Dear friends,
Three poems to savour while holding a warm cup.

Contemplation to Attain Love

On a tropical afternoon more than a decade ago
I remember feeling a warmth
rise within my chest, a fire burning. This experience
consumed me with a sense of call. I woke with a new
consciousness of being loved, and began walking with
a profound sense of direction.

But I wanted more of that warmth,
with its tender, blessed light. I sought its
return, and, sometimes felt the heat
moving deep in my heart. And following such
persistent efforts, the experience was released—
the fire had become smoke.

In the years that followed, I found new images for a vocabulary
of encounter: water tumbling over rocks, mustard
seeds, and fertile soil in which to grow. I was invited to
rolling fields of conversation. In naming my experiences,
I began to behold the embrace of the giver
who kept sending sought and unsought gifts.

Sitting on my balcony one morning, sun hidden
behind great Winter clouds, I felt fresh warmth
resting within my lungs. I paused gently in stillness,
breathing in all these memories
breathing out appreciation
rising to now write it all down.

​

Ignatius

A leg broken in pieces
taught him the inexhaustible value
of a person’s health.

A year camping in a cave
led him to appreciate the courage
of daily resilience.

A few quiet moments by a river
and a lifetime’s fear left him.

Over conversation he made sense
of his experiences and soon
he was helping others do the same.

​

Becoming

Gratefulness stops to hear
the deeper melody of the day
take hold of my heart.
​
To awaken joy’s affections
is the task of the one who pauses,
waiting for life to yield its fruit,
holding on for tenderness to become gladness
and letting plenitude become praise.

Meanwhile the breeze,
set free by the river below,
moves the focus onwards.
Tomorrrow calls for planning,
and evening says its greeting.

I bask in the sun’s softened rays,
and am filled with warmth:
granted new insight into what was,
gifted an openness to what’s now,
and graced with hope for what will be.

​

With warm greetings,
James