“I have drunken deep of joy,
And I will taste no other wine tonight.”
Percy Bysshe Shelley



Miriam: The Red Sea

High above shores and times,
I on the shore
forever and ever.
Moses my brother
has crossed over
to milk, honey,
that holy land.
Building Jerusalem.
I sing forever
on the seashore.
I do remember
horseman and horses,
waves of passage
poured into war,
all poured into journey.
My unseen brothers
have gone over;
chariots
deep seas under.
I alone stand here
ankle-deep
and I sing, I sing,
until the lands
sing to each other.

© Muriel Rukeyser, “Searching/Not Searching,” Breaking Open (Random House, 1973).

Easter

Rise, heart, thy lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him may’st rise:
That, as his death calcinиd thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and, much more, just.

Awake, my lute, and struggle for thy part
With all thy art,
The cross taught all wood to resound his name
Who bore the same.
His stretchиd sinews taught all strings what key
Is best to celebrate this most high day.

Consort, both heart and lute, and twist a song
Pleasant and long;
Or, since all music is but three parts vied
And multiplied
Oh let thy blessиd Spirit bear a part,
And make up our defects with his sweet art.

© George Herbert, The Complete Works (Everyman’s Library, Reissue 1995)


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4 Comments

  1. Easter blessing for you, Jamie!

    In spring slightly occurs
    the white blast.
    And the night bells shake
    the silence.
    Unquenchable is this waft
    of the candles in the hands sincere,
    the lips are touching up the sermon:
    “He is risen!”
    And
    The Light is making the leap –
    easy and warm.
    The Light – the breathing
    of the skin of Life.
    The Light – forgotten rhythm
    ready to stop.

    The Light –
    “He is risen!”

    Liked by 1 person

Thank you!