« Previous | Main | Next »
Already a Prayer ~ Poetry Thursday
June 21, 2007
The Fragile Case ~ Canon 30d
Pray to whomever you kneel down to:
Jesus nailed to his wooden or plastic cross,
his suffering face bent to kiss you,
Buddha still under the bo tree in scorching heat,
Adonai, Allah. Raise your arms to Mary
that she may lay her palm on our brows,
to Shekhina, Queen of Heaven and Earth,
to Inanna in her stripped descent.
Then pray to the bus driver who takes you to work.
On the bus, pray for everyone riding that bus,
for everyone riding buses all over the world.
Drop some silver and pray.
Waiting in line for the movies, for the ATM,
for your latte and croissant, offer your plea.
Make your eating and drinking a supplication.
Make your slicing of carrots a holy act,
each translucent layer of the onion, a deeper prayer.
To Hawk or Wolf, or the Great Whale, pray.
Bow down to terriers and shepherds and Siamese cats.
Fields of artichokes and elegant strawberries.
Make the brushing of your hair
a prayer, every strand its own voice,
singing in the choir on your head.
As you wash your face, the water slipping
through your fingers, a prayer: Water,
softest thing on earth, gentleness
that wears away rock.
Making love, of course, is already prayer.
Skin, and open mouths worshipping that skin,
the fragile cases we are poured into.
If you're hungry, pray. If you're tired.
Pray to Gandhi and Dorothy Day.
Shakespeare. Sappho. Sojourner Truth.
When you walk to your car, to the mailbox,
to the video store, let each step
be a prayer that we all keep our legs,
that we do not blow off anyone else's legs.
Or crush their skulls.
And if you are riding on a bicycle
or a skateboard, in a wheelchair, each revolution
of the wheels a prayer as the earth revolves:
less harm, less harm, less harm.
And as you work, typing with a new manicure,
a tiny palm tree painted on one pearlescent nail
or delivering soda or drawing good blood
into rubber-capped vials, writing on a blackboard
with yellow chalk, twirling pizzas--
With each breath in, take in the faith of those
who have believed when belief seemed foolish,
who persevered. With each breath out, cherish.
Pull weeds for peace, turn over in your sleep for peace,
feed the birds, each shiny seed
that spills onto the earth, another second of peace.
Wash your dishes, call your mother, drink wine.
Shovel leaves or snow or trash from your sidewalk.
Make a path. Fold a photo of a dead child
around your VISA card. Scoop your holy water
from the gutter. Gnaw your crust.
Mumble along like a crazy person, stumbling
your prayer through the streets.
-Ellen Bass
Indeed, making love is already a prayer ~ many of us know this ~ but love's most potent prayers are to be found in seemingly insignificant, invisible acts of quiet generosity ~ peaceful prayers, perched upon the humble beams of simple kindness.
Love is a skill which can be learned. If you find yourself unskilled in the prayers of love, then by all means practice. Put away the unspoken excuses and elaborate rationales describing the myriad ways love has hurt you. Dive in. Take the risk. Your fear of unencumbered loving and what it will do to your life ~ turn it upside down ~ change you entirely from the inside out ~ is what keeps you tangled in the nightmare, grasping on blankets of security.
Love is a skill which can be learned. Practice love in the face of your fear. Summon the courage! Awaken to the boundless compassion inside of you. Your life is prayer waiting to happen.
If you've never heard of Ellen Bass, this could be the moment to begin devouring her work. Visit her site and read more poems from her newest book entitled The Human Line. Of course, there's a wealth of poetry to found at Poetry Thursday today.
Posted by susan at June 21, 2007 12:00 AM
Comments
I love this: "each revolution of the wheels a prayer as the earth revolves: less harm, less harm, less harm." Ellen Bass is unfamiliar to me; thank you for the link.
Posted by: Star at June 21, 2007 4:07 AM
How very raw and beautiful Susan. I'd never read her work either and will check out her book. Hugs to you.
Posted by: jayne at June 21, 2007 6:34 AM
When I was in college, I took an overnight field trip with my class on Medieval Monasticism to a convent in nearby Conneticut. It was a very traditional convent: the nuns all wore full habits (a thus-habited Nun riding atop a huge tractor remains one of the most striking visual images of the trip), they sang services in Latin (we attended even the one in the wee hours of the night), most of them were cloistered...
The thing that struck me most about those few women we were allowed to meet was the joy and peace that surrounded them. They were happy because their whole lives were a prayer. I have been envious of that ever since, and there's a part of me that wishes I was Catholic so I could go live in that convent, too -- even a temporary retreat, say a few months or a year, just the chance to experience what I saw on the faces of those nuns.
The poem you posted reminds me of that longing, but in a hopeful way. I don't need to cut myself off from the life I'm already living (no matter how appealing that might be somtimes!) in order to live my life as a prayer. Thank you for this: I think it will help me to find something I've wanted for a long time.
Posted by: Stace at June 21, 2007 11:27 AM
Susan -
Nice image! The poem was also captivating.
I celebrate the world, and try to find, understand, and not disturb unduly -- the balance... that is how I 'pray'... to use the word of this poem.
Thank you for sharing!
Posted by: Rob Kistner at June 21, 2007 3:11 PM
All we do is prayer if we think and proceed with each breath and action with that in mind. Taking the loving path is our choice each minute and it is ever so much nicer that the envious, hateful, whinney, power hungry, obnoxious path. Love sooths, affirms, kindles equality and happiness. Thank you for a poem so filled with truth.
Posted by: janet at June 21, 2007 4:51 PM
This poem gives much to think about. Thanks. Beautiful photo too!
Posted by: gautami at June 21, 2007 11:45 PM
"Your life is a prayer waiting to happen." That's my favorite line of this whole post. So true.
Posted by: candy at June 22, 2007 8:37 AM
Susan,
This poem was fabulous and I will go read her other stuff. Thank you for the link. Your photo was a lovely prayer. WOW
Posted by: Tammy at June 22, 2007 10:16 AM
