Could Bring (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, published in Summer Fireflies, edited by Ruchi Acharya, Wingless Dreamer Publisher, 2022. From April 30, 2021, Great and Holy Friday in Orthodox Church. Feast day of The Passion Icon of the Mother of God, of (above) Saint Marie Guyart of the Incarnation, Saint Apostle James (brother of Saint John), Blessed Hildegard the Empress, and Saint Onenn of Brittany. On Jewish calendar is 18 Iyar, the Haisidic holiday Lag BaOmer. Poem is today's NaPoWriMo poem. Image from here.)

Could Bring

Thank: is related phonetically to think 

as song is to sing --compiled from 

etymonline's think and thank

Thank is to think as song is to sing. Makes a mind
wonder what this day could bring, if thoughts were to
land on a splendored thing. Splendor as in
shine. Ray given just now. Now enough. Or rather
now knowing, it is enough. Thank is to think as song is
to sing. Makes a mind wonder what this day could bring.



*From prompt: freewrite as inspired by etymology of word thank, from Lisa Freedman's Breathe/Read/Write of April 16, 2021.

Prayer of the Nightingale (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, published in Dulce Poetica, edited by Ruchi Acharya, Wingless Dreamer Publisher, 2022. From April 30, 2021, Great and Holy Friday in Orthodox Church. Feast day of The Passion Icon of the Mother of God (above), of Saint Marie Guyart of the Incarnation, Saint Apostle James (brother of Saint John) and Blessed Hildegard the Empress, and Saint Onenn of Brittany. On Jewish calendar is 18 Iyar, the Haisidic holiday Lag BaOmer. Image from here.)

Prayer of the Nightingale

(a legend of the nightingale as restorer of one's Spirit-song)

The old ones remember.

The Holy One told them,

blessed be He. And we've 

seen it and it's true:

The hunted, their song

is first to go.

Some are hounded more than others,

by the greed, the lies. 

He didn't tell us why. 

"You can help", He said. 

Well we aren't exactly lions. But

what could we say? He is truth.

And mercy too. 

So the old ones they show us

the notes to bring. 

Such a tiny thing. 

A breathless night,

a song outside the window.

Will it be a psalm? A hymn? A lullaby?

We choose our prayer carefully.

And sometimes it happens.

A branch is there,

right there in the heart,

and we alight.

To plant the notes

to echo

through life.

A Sabbath song, Candlelight.

We cannot stop the hunt, 

He didn't tell us why.

But we can lighten the flight.

Because He sent us,

blessed be He. 

He who remembers.

He who keeps. 

When Nature Sings (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, April 30, 2021, Great and Holy Friday in Orthodox Church. Feast day of The Passion Icon of the Mother of God, of (above) Saint Marie Guyart of the Incarnation, Saint Apostle James (brother of Saint John) and Blessed Hildegard the Empress, and Saint Onenn of Brittany. On Jewish calendar is 18 Iyar, the Haisidic holiday Lag BaOmer. Image from here.)

When Nature Sings

(that's how you'll know it's a holy day)

Holiday: 1500's, earlier haliday (c.1200), from 

Old English haligdaeg "holy day, consecrated day, 

religious anniversary; Sabbath" -from etymonline.com

We lesser ones*, we have our Saints.

Through the generations. Through splash and 

chirp and nuzzle of fur, we remember. And we 

sing it. That's how you'll know--

it's a holy day.

Some say it's the feasting, the gifts and the 

plans. But we lesser ones know it's the Saints.

Who wake with God, put our hand in His. 

From the dawn to this very moment. And

no one's left out. Our first ones, Adam breathed

their names. Our second ones Noah held. And 

ever has been our sacred dove, hovering

over the waters. Bearing sister olive. Here

still, Sacramental Grace. And well,

there's our ox and donkey, and cows and bees,

and too many Saints to count. But here's what 

counts: Always He's been with us. Always

our Saints have pointed. Always to our

Lamb of God, our God and yours. And so

that's why we lesser ones, we have our Saints.

Through the generations. Through splash and

chirp and nuzzle of fur, we remember. And we

sing it. That's how you'll know--

it's a holy day.

