Glorias
&
Assorted Praises






Religious Poetry

By Maja Trochimczyk





Sister Elia - In Memoriam




|| Back ||		 Illumination

I had an appointment with God
and kept it.

So I saw:

- a titmouse fleeing from twig to twig,
torn between curiosity and instinct,

- a red-fat robin with yellow beak
playing hop-scotch on the bricks,

- white tufts of flowers on bare branches,

- black tree-limbs intertwined
into clouds of pink blossoms.

Meanwhile:

- a wave of daffodils washed ashore, fainting,

- hyacinths fell to the ground, shot by rain,
(fragrant petals buried under moist soil),
- murdered tulips covered the sidewalk,
decapitated, next to the eternally faithful beauty
of plastic cups in the gutter,
- a lone dewdrop rose above the grass sea:
resurrected - or simply forgotten?

Still life
among the verdant greenery of the green.


|| Back ||


Cruci-fiction



It's never too far away:
Sometimes
At arm's length,
Sometimes a trace
on the horizon.

If you say 'no'
a fleur-du-mal will grow
where
garden of delight
should be.

|| Back ||


Mercy


Merciless charity
called Love
that pierces and exposes
the hidden shadows
in my heart -

Making my life unbearable -
making me ready
to become someone else

Someone who says
"Yes, and yes, Lord,
I will go, I will bring
your seeds.
I will plant them
in abandoned gardens,
amidst abundant fields
of weeds."

|| Back ||




Sheltered




he's riding the wave of his anger
- keep still
he's lost in the kingdom of nowhere
- breathe deeply

he's dangerous
- but love will protect you

you'll rest under her pink blossoms
shielded from him by a flowery armor
that can't be seen
so deep within you
hidden
in Christ

|| Back ||




Oblivion



Oblivion is the secret flaw,
not knowing is the key,
not seeing others' needs at all
where love and joy should be.

The Saviour prayed for grace for those
who don't know what they do.
Salvation comes too late, my dear,
the lifetime's gone, with you.

|| Back ||


Three Virtues



Into your hands I write it all
into your wisdom from before time
exploded into now and then.

You were, are, will, had, could have
in the conjunction of impossibility-

Amazing stillness welcomes those
who take their first (and only) step.

They will be carried for the whole way, trusting.

And where is the third one?

Lost? Forgotten under the barrage
of words that cover her with dust
and knowing? Here - touch my hand.

|| Back ||



The Cornerstone of the Soul



Fortitude:
Keep smiling. Grin and bear.

Prudence:
Choose wisely. Think and be there.

Temperance:
Don't take more than your share.

Justice:
Do what's right, what's fair.

The Four Cardinal Virtues:
The cornerstone of the soul.

Once you've mastered the steps,
New ones appear:

Faith: You are not alone . . .
Hope: And all shall be well . . .
Love: Where we are.

|| Back ||


Non Omnis Moriar



Non omnis moriar:
Only the best will remain.
Startled by beauty
I fly into the eye of goodness.

Only the best . . .
Wasted hours, words, signs,
Sounds and fake symbols.

Only:
Blue torrents of feeling
Crystallized in empty space
Twisted above our heads
Where light freezes
Into sculpted infinity

Oh,

If I could be there

Once

|| Back ||




Breathe a Song



Breathe a song of new life
sing the song of blood
circling through your fingers
dancing in your heart:

Your joy will know no limits
your ecstasy will last
now you know your promise
now you live...

The pattern's unfinished,
the spool keeps turning
weaving your colors:
you make the hues
of each minute.
you mix the paints.

I chose the blue -
without blemishes -
speckled with gold.

|| Back ||



Song of Praise



I'd like to know how to sing a song of praise
Kyrie eleison
I'd like to know what the ancient notes mean
Christe eleison
I'd like to be one of your chosen ones
so close to love, so full of light,
so shining in their imperfections -
windows to eternity
Dominus Sabaoth

|| Back ||




Gloria



it's so nice to be
glad
contentment knows no bounds
joy
grows from the fertile soil of
tears
spilled in a happiness that
love
only could bring back from the
dead
hours and evenings beyond
bliss
merging the end with the
start
in one magnificent moment

|| Back ||		 Of Bliss

I'm burning but I'm not burnt
In agony, but not yet dying
Light streams out of my heart
Filled into overflowing

Sounds of an ancient tongue
Trigger a glimpse of a time
When the rose and the flame were one
Wreath of fire which engulfed me

Dissolves into stillness

A white wave reaches its destiny
Of nothingness
The valley brightens
Under a shaft of sunlight

The air is sweetened with flutes
And harps (how obvious!)
A breath and a tinkle
Spill into silence

Love is no father, no mother
But this: perfection
Of all things in all
Feelings collapsed into one
Not a longing, really,
And not satisfaction

Perfect fulfillment:
All dreams.

|| Back ||

My New Love


My new love.
My new beginning.
My happiness that starts today,
This morning.

My sun that rises
High above me,
With rays reaching into
All my dark secrets,
With light burning through
All unseen sorrows,
With cleansing brilliance,
Healing warmth -

My love,
My God.


|| Back ||

An Afternoon
At the Getty

That afternoon I had a date
with Saenredam.

I wanted to take you with me
to this orgy
of loneliness and silence.

Together
we would walk into the ethereal
(delightedly small and insignificant
in the timelessness of Dutch churches)
But you had to catch a flight instead.

