesus through Mary. Thus, we entitled the CD "New Advent: Restoration."

One example of these themes is the song, "Will to Love": This song was written from the perspective of young Raymond Kolbe as he received a vision of Our Lady offering to him both a white and red crown-purity and martyrdom.

You will also notice on the CD that reference is made to "an army arrayed in golden light." This army, whose leader is the "Lady" who offers him the crowns, represents St. Maximilian's Marian movement, the Militia of the Immaculata, in the "golden light" of the Miraculous Medal.

Other songs that we wrote for the CD focus on other important aspects of our lives as Catholics; including the Eucharist, the Cross, Total Consecration to Mary, the "Little Way" of spiritual childhood, holiness through the suffering of love, and mercy in the new millennium.

Our Holy Father has been actively promoting these messages throughout his pontificate, especially in light of his call for the "new evangelization."

While we are not professional musicians (Scott is a homeschool-ing father of six kids and a full-time nursing student in South Dakota; I am a homeschooling father of three kids and a full-time leadership development professional in the financial services industry.), our desire is to serve God and the Church humbly through our talents. In so doing, we hope to imitate more fully our faithful patron, Saint Maximilian. All for the Immaculata!
Here is the link to his home page http://www.consecration.com/FM04Feat3.html

Pani Rose

Here's a spring gem from Pushkin:

A little bird
In alien lands devoutly clinging
To age-old rites of Russian earth,
I let a captive bird go winging
To greet the radiant spring's rebirth.
My heart grew lighter then: why mutter
Against God's providence, and rage,
When I was free to set aflutter
But one poor captive from his cage!

Птичка
В чужбине свято наблюдаю
Родной обычай старины:
На волю птичку выпускаю
При светлом празднике весны.
Я стал доступен утешенью;
За что на бога мне роптать,
Когда хоть одному творенью
Я мог свободу даровать!

I received this in an email today from a special friend. I thought I would share it with all my special friends on the Byzantine Forum.


> Dear God,
> I'm writing to say I'm sorry
> For being angry yesterday
> When you seemed to ignore my prayer
> And things didn't go my way
>
>First, my car broke down
> I was very late for work
> But I missed that awful accident
> Was that your handiwork?
>
> I found a house I loved
> But others got there first
> I was angry, then relieved
> When I heard the pipes had burst!
>
>Yesterday, I found the perfect dress
> But the color was too pale
> Today, I found the dress in red
> Would you believe, it was on sale!
>
> I know you're watching over me
> And I'm feeling truly blest
> For no matter what I pray for
> You always know what's best!
>
> I have this circle of E-mail friends,
> Who mean the world to me;
> Some days I "send" and "send,"
> At other times, I let them be.
>
> I am so blessed to have these friends,
> With whom I've grown so close;
> So this little poem I dedicate to them,
> Because to me they are the "Most"!
>
>When I see each name download,
> And view the message they've sent;
> I know they've thought of me that day,
>And "well wishes" were their intent.
>
>
> So to you, my friends, I would like to say,
> Thank you for being a part;
> Of all my daily contacts,
> This comes right from my heart.
>
> God bless you all is my prayer today,
> I'm honored to call you "friend";
> I pray the Lord will keep you safe,
> Until we write again.
>
Happiness comes through doors you didn't know you left open.

Darrell Scott -

Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage,
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere,
And ask the question "Why?"
You regulate restrictive laws,
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand,
That God is what we need!

Recited before a stunned Congress of the United States in 1999

After all, as the Nicene Creed reminds us, God Himself is a poet! (Hint: check the Greek text of the Creed.)

Then there was the German scholar who spent 30 years of his life in an effort to prove that the Iliad was written, not by Homer, but by another blind Greek poet of the same name.

Incognitus

There is no greater body of poetry than the text of the Byzantine liturgies!

Stojgniev

Amen!

My favorite line is
"It pleased Him to be elevated upon that Holy Cross"