*Lesser ones is simply a traditional Native American term used to distinguish God's other creatures from man.

How To Be a Dinosaur (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, April 30, 2021, Great and Holy Friday in Orthodox Church. Feast day of The Passion Icon of the Mother of God, of Saint Marie Guyart of the Incarnation, Saint Apostle James (brother of Saint John) and Blessed Hildegard the Empress, and Saint Onenn of Brittany. On Jewish calendar is 18 Iyar, the Haisidic holiday Lag BaOmer (above). Image from here.)

How To Be a Dinosaur*

Well, it's easy. 

Eat only what you can taste.

Close your eyes to listen deeply.

Look at what's in front of you, not on a screen.

Mull things over. Tell stories. 

Write letters. Actually mail them. So

someone can hold them. Hold the 

hand of someone who needs you. 

How to be a dinosaur? 

Well, it's not so easy. 

Talking with someone he's checking his

phone. Wishes you'd text him instead. He's

got things to do, moves faster than you. 

After all you're only a dinosaur.

Why be a dinosaur?

Well, it's bound to be asked. Truth is,

the world needs something. Something

real to hold to. But don't worry we'll 

be here. We're easy to catch up with. 

After all, we're only dinosaurs.

*For my Joseph-- my favorite dinosaur

Before Opening (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, a poem revisited April 29, 2021, feast day of above Saint Endellion (Cenheidlon in the original Welsh; legendary Goddaughter of King Arthur), and of Saint Catherine of Siena. Poem is today's NaPoWriMo poem. Image from here.)

Before Opening

Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD... -Isaiah 1:18

Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall

be whiter than snow. Fill me with joy and gladness;

let the bones which Thou hast broken rejoice.- Psalm 51:7-8

All wrapped, a gift for the

present. In dewed heart, in

drought. "Come now", He said,  

"let us reason together."

Song for a deeper listening.

Washing white as snow.

Rejoicing the bones.

As notes take form, to 

hold. Hold you as you hold

them. Holiness. Only

not as the world tries. Not

alone without Him. But

come now, and

let us reason.

Together.

Midwife's Prayer (WC)

  

Wendy Cabell, April 28, Wednesday of Holy Week in Orthodox Church. On the Jewish calendar it is 17 Iyar, commemorating the raining down of "bread from heaven" (manna),  which would sustain the Israelites through their exodus through the desert (1313 BC, see Exodus 16). Feast day of Blessed María Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, Saints Theodora and Didymus, Saint Gianna Beretta Molla, Saint Louis Marie Grignion de Montfort, and Blessed Marie-Louise Trichet. Poem is today's NaPoWriMo poem. Image from here.)

Midwife's Prayer

(a short variation for novena, to Blessed Maria Felicia of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament)

In rural Paraguay in 2002, a newborn who spent 20 minutes without signs of life after the umbilical cord was cut was declared dead after attempts to revive him failed. A nurse at the scene then prayed for the intercession of “Chiquitunga” [Saint Maria Felicia; Chiquitunga is pet name for her small stature] and the baby came back to life [resulting in the Saint's beatification]... The last words of Chiquitunga, who took the Discalced Carmelite habit in 1955, were: “How happy I am! … What a joy to meet my Jesus! … Jesus, I love you, what a sweet encounter! Virgin Mary!" - from The Catholic Sun 

 

Holy Maria Felicia please send 

new life from above, a Breeze 

to sweep this heart with love. 

Help me in my intentions this day--

heartell that Love She makes a way. 

Amen.

Nightwatch (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, April 26, Monday of Holy Week in the Orthodox Church. On the Jewish calendar is 14 Iyar , the Second Passover /Pesach Sheini (rooted in the events of Numbers 9, in 1312 BC). From Tzvi Freeman's Wisdom to Heal the Earth, "Peach Sheini: A second Passover, for those who missed the first./ Because no matter what you were doing yesterday, today is a whole new day." Also feast day of Our Lady of Good Counsel (above), and of Saint Rafael Arnáiz Barón. Poem is today's NaPoWriMo poem. Image from here.)

