Oh Sweet Irrational Worship
by Thomas Merton
Wind and a bobwhite
And the afternoon sun.
By ceasing to question the sun
I have become light,
Bird and wind.
My leaves sing.
I am earth, earth
All these lighted things
Grow from my heart.
A tall, spare pine
Stands like the initial of my first
Name when I had one.
When I had a spirit,
When I was on fire
When this valley was
Made out of fresh air
You spoke my name
In naming Your silence:
O sweet, irrational worship!
I am earth, earth
My heart’s love
Bursts with hay and flowers.
I am a lake of blue air
In which my own appointed place
Field and valley
Stand reflected.
I am earth, earth
Out of my grass heart
Rises the bobwhite.
Out of my nameless weeds
His foolish worship.
{ 3 comments }
What a beautiful poem!
..”Out of my grass heart
Rises the bobwhite…”
Thanks for starting my Sunday so eloquently.
yes, right with you Annie–
“when I had a spirit”
“out of my nameless weeds…”
thanks Beth, for the breath of newness…
It’s the picture that caught me; another magical one you’ve shared, Beth!
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