The days are falling from the trees

"In such silence I hide,
a leaf released from the wind,
no longer anxious for the days that fall.
They must all fall. I know."
Karol Wojtyla, extract from Song of the Hidden God

The days are falling from the trees
Curled at the edges, different shaded covering the ground
And with the days tumble words of many kinds
Strong, sad, simple; forming piles to kick up
And discover the deepest meaning
Of the trunk of self as it irrevocably sheds its load

The days are falling from the trees
Like the letting go of love in the gentle breeze
A display of many-shaded brightness before
The stripping bare comes, comes slow
And then the downpour, and then the stillness
Of autumn pressing up against the soul

The days are falling from the trees
Revealing the structure bare against the skyline
The disintegrating heaps of weeks, months, years all mine
To have wasted, worked, whispered the wisdom
Stored in the roots, beneath bark, the rings within
Lord, may I be fully alive at the extremities until the final leaf falls

alms no more

As the monks marched through the streets of Burma’s cities leading the biggest antigovernment protests in two decades, some held their begging bowls before them. But instead of asking for their daily donations of food, they held the bowls upside down. The monks were refusing to receive alms from the military rulers and their families—effectively excommunicating them from the religion that is at the core of Burmese culture.

Cupid's Arrow

He has made My mouth like a sharp sword, In the shadow of His hand He has concealed Me; And He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver. Isaiah 49:2

The Price of Blood

How do we betray?

How do we turn from the Good?

Exchange the True for vapour,

And so hurriedly hide Beauty’s face?

Why can we not stay?

What moves us away?

How do we forsake so quickly the Forsaken One?

Track through the darkness to nowhere so fast

And so soon evening falls with those 30 pieces of silver

Onto the temple sanctuary stone

How do we betray?

Remorse swelling in the secret chamber, swirling

Nowhere to go, nowhere to hide

Judas didn’t flee to God

Judas didn’t fall to his knees

The chief priests and elders might as well have been made

Of that sanctuary stone

Judas’ confession fell in the fading light upon the ears

Of unrelenting, unforgiving selfhood

What is that to us? See to that yourself ...

Where else was there to go?

Jesus hand and foot was bound

Friend, do what you have come for ...

Tell me, how do we betray?

And when it's done there's a mighty flood no man can stop

The price of blood set by Israel’s sons

O tell me, why do we betray?

30 pieces of silver shining in the moonlight

The Lord’s blood brought

What is our price?

What have we paid?

Blood to cover the earth and all that man has made

In every place; brought back that day

As all of God’s wealth slipped through His fingers

Did we not see the grave danger?

The burial place for strangers emitting a reddish glow

In the receding sun

With Israel’s son, apostate

Swinging in the breeze

Of unrelenting, unforgiving selfhood