Thursday, December 19, 2024

Poem for Wednesday and High Crosses

Dark Night of the Soul 
By St John of the Cross 

Once in the dark of night,
Inflamed with love and wanting, I arose
(O coming of delight!)
And went, as no one knows,
When all my house lay long in deep repose

All in the dark went right,
Down secret steps, disguised in other clothes,
(O coming of delight!)
In dark when no one knows,
When all my house lay long in deep repose.

And in the luck of night
In secret places where no other spied
I went without my sight
Without a light to guide
Except the heart that lit me from inside.

It guided me and shone
Surer than noonday sunlight over me,
And lead me to the one
Whom only I could see
Deep in a place where only we could be.

O guiding dark of night!
O dark of night more darling than the dawn!
O night that can unite
A lover and loved one,
A lover and loved one moved in unison.

And on my flowering breast
Which I had kept for him and him alone
He slept as I caressed
And loved him for my own,
Breathing an air from redolent cedars blown.

And from the castle wall
The wind came down to winnow through his hair
Bidding his fingers fall,
Searing my throat with air
And all my senses were suspended there.

I stayed there to forget.
There on my lover, face to face, I lay.
All ended, and I let
My cares all fall away
Forgotten in the lilies on that day.

-------- 

I'm still sick and still cranky so I'll keep this short. Of my high school friends, only Kay could chat, but it was nice to talk to her when my throat and her internet permitted; afterward, we had lunch and I watched the second half of Marvel's Frost Fight and The Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special with Kristen. Then took a walk to the park, since it finally stopped raining. 

We saw bits of bowl games before the season finale of The Masked Singer, which ended as I had hoped pretty much all season -- right final two, in fact -- and spent the rest of the evening catching up on Doctor Odyssey, which is either epic crack masquerading as The Love Boat or has something else entirely going on. Back to Ireland because I found these lovely high cross details from Monasterboice:

2024-10-01 11.20.40

2024-10-01 11.20.53

2024-10-01 11.29.59

2024-10-01 11.25.54

2024-10-01 11.21.05

2024-10-01 11.31.44

2024-10-01 11.21.34

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