San Damiano

                                                  

San Damiano

"One day in the church of St.
Damian, he (St. Francis) hears
words spoken from the Crucifix:
'Go, Francis, and repair my
house; as you can see, it is
falling into ruin."
- Fr. Stanislaus Majarelli, OFM

The roses are in bloom at San Damiano.
Their scent bleeds into the air,
flows down from the hills,
floods the streets of Assisi
like the beggars who cry,
"Bread and stones,
bread and stones.''

In the shadowy cafe,
men sit
hearing to the calls.
One man spits and mutters a curse.
Another man begins a bawdy song
that pours out
into the darkening air.

At midnight: Silence.
Fog shrouds the streets
and snakes into the hills.

The hills rise above the fog
like islands in a dead sea.
And taller still
rises
San Damiano's half-built steeple
reaching toward
heaven.

Pax et bonum

God Bless The Grass - Seeger

Pax et bonum

Why I Write Poetry

Why I Write Poetry

Forget the legends:
On a frozen, sun-bleached February Day
a groundhog warily raised his head
in the field behind my childhood home.
He blinked in the white brilliance of the sun
sniffed the mint-cold air
saw me
and fled beneath the surface.

I dream of his return.

Pax et bonum

Two moons cinquain

two moons
rise above the
lunatic asylum
inspiring the Martian inmates
to howl

Pax et bonum

Franciscans can care for creation in many ways

Number 18 in The Rule of the Secular Franciscan Order is, "Moreover they should respect all creatures, animate and inanimate, which `bear the imprint of the Most High,' and they should strive to move from the temptation of exploiting creation to the Franciscan concept of universal kinship."

We are called to respect and care for creation. There are many ways we can do this. On a social/governmental level we can advocate for policies and laws regarding pollution, the treatment of animals, the use of natural resources, renewable energy, and more. How we do this can vary - becoming a public official or servant, voting for those who will seek to care for the environment, researching and writing about the issues, educating others, praying, and much more.

But we are also called to care on more local, more personal levels.



Recycling.
Reducing the waste in our own lives. 
Using reusable bags rather than plastic bags when we shop.
Where water supplies are safe, avoiding water in plastic bottles.
Driving less.
Being aware of how the food we eat is produced - especially being cognizant of how the animals we eat are raised and treated.

There are so many other things we can do.

In my own life, for example, I became a vegetarian after learning how much acreage was used to produce grain to fatten cows, resulting in less food being produced for people in a hungry world, about the destruction of the rain forest to produce more temporary grazing land for cattle, and about the nature of factory farming and how some animals are treated. Not everyone has to become vegetarian, of course, but cutting back on meat consumption is better for the environment - and our health.

In addition, whenever I go grocery shopping, I bring along my own reusable bags. When I shop at other places, if I have only a few items that I can carry I always decline a bag.

At work, I have a cup and fill it from the tap rather than use water in plastic bottles. When I go hiking, I try to fill a usable water container and drink from that rather than from plastic bottles.

I never drink coffee made from K-Cups.

During summer vacations - I'm a teacher - when I can I ride my bike to morning Mass rather than drive my car.

Yes, I know these are small things, but if enough people start paying attention and taking action it might change products and policies.

After all, as St. Francis told us, all things in creation are our Brothers and Sisters.

Pax et bonum

Currently reading ...

I'm in the middle of guiding students through two books - Mark Twain's Joan of Arc, and Rosemary Sutcliff's Black Ships Before Troy. They - and several magazines that came in, are eating up my reading time, but in between I'm reading Sigrid Undset's Stages on the Road. I've always wanted to read her Kristin Lavransdatter - there's a copy of it in my "book-to-read" pile - so I figured this  collection will be one way to begin reading her.

Not far in yet, but enjoying her spin on "State Religion" and Protestantism.

Pax et bonum

Governor Northam clerihew

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam
has reason to feel pretty glum.
How do you deny something that's come to light
when it's there for all to see in black and white?

Pax et bonum