Contemplative Haven

He who binds to himself a Joy
Doth the winged life destroy;
But he who kisses the Joy as it flies
Lives in Eternity’s sunrise.
[He Who Binds to Himself, by William Blake]

Autumn Closing (Bliss Carman)
The show is over, and the leafy tent
All gold and crimson where the sunlight lingered
Through the slow afternoon, is coming down.
The bittersweet is scarlet on the bough
Reluctant to be gone, though frosts have strewn
Patins of glory on the forest trails,
While tatters of torn splendour go to feed
The smoky bonfires in the village [...]

Wondrous truths, and manifold as wondrous,
God hath written in those stars above;
But not less in the bright flowerets under us
Stands the revelation of his love.
[From Flowers, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow]
 

Crown of Thorns

Bridal Wreath (Spiraea)

…the revelation of His love.

When you looked at me
your eyes imprinted your grace
in me;
for this you loved me ardently;
and thus my eyes deserved
to adore what they beheld in you.
[St. John of the Cross, The Spiritual Canticle, Verse 32]

The Last Supper
(by Rainer Maria Rilke)
They are assembled, astonished and disturbed
round him, who like a sage resolved his fate,
and now leaves those to whom he most belonged,
leaving and passing by them like a stranger.
The loneliness of old comes over him
which helped mature him for his deepest acts;
now will he once again walk through the olive [...]

Effortlessly (by Mechtild of Magdeburg)
Effortlessly,
Love flows from God into man,
Like a bird
Who rivers the air
Without moving her wings.
Thus we move in His world
One in body and soul,
Though outwardly separate in form.
As the Source strikes the note,
Humanity sings –
The Holy Spirit is our harpist,
And all strings
Which are touched in Love
Must sound.
Found on the Poetry Chaikhana site.
Si Bheag, [...]

Snow (by Louis MacNeice)
The room was suddenly rich and the great bay-
   window was
Spawning snow and pink roses against it
Soundlessly collateral and incompatible:
World is suddener than we fancy it.
World is crazier and more of it than we think,
Incorrigibly plural. I peel and portion
A tangerine and spit the pips and feel
The drunkenness of things being various.
And [...]

Sometimes just being there is enough
When words would be an encumbrance upon sacred silence
That lends itself so well to contemplation.
Sometimes just being there is enough
Presenting oneself, body, mind and spirit
In an act of trust
When Love pours itself out of a ruby-rimmed cup
And all of me fills with longing.
[Taken from:
The Blueness Above, by Ann Murray]
Please visit [...]

Normally when I use the tag “Canadian” on a post, it is with a sense of joy and a feeling of pride.  Sadly, this is not the case today, on our country’s 141st birthday. 
Today, to our eternal shame, the Order of Canada, the highest honour Canada awards to anyone, was presented to Henry Morgentaler (I refuse to [...]

The Prayer (by Jones Very.  American poet, 1813-1880)
Wilt Thou not visit me?
The plant beside me feels thy gentle dew,
And every blade of grass I see
From thy deep earth its quickening moisture drew.
Wilt Thou not visit me?
Thy morning calls on me with cheering tone;
And every hill and tree
Lend but one voice, – the voice of Thee [...]