. for public domain
Fourth and Walnut, so fine, so chic,
what a place for God to speak,
or for that matter, Satan too.
Both would like a word or two.
So Merton opened up his soul,
as if standing on a knoll
in his Kentucky, US of A,
offered up his heart that day.
God's Love came pouring like a stream,
drowning Satan's evil scheme,
and Merton went out with the tide,
to choose the better life inside.
Categories:
merton, religion,
Form: Rhyme
I love Paul Merton
I just wish he'd keep his shirt on....
Stop flexing his pecs
In front of Ant n Dec,
Even Vladimir Putin shows more respect
To the long suffering viewer;
Paul:- climb out of the sewer,
Resist the urge to flash
Your naked rippling torso
You're rightly famous cos you're so
Frivolous and witty
It would be a real pity
If your elegant urbanity
Was eclipsed by this inanity,
The soul of wit is brevity
So confine yourself to levity
And keep that sex god bod, son
Securely wrapped in cotton -
Think of all the panel shows you've got on
Whilst staying fully clothed
In doublet and hose,
The paps dont need to see your nipples
It just creates unnecessary ripples
In the light entertainment pond
You are never going to star as Bond!
Stick to your faintly surrealistic reflections
On whether Cumberpatch keeps Capons,
And for pity's sake Merton
Just keep your blooming shirt on!
Categories:
merton, appreciation, humorous, men, social,
Form: Light Verse
Just As Big A Crook
Are all the Republicans;
Not release tax returns.
Obviously, they are afraid
of what tax returns will
reveal as well as checking
out his relationship with
Russia and release of all
medical records. He has
cancer and is going to
die in the next 90 days.
Merton with his law has
always been right. "Define
a situation as real, and it
is real in its consequences."
We are suffering each hour
of our discontent. His big
mouth should be sealed
with cement.
James Serious Mysterious Horn
Retired Veteran and Roving Poet
Categories:
merton, allegory, analogy, anger,
Form: Haiku
In order to know and love God as He is, we must have God dwelling in us in a new way, not only in His creative power but in His mercy. Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation.
Nothing I could do
would ever be enough
to make the dead-wood
live. Though the wind
and rain sever bright leaves,
tender blossoms from
the cherry tree, and the
birds themselves fly
from my anger,
I know
I could never
make it right,
though with tears I flood,
nourish with a
broken heart’s blood
I am powerless.
Yet still these bruised stems,
thicken and split
to bud, spill green life,
fill the earth
with mercy
and love.
Categories:
merton, anger, forgiveness, love,
Form: Free verse
“It is that life itself, fully awake, fully active,
fully aware that it is alive. It is spiritual wonder.”
Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
+++++++++++++++
Dark rain penetrates
tender leaves, swells spirits, sparks
dormant roots to life.
Like a god, Your star
ascends; with wonder and grace
shines Your mighty face!
Categories:
merton, creation, god, life, night,
Form: Haiku
“….it is a sea of Love which flows through the One Body....”
Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation.
The sea of Love
fills my lungs
courses through
open fingers
warms glowing
heart, pulses
blood-lines
through diaphanous
skin.
In in the surge
of mother-sea
I wait
and grow
and emerge
into who
will be.
Categories:
merton, children, love, mother,
Form: Free verse
‘No clock: only the Heart’s blood. Only the word.”
“I think poetry must,
I think it must,
Stay open all night
In beautiful cellars” Thomas Merton, A Book of Hours
***
High round windows
over wide glass doors
fill with night;
The world’s gone to black,
to void,
to nothing.
Can you hear your whispering blood?
- surge of surf, wind in dark trees
alive - alive -
so arise now and go
down the noisy steps
to the beautiful cellar,
to the poetry.
Categories:
merton, night, poetry,
Form: Free verse
“In an age where there is much talk about ‘being yourself,’ I reserve to myself the right to forget about being myself.” Thomas Merton
When I look into the mirror
I see the perfect mime,
moving left or right, mimicing
my vanity as I comb thinning hair,
check wrinkled skin for new blemish,
try figure out who I am;
but when I look into your eyes
I see long drives, mountain roads
rising to clouds, ocean mist
washing clean the highest pines
as the eastern sky
grows bright with
morning.
Your eyes
enfold me.
Like the rising sun,
your love renews
my aging day.
Categories:
merton, introspection, love, morning, self,
Form: Lyric
“Cannot be named
Cannot be found,”
For in this effort--this person
Into non-Tao becomes wound.
The Tao was before time’s beginning.
The Tao is not found in complex systems,
But is revealed by listening to the heart,
To the oneness of all living things,
The honoring of all beings.
There is the start!
For the Tao has been
Endowed by nature to all.
Therefore, no need for grasping.
The Tao is to be found
In the silence between breaths,
By seals in the waves
Jumping in play,
By a caring hand on a
Fevered brow, there is the Way.
Father Merton wonders
Did St Francis join with the Tao,
And the Buddha sitting under the Bodhi tree
Who showed
A way to end suffering
Brought on by attachment to anger,
Delusion and greed.
Thus the way of Tao, simplicity,
Release attachment to things.
The Tao has been called “Mother
Of all Truth and Life.”
This humble person must stop
For all this explaining is non-Tao
So she will stop
She will stop right NOW!
Referenced in many ways: “The Way of Chuang Tzu” by Thomas Merton.
Categories:
merton, philosophy
Form: Rhyme