and now must
give away. We too
were born
for this. And we too
must lie
down on the white linen
and be broken in two.
We too must be
lifted up
from the wrinkled cloth
of our lives,
and in our elevation
be divided
and given.
Postcommunion
(John Donne)
When we awake from our very long dark dream—
from the black-and-white photos of our lives—
bring us, as you would a friend,
through that knobless door,
into a place of startling color
where there shall never again be darkness
swallowing us
nor a glare
that blinds
but one perfect light,
shining on each of us the same—
no noise
or disturbing us with its high whistle—
but music, settling
into a deep, secret place within us
where only music reaches—
no crippling fears,
nor unrealized hopes
but a place in which all will be
perfectly and sumptuously well—
no tremulous beginnings,
nor uncertain endings
but an eternity so perfect
we almost won’t believe it—
no tumult
that takes us up and wrings us out
in an instant
like a towel—
no grumbling
like the steady rocking
of a distant train
moving closer
but crystal air that surrounds us
as we are surrounded
when submerged
in clear blue water
that place toward which
we have been guided
—side-by-side,
hand-in-hand—
where we will not wear
our accomplishments on our souls
but rather smiles will be placed
where our wounds used to be.
Commendation
Take from him
whatever stains
even Communion
and devotion
can’t undo.
And let him
rise up—
if not today
one day soon—
from the ashes
we placed
so carefully into
the dark recess
of the earth
and left there
where the rain’s soaking
and the snow’s run-off
and the heat of high noon
cannot reach him
anymore.
Let him rise up
more beautiful
than he is
in those dreams
from which I myself
rise and stumble
toward a
slightly overcast
dawn.
Notes
Epigraph: W.H. Auden (1907-1973) Anglo-American poet.
Part I: Epigraph: Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844-1889) English poet and Roman Catholic Jesuit priest.
“The Feast of the Holy Cross”: “The ladder is long . . .” is from the hymn “As Jacob with travel was weary one day.”
“St. Hildegard’s Day”: St. Hildegard (1098-1179) was a German Benedictine nun and mystic; her feast day in the Episcopal Church is September 17.
“First Frost”: Wei Ying-Wu (737-792) Chinese poet.
“That Word”: Anna Akhmotova (1889-1966) was a Russian poet.
“Resurrection”: Yehuda Amichai (1924-2000) Israeli poet.
“Psalm”: Paul Celan (1920-1970) was a French poet.
“Descent”: Rainer Maria Rilke (1875-1926) was an Austrian poet.
“Agnes Dei”: R.S. Thomas (1913-2000) was a Welsh poet and Anglican priest.
“Postcommunion”: John Donne (1572-1631) was an English poet and Anglican priest.
About the Poet
JAMIE PARSLEY is a poet and an Episcopal priest. He is the author of eleven books of poems, Paper Doves, Falling and Other Poems (1992), The Loneliness of Blizzards (1995), Cloud: a poem in 2 acts (1997), The Wounded Table (1999), earth into earth, water into water (2000), no stars, no moon (2004), Ikon (2005), Just Once (2007), This Grass (2009) Fargo, 1957 (2010) and Crow (2012). He received his MFA from Vermont College and a Master’s Degree from Nashotah House Seminary. He serves as Priest in Charge of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Fargo. In 2004, he was designated Associate Poet Laureate of North Dakota. His website is www.jamieparsley.com.