An on-line poet friend and cohort of mine, Richard Wells, from Bundle of HIS(S) has written yet another stunning poem. He wrote me and a few other friends this note about his process leading up to the writing of the poem:
Chaim Potok, in his Asher Lev books, writes that any artist worth his salt has to eventually deal with the Crucifixion. He was writing about painters, and specifically about an Orthodox Jewish painter (another plot thread because Orthodox Jews don't paint likenesses). I think Potok might have been thinking about Marc Chagall. As a writer, brought up in a Catholic household, I've also felt the need to grapple with that horrible scene...
Last bit of explanation is to say that I've had paintings on my mind, especially those incredible canvasses filled with winged and flying things, fingers pointing out of clouds, roosters on rooftops, and all manner of the fantastical grounded in real detail.
And when it was finished
A murder
of crows
fought
for the scraps
of his last words.
The sky
turned black
then red.
Judas knelt
and wept
alone
in the upper room.
The wind
swirled
shrouds
of dust
through
alleyways.
The Holy Infants
burst from their tombs
and tumbled above
the marketplace.
Three soldiers
in camos and balaclavas
snapped their steel wands
and pushed the crowd back...
To read the rest of this pilgrimage poem, click here.
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About Beth Patterson
The Virtual Tea House website became 'word-ripe' when, over a cup of jasmine green, I realized that the web has an expanding part to play in the communal aspects of spiritual growth.
With a master's degree in religion, my career spans 20 years in end of life care and I currently work in the field of child abuse intervention and advocacy.
Here in beautiful Central Oregon, my spiritual homes of the high desert and the mountains are both in proximity. And for good measure, four hours away is Grandmother Ocean and the stunning Oregon Coast.
I'm making decent progress on the goal set by my mother early on: she taught us that the goal of humanity should be to become ever-more eccentric, i.e. more fully human.
Entering the 'forest-dweller' phase of life, I am honored to host the Virtual Tea House for all who wish to explore how our lives are enriched and made new a thousand times each day by the spirituality we embody. Exploring this engagement together is the purpose of the Virtual Tea House.
Welcome! Let's have a cup of virtual tea together and share what brings us joy, what we are being taught by life, how we are leaning into the Big Questions posed to us each day in sometimes 'distressing disguises'.
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http://twitter.com/MyraB