Poem by Harve Nichols
Can’t remember if
It’s the Year of Our Lord
1982 or 1983
It’s a lovely morning
The walk across
The Granolithic to
Be
Amongst Quakers
To be with
Friends
In silence
Once troubling
Not used to being
Without noise
Still without movement
Waiting to be moved
As a freshman confused for
As sophomore gaining in maturity for
This is not church
This is not praise
This is not worship
No choir
No clapping
No pulpit to
Silence
Hear the birds
Chirping
The screech
Someone’s coming
Mind over matter
It’s but an hour
Keep your eye on
Earl Fowler
When he moves
You move
Silence so
Shut up
Unless the spirit
Within has
Something to say
That’s one heck of a responsibility
To speak only if you have something worthwhile to say
How do you divinate
Interpret
Hope dancing
As a young man
Without laughing
As a grown man
There is power without
Words
Moments when the brain
Cannot process language
Who got expelled?
What led to someone being shunned?
What are
WE
Without community?
What’s going on in the world
Now?
What matters is
Right now
Matters but
Is this utopia?
The mind wanders
Grasps hold of pieces
What is it that I have to do today?
Game this afternoon
In the world, What is my place
Fragments begin to mend
But not heal
Ideas take shape
The paradigm shifts
Timelessness, Without weight etched into
Memory
Things you have no control over
Begin to fall into place
How to sit with
A wound that has
Yet to heal
The moment is
Difficult
Processing George
Floyd being murdered
The taking of
His life
How to keep
Urban fists
From flying
The spirit will not stop fighting
The body will die trying
This is Therapy
Mindfulness is the modality
How to return to
Center
While being off
Center and
Moved to
Speak
While she dances
No music
Just
Movement
We sat in a building
White walls
Plain wooden benches
Together
In silence
Unless moved by the spirit
To present
Meaningful Expression
Poetry is
Meaningful Worship
I thank
Dan Sanders
For this
One
Please consider before you comment
As you participate and comment on topics in this discussion, before you click submit, pause for a moment to reflect and listen deeply to Spirit.
Participation on this board is to be carried out in the spirit of Friends. This is a place to respectfully ask difficult questions, share experiences, feelings and perspectives around these issues, as well as to listen deeply to others and Spirit. Please be constructive and mutually respectful even in the midst of differing perspectives. The moderator retains the right to delete inappropriate comments.
Post a Comment