Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sunday Sabbath Poetry: Wendell Berry

Our weekend camping trip canceled by severe storms and tornadoes, it seems fitting (as it always is) to share a poem from Wendell Berry, who has has been absent from these parts for too long. This one is from his collection Given, and his third Sabbath poem from the year 2000. Enjoy.

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As timely as a river

By Wendell Berry

As timely as a river
God's timeless life passes
Into this world. It passes
Through bodies, giving life,
And past them, giving death.
The secret fish leaps up
Into the light and is
Again darkened. The sun
Comes from the dark, it lights
The always passing river,
Shines on the great-branched tree,
And goes. Longing and dark,
We are completely filled
With breath of love, in us
Forever incomplete.

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