One of the sympathy cards we received in the week or so after Joseph died contained a verse by Australian Poet Michael Leunig . I was so affected by the verse that I included it on the back page of the funeral booklet, which was distributed at the service we held for him some nine weeks after he died.
Love is born
With a dark and troubled face
When hope is dead
And in the most unlikely place
Love is born:
Love is always born.
I guess is struck me, because the love we felt for Joseph, for our other children and from those who surrounded us and supported us so intensely in those earliest days, was overwhelming. It felt like Love indeed was born, renewed, raw & primal.
The lady who sent the original sympathy card was quite touched that we included this verse in the service booklet. We talked about how mighty this small poem was and we both seemed to 'get' the power behind these words. She mentioned to me that it was from a little book called The Prayer Tree, and the next time we saw each other, she gifted me her copy.
I devoured it in minutes and loved every word. One other poem that stuck out even more than love is born is this one:
God be with those who explore in the cause of understanding; whose search takes them from what is familiar and comfortable and leads them into danger or terrifying loneliness. Let us try to understand their sometimes strange or difficult ways; their confronting or unusual language; the uncommon life of their emotions, for they have been affected and shaped and changed by their struggle at the frontiers of wild darkness, just as we may be affected, shaped and changed by the insights they bring back to us.
Bless them with strength and peace.
AMEN.
I feel like I am a student in this class of life that no one wants to sign up for. I never put my hand up for it and I feel the loneliness of being the only one showing up for it every day. It's compulsory for me to attend now. I hope that once I get to a point of graduation (if that can happen), that I can share my learning with others and that those around me can be receptive to these insights and not have dropped out (away from me) for good.
PS - 'God' is a universal term for me.
That poem is wonderful. Thank you for sharing it. x
ReplyDeleteWow. That poem. I've never heard that before. I suspect if I had, I would have put that in my funeral booklet as well.
ReplyDeleteAnd your last paragraph really spoke to me as well.
I really am glad you're blogging, Kate. I think it does help to process the thoughts, especially in these very early days.
All my love to you.
xo
Beautiful poem. I hadn't read it before, thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI love both of those poems.
ReplyDelete"...shaped and changed by their struggle at the frontiers of wild darkness ..." WOW. Just WOW.
"Let us try to understand their sometimes strange or difficult ways; their confronting or unusual language; the uncommon life of their emotions, for they have been affected and shaped and changed by their struggle at the frontiers of wild darkness"
ReplyDeleteI should email that to all my friends! it speaks of our anguish so vividly does it not?...What I read in this is ~please be kind, these women have gone a little crazy~
Exactly Renel. I see it also as we are out there, learning these harsh lessons and while we may be 'crazy' for now, it won't be like that forever and one day we'll have so much more to offer. Kind of like the soup story where no one wanted to help make it, but once is was made, everyone wanted to eat it. If that makes sense? I'm very tired!
ReplyDeleteSally, I've always thought of Hope when I read the first poem, in fact, everytime I see the word 'hope' written, I think of her. Just can't help it. Michael Leunig is a wonderful and quirky writer I find. xoxo
Beautiful.. thank you so much for sharing it. I am in the midst of the lead up to Cullen's one year birthday.. I wish I had more to say.
ReplyDeleteIt's those unspeakable thoughts, the words that never come.
ReplyDeleteAre you doing anything on Sunday in rememberance Leslie?