Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Fumbling Toward Grace

Home
Catholic
The Poem That Started It All: Poem A Day October

The Poem That Started It All: Poem A Day October

Last updated on: October 16, 2014 at 11:42 pm by Sarah Babbs

The Poem That Started It All: Poem A Day October 2014-10-16T23:42:09-04:00 Sarah Babbs

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’ve had the great good fortune of finding a poem that succinctly captures two of the most important moments in my life: the day I met my husband, and the moment our first child was born. I call these threshold moments. When something completely new is beginning. Sometimes we know, or at least think we know, what these moments will look like. Thankfully, we are usually wrong and some combination of God’s grace and our choices lead us places we never thought we’d go, or even want to.

Mostly, when I look back over the trajectory of my life, I’m surprised at how I got here. To this moment, with this man, and these tiny humans who call me mama. I look around at all of this joy, this chaos, this very life swirling around me and wonder how the woman who started this life with sorrow upon sorrow could have a heart so filled with love.

And I recall that cold February Chicago morning when I met him, standing on the steps of the Cathedral. It all started there. With a hello, and a rosary, and steaming mugs of coffee sipped slowly.

The beginning of this poem by Louis MacNeice encapsulates that day so perfectly. And I keep thinking it’s a poem about that moment when we met. When we looked at each other and felt that feeling…“At last, this one is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh”. The beginning that has no end.

But the end of this poem, oh the end. It is all my Margaret Gianna and the moment I heard her first cry, and saw her perfect body. “And life no longer what it was…”

Meeting Point

Louis MacNeice

Time was away and somewhere else,

There were two glasses and two chairs

And two people with the one pulse

(Somebody stopped the moving stairs)

Time was away and somewhere else.

And they were neither up nor down;

The stream’s music did not stop

Flowing through heather, limpid brown,

Although they sat in a coffee shop

And they were neither up nor down.

The bell was silent in the air

Holding its inverted poise –

Between the clang and clang a flower,

A brazen calyx of no noise:

The bell was silent in the air.

The camels crossed the miles of sand

That stretched around the cups and plates;

The desert was their own, they planned

To portion out the stars and dates:

The camels crossed the miles of sand.

Time was away and somewhere else.

The waiter did not come, the clock

Forgot them and the radio waltz

Came out like water from a rock:

Time was away and somewhere else.

Her fingers flicked away the ash

That bloomed again in tropic trees:

Not caring if the markets crash

When they had forests such as these,

Her fingers flicked away the ash.

God or whatever means the Good

Be praised that time can stop like this,

That what the heart has understood

Can verify in the body’s peace

God or whatever means the Good.

Time was away and she was here

And life no longer what it was,

The bell was silent in the air

And all the room one glow because

Time was away and she was here.

Poetry

Previous Post

October 14, 2014

Poem A Day: In Blackwater Woods

Next Post

October 20, 2014 There's Something About Mary: Poem A Day October

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 7 QT Beauty and Style Blogging Books Catholic Culture Family Funny Making House Poetry Social Justice The Children Uncategorized Various Women

Select a Month December 2018 October 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 April 2018 December 2017 November 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz