Friday, July 22, 2016

Poetry Friday: Blessing When the World is Ending

I love Jan Richardson's work, and she posted a beautiful poem this week.  It begins this way:

Blessing When the World is Ending
Look, the world
is always ending
somewhere.

Somewhere
the sun has come
crashing down.

Somewhere
it has gone
completely dark.

Here's the rest of the poem.

And here's today's roundup.

10 comments:

mbhmaine said...

This brought tears to my eyes. Thank you so much for introducing me to Jan Richardson and this beautiful, powerful poem. It is one I will turn to again and again and share with friends.

Linda B said...

So lovely and helpful, Ruth. Jan Richardson is new to me, too, so thanks for sharing. "It will simply
sit itself beside you"-needed!

Irene Latham said...

This is really lovely, Ruth. I also clicked through to the Blessing for a time of violence and found it equally as lovely. Poems help, don't they? As do friends. Thank you. xo

Alice Nine said...

Thank you for sharing and introducing Jan Richardson. Blessing! So your post has made me stop and think... Blessing is part of the fabric of our lives. It's contained in our parting word "goodbye" which dates back to 13C "God be with ye." And I can't help but think of an often used "Bless you" when one sneezes. Or words of a patriotic song, "God bless America..."

Tara said...

Ah, Ruth - this is the poem for our time. We are sorely in need of blessing.

Tabatha said...

Thanks, Ruth. I got side-tracked by Jan's site so it took me a while to get back! I also liked her "Blessing in a time of violence," "Love is the most ancient law," and "Walking blessing."

Mary Lee said...

Thank you for this blessing. Much needed in our world.

Violet N. said...

Jan's poem is moving and so appropriate for these days. (And thanks for introducing me to her. It was your blog post about the Women's Christmas Retreat that was the handshake.)

Brenda at FriendlyFairyTales said...

That is a wonderful poem, and very appropriate for our confusing times. Thanks for sharing it, Ruth.

Heidi Mordhorst said...

I love the way the beginning, "Look," echoes our politicians' and pundits' shorthand way of saying, "The truth is unfortunate but I will attempt to speak it now." Sometimes they're sincere and sometimes that "Look," is patronizing and empty. In this poem Jan actually offers something, not grandiose but real and useful, to sit next to when the truth is unfortunate. Thanks, Ruth.