It’s almost fall (aka poetry season), so I thought I’d get the poetic tinder going with an oldie from the archives.
This was originally written in 2013, revised multiple times, and then finally put in this form in 2016. The source? Thursday night Adoration at Our Lady of Victory in State College, PA.
Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is always a lifeline, but in that particular time of my life, it was even more so.
To Watch an Hour
The hour begins with a knee
to the carpet, concrete beneath.
Such is my heart at the start of this hour:
a coating of beauty above—
a world of stone below.
The knee connects and knows.
On the padded kneeler’s leather, however,
the soul drinks mercy through the bone.
Silence hangs like snow in the air
as the clearing of my throat and the rustle of my coat
sound amplified, obscene,
echoes of grief and grinding stone.
On high, suspended in glass
and glinting gold, wheat fibers
white and grooved, the face
of my Beloved veiled
and revealed at once.
Such is my soul at the heart of this hour:
I veil while my love reveals.
I am veiling with coat and scarf
and pew and altar, candle and monstrance,
coughing and clearing of throat, clicking of
beads, smacking of tongue
and lisping of grace—and my love
is in all things, revealing.
The hour ends as it began, with a knee
to the carpet, concrete beneath.
Yet stiller hangs the silence,
brighter burns the candle’s flame,
softer lies the stony beauty
unveiled in all He sees.
Beautiful! There’s something so special about adoration isn’t there? So quiet and peaceful and you feel like God is there just for you. Thanks for sharing!
You got it!