After a God

Photo credit: xenia from morguefile.com

The man I love most says one day 

he will take a ballpoint pen and connect

the stars across this freckled

scoop of chest and milky way.

We’ll cross the slope

of pale belly and name

the new constellation after a god

who shows people

all the places they might shine.

~ Jenny Browne

_______________________________________

Faith consists in being vitally concerned with that ultimate reality to which I give the symbolical name of God. Whoever reflects earnestly on the meaning of life is on the verge of an act of faith. ~ Paul Tillich

After a God

Photo credit: xenia from morguefile.com

The man I love most says one day 

he will take a ballpoint pen and connect

the stars across this freckled

scoop of chest and milky way.

We’ll cross the slope

of pale belly and name

the new constellation after a god

who shows people

all the places they might shine.

~ Jenny Browne

_______________________________________

Faith consists in being vitally concerned with that ultimate reality to which I give the symbolical name of God. Whoever reflects earnestly on the meaning of life is on the verge of an act of faith. ~ Paul Tillich

The Pure Loneliness

Photo credit: ozden from morguefile.com

Late at night, when you’re so lonely,

your shoulders curl toward the center of your body,

you call no one and you don’t call out.

This is dignity. This is the pure loneliness

that made Christ think he was God.

This is why lunatics smile at their thoughts.

Even the best moment, as you slip

half-a-foot deep into someone you like,

sinks through the loneliness in it

to the loneliness that’s not.

If you believe Christ hanging on the cross,

his arms spread as if to embrace

the Father he calls who is somewhere else,

you still might hear your own voice

at your next great embrace, thinking

loneliness in another can’t be touched,

like Christ’s voice at death answering Himself.

~ Michael Ryan

___________________________________________

Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone.
~ Paul Tillich

The Pure Loneliness

Photo credit: ozden from morguefile.com

Late at night, when you’re so lonely,

your shoulders curl toward the center of your body,

you call no one and you don’t call out.

This is dignity. This is the pure loneliness

that made Christ think he was God.

This is why lunatics smile at their thoughts.

Even the best moment, as you slip

half-a-foot deep into someone you like,

sinks through the loneliness in it

to the loneliness that’s not.

If you believe Christ hanging on the cross,

his arms spread as if to embrace

the Father he calls who is somewhere else,

you still might hear your own voice

at your next great embrace, thinking

loneliness in another can’t be touched,

like Christ’s voice at death answering Himself.

~ Michael Ryan

___________________________________________

Language... has created the word "loneliness" to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word "solitude" to express the glory of being alone.
~ Paul Tillich