Nightwatch

          And hear the Black Maria

          Searching the town at night.

          - W.S. Graham

"Listen. Put on morning", She says. Listen,

I stop there, for now. What soundflow

waves have long washed over

unsung? And still,

" Listen

Put on morning",

She says. Birds trill outside the window

not to be outdone. My words aching to hold some soft

warmth of Sun. To listen, window slid open, to morning.

*From prompt: freewrite as inspired by W.S.Graham’s Listen. Put On Morning--which line also used above; Lisa Freedman's Breathe/Read/Write of April 16, 2021.

Cloud-Cover (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, April 23, 2021, feast day of Saint George and Saint Alexandra the Empress. Poem is today's NaPoWriMo poem. Image from here.)

Cloud-Cover

Therefore, since we are surrounded by 

so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also 

lay aside every weight… –-Hebrews 12:1

Earth it shifts, where
Saints have trod,
gentility donned
as harshness shod.
Tis by footprints that
I see my God.
Earth it shifts
where Saints have trod.

* from hybrid prompt: Visio Divina with Johanne Vermeer's Girl with a Pearl Earring, from Spiritual Tools for Artists with Janice Azira and Evan Clendenin (Saint Placid's Priory, Lacey, WA), April 22, 2021; and next day  Lisa Freedman's Breathe/Read/Write prompt to freewrite, in the spirit of Earth Day, something sparked by thinking of our Earth.)

Echoes (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, composed April 21, 2021, feast day of the Holy Infant of Good Health, Our Lady of the Rosary (Phillipines) and the Conceptionists. . Poem is today's NaPoWriMo poem. Spurred by a need to ground/hold some reflections on the Saints, using an acronym as means. Image is of April 20th's Saint Agnes of Montepulciano, from here.)

Echoes

(what's their secret?)

Softly

Eternity

Cradles,

‘Round

Echoes in

The soul.

Coming Clean (WC)

 

(Wendy Cabell, April 14, 2021, feast day of the above Vilnius Icon of the Mother of God, and of Saint Lydwina of Schiedam. Poem is today's NaPoWriMo poem. Though prompted from Sunday's Breathe/Read/Write with Lisa Freedman, poem is also a sort of touchstone for recent 'Be transformed by the renewing of your minds' retreat via Precious Blood Renewal Center (Liberty, Missouri). Image from here.)

Coming Clean

Laundry: related to laver in 

French and lavar in Spanish - to wash.

Travel: to journey , from travail (1300) 

to make a journey, originally to toil, labor 

(see travail). –Etymonline.com

 

Can't travel till get the laundry done, scoured

path so can think straight, journey on.

Can't travel till get the laundry done, it's flow

feet need, if they'll journey at all.

Can't travel till get the laundry done,

unless it's to Water we pilgrimage. In

that case, can't do the laundry

till we journey. Sigh of relief,

journey on.

*From prompt: freewrite as inspired by etymology of words laundry and travel; from Lisa Freedman's Breathe/Read/Write, April 11, 2021

Mother-Love Prayer (WC)

(Wendy Cabell, April 6, 2021, Bright Tuesday (the Tuesday following Easter). Today is also Nissan 24 on the Jewish calendar, the day (in 1313 BC) the first Shabbat (Shabbos) was instituted and observed. As well, feast day of Saint Platonida of Nisibis and Blessed Catherine Pallanza. Poem is today's NaPoWriMo poem... for its prelude day and first eleven days (Holy Week and Bright Week) am crafting a novena of sorts with short prayer poems. Image from here.)

Mother-Love Prayer

(a short variation for novena, to Saint Sarah the Matriarch)

For when Sarah was alive, a lamp burned from erev Shabbos

      to erev Shabbos, a blessing was present in the dough, and a 

cloud hung over the tent. - The Tent of Sarah, Aish.com

 Holy Sarah please send

Mother-Love from above:

       Shabbos Flame, 

          Holy Bread, 

            Shekinah.

Help me in my intentions this day,

 Each moon 's gifts to ever stay.

              Amen.