AN INVITATION - POEM BY MARTHE G. WALSH

An Invitation - Marthe G. Walsh
a villanelle call to prayer

Let us talk with God, oh near friend of a friend,
Surrender, together, in love to this clear divine recognition:
Our voices, our choices, by One were given, with intent to attend.

If a silent response we were meant to send,
The Creator would have made us all mute, unable to petition.
Oh let us talk with God, near friend of a friend.

Sing with adorations, with errors contend,
Patience, praise, doubt, fear, idle tears, our Lord hears without condition.
Our voices, our choices, by One were given, with intent to attend.

In offering ourselves, on knees meant to bend,
We show that we know the need to mend, and just Who can grant remission.
Let us talk with God, near friend of a friend.

In this conversation we need not pretend,
Or try to amend, ask for another, seek peace in devotion,
Our voices, our choices by One were given, with intent to attend.

With you, with all, with God, is the point in the end,
To be in relation, in response full of meaning, with a mission.
Let us talk with God, near friend of a friend.
Our voices, our choices by One were given, with intent to attend.

The poem is from Marthe's collection, Heretic for a Loving God, and is used with permission.

ALL ABOUT ME

My Facebook friend Chris Fewings dashes off poetry the way the rest of us breathe, and he wrote the bit of verse about me when I used the Louisiana French term "lagniappe", which means a little extra, something like a baker's dozen. I think the poem is so lovely and funny that I wanted to share. Besides, it's all about me! What's not to like?

She's the sunshine in the twilight
The little extra in Louisiana
The slug of something stronger
Slipped into my champagne.
She's the sparkle in the bubbly
Her hubby's evening star.
She's the toast of all on Facebook.
She's the rainbow in the rain.

Chris Fewings 23-12-13

Chris writes very fine serious poetry, which may be found at the link above.  I especially like "Open Your Hand".

On his "About" page, Chris says, "Influences on my poetry include R S Thomas and George Herbert, among many others. (I hope that sounds impressive.) My tastes have become more catholic with age, so I now delight in light verse almost as much as in “difficult” poetry."  Perhaps he delighted a bit in the light verse about me.  I know I did.

JUAN COLE TRANSLATES OMAR KHAYYAM

Omar Khayyam (92)

by Juan

The sky is a belt
woven from our tattered lives.
The mighty river was formed
by all the tears
our eyes have shed.
Hell is a spark from our
searing pain.
Heaven is a breath
drawn from our
moments of peace.

Translated by Juan Cole
from [pdf] Whinfield 92

Juan blogs at Informed Comment.

JUAN COLE TRANSLATES OMAR KHAYYAM

OMAR KHAYYAM 15

As far as you can avoid it,
do not give grief to anyone.
Never inflict your rage
on another.
If you hope for eternal rest,
feel the pain yourself;
but don’t hurt others.

trans. Juan Cole
from Whinfield 15

Juan has posted a series of wonderful translations of Omar Khayyam's lovely peotry.

You may also consider reading his blog regularly for a dose of sanity on the situation in the Middle East, as an antidote to the scary, overblown rhetoric that is common in the media...not that the situation isn't scary, but, at the moment, I'm more afraid of what Israel or the countries in the West might do than I am of Iran.