I heard the swan song.
I saw the gothic windows
with blue clouds above the altar
and three deer
shyly grazing on the green outside.

I went my way,
predestined
to be crushed by the weight
of the Divine.

|| Back ||

Seeing Madonnas
At the National Museum
In Warsaw


Gothic Madonnas with down-cast eyes
demurely
look within:

The infinity of love
spreads out the galaxies of laughter
amidst nebulae of bliss.

Happy overabundance
marks their cheeks
with a half-smile
of knowing.


|| Back ||


The Feast



The fruit is ready:
Come and gather.

The flowers are ripe
for the vase:
come, enjoy.

Don't mix up
melodies with colors,
chords with the warmth
of the body.

Eat and drink
in lucid delight,
my dearest.

The Feast of Love
has begun.

|| Back ||

A Hymn



For the gift of freedom
Praise God's Holy Name,
For the new beginning
Thank the One, True Love,
For the spring of joy
Sing the purest song
Of Love that was, is
And forever will be in you
With you, all around you.

Love the Love
Never doubt, hate, or cry alone
Love the Greatest Love
Praise God's Holy Name -
Alleluia!

|| Back ||


I'm in His Hands




I'm in His Hands.

We all are.

I'm safe forever
From evil
Words, deeds, intentions.

Nothing I may do
Will save me.

I just have to know
And smile.

I'm in His Hands.

|| Back ||


Admonition



Don't
be afraid,
Don't
let your fear
guard you
in the prison of insecurities.

I love you:
my love
will free you
from yourself.

Caritas
everlasting.

|| Back ||


The Wind


The hand of the wind
Was heavy upon us,
The house squirmed and rattled in its grip.

The wind swept the smog away
From the air that crisply shone
In the evening sun.

At Communion, the gale of the Spirit
Came to cleanse my soul
Of leftover passions, guilt and despair.

The hand of God rested on me
With the full weight of Love,
Given, taken, accepted freely,
Carried from the ends of the world
To the warmth of my home.

|| Back ||

A Promise



I will meet you
Half-way out of the self
On the road to fulfillment:

Here dreams dissolve
In a flaming moment of
- let's name it -
Beauty.

Look at me!

Someone's coming ...

Living Love.

|| Back ||

Not Up to Us



It's not up to us:
You know - "I gave the word,
I have to keep it" -
Not you: Someone else
will hold our hands together.

Someone else
will guard our steps
in darkness.
Someone else
will bring us peace
and wisdom.

It's time to reject that
ageless heresy of willing:

We shall follow in trust.

|| Back ||


River's Prayer



I've moved on.
I've danced away
into the distance,
to where I'm sheltered.

The river runs through me.
Naked, I've entered
its deceptive peace.

Violent waves of prayer
carry me off
to an unwanted place
Where the current will toss me
unexpectedly.

I'll find myself in obedience.

|| Back ||


Yesses



Yes, I'm here.
Yes, I'm in the holy of holies.
Yes, my eyes don't see the world
As it was.

The litany of affirmation
Moves one breath at a time,
One heartbeat.

Living is a burden
Only the select could carry
Through being less
For themselves,
Lost to the ordinary,
And lost again to any pride
Of their own.

How does one melt
The burning self-awareness
Into childish bliss?


|| Back ||


Now the Work



Now the work has started:
Dismantling walls.
Removing the circumference:
Only the center
Will remain (everywhere).

Giordano Bruno
Saw it.

St. Therese and Hildegard
Lived in it.

Countless heroes of the present
Breathe it.

I'm choking on my scrap
Of existential gloom,
While the walls crumble
Around me, revealing
Love's one freedom.

|| Back ||


The Secret



I guessed the secret
or was the answer
just given to me
(on a silver platter,
like John's head)?

No matter.

Now I'm knowing
the paths and the stars
and even purple starfish
illuminated by the Fish
beyond Time:
ICHTCHIOS.

Amo ergo sum.

|| Back ||


Perfect Universe



We live in a perfect universe
of what is,
right next to a galaxy of universes
of what could have been -
endlessly fascinating and desirable,
yet unnecessary.

A myriad of possibilities opens up
with every step, every gesture.

Choosing well: This is
"the narrow path."


|| Back ||

Love Defined



Amor
You are beautiful.
I love you.

Eros
You are beautiful.
I want you. I take you.

Caritas
You are beautiful.
I love you. I give you. . .

Agape
Beauty is Goodness is Truth is Love.

Or,
We are.





Elijah's End



And the curtains of fire opened.
And God walked through.
And I fell on my knees
Struck down by the might of his presence.

And the ground under my feet roared and trembled.
And God was with me.
In awe, I did not dare to look
Into the pain-filled beauty of his eyes.

And the gale changed into a breeze.
And God spoke in whisper,
Sweetly announcing
The end of the world as it was.

And the sun stopped in its tracks.
And the world exploded.
Filled with love, so much love,
It could not bear existing
For one more minute.

- now it ends -

- now it blossoms -

- now it grows again -



Dedicated to the memory of Franciscan nun, Sister Elia (Jadwiga) Maciejewska.

Poetry written in 1995-2007
Published by Moonrise Press, Los Angeles
Copyright (c) 2007-2009 by Maja Trochimczyk

P.O. Box 4288, Sunland, California 91041-4288.

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