What a lovely and inspiring painting--wow! Thank you for sharing your poem....and Malcolm's and Sarah's. I've none of my own about the visitation, but who knows? You've inspired me.
Melanie, this is a poem that gets at something deeply feminine and deeply mystical in the Visitation. It definitely stands up on its own beside Malcolm Guite, who I greatly admire. A perfect companion with the Windsock Visitation painting you feature here, a helpful tool while meditating on the Visitation on its own or as part of the rosary. Fantastic.
I love how you wove Pentecostal images throughout...especially this yea with such a late Eater and Pentecost.And that motto--This is the place of our delight and rest. What a benediction for the beginning of summer!
Thank you, Kortney. I'm so glad you noticed the Pentecost imagery. I've been finding myself more and more drawn to pondering the working of the Holy Spirit in my life, in the world, in scripture. I don't think at the time I wrote the poem I'd have made a conscious effort to include Him, but the red ribbons of the windsock reminded me of the tongues of fire and it felt right to honor that vision. I'm loving how apt this poem feels this year with the two feasts so close together. What a joy to have the Visitation fall in the middle of the Pentecost novena. I love it when things line up like that.
Oh I love the Visitation connection. I hadn't connected those dots. Such a wonderful feast. "But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart."
What a beautiful painting! Your words are a lovely accompaniment. Some of the lines I especially liked were "she feels the leaping baby push against / her own barely-felt roundness. Against / the butterfly flutter that she can only / just sense..." I like picturing them with strong hands and broad grins, comfortable with each other and at rest.
I hate I wasn’t able to read this yesterday! Your poem is like a beautiful Ignatian reading. I pray for the grace to continually seek delight and rest.
Thank you, Katy. I often feel that frustration at finding art or poetry a bit after the feast, that being the vagary of social media that doesn't quite step in time with the liturgical year. But I often come back to the same works of art year after year so that they eventually do become a part of the rhythm.
I hadn't thought of it before how ekphrastic reading and Ignatian reading are so similar. I've never done an Ignatian retreat, only read about the exercises, but I've always worried that if I tried it I might not be able to actually put myself into the scene. I almost need to be looking at a painting and writing a poem in order to get my imagination to go there. I'm going to keep thinking about that connection.
"I pray for the grace to continually seek delight and rest."
What a beautiful prayer. I love that response to the poem and painting! What a joy when art turns our hearts to prayer and love.
What a lovely and inspiring painting--wow! Thank you for sharing your poem....and Malcolm's and Sarah's. I've none of my own about the visitation, but who knows? You've inspired me.
Thank you for reading and commenting, Jody. If you do end up writing something, be sure to let me know.
Melanie, this is a poem that gets at something deeply feminine and deeply mystical in the Visitation. It definitely stands up on its own beside Malcolm Guite, who I greatly admire. A perfect companion with the Windsock Visitation painting you feature here, a helpful tool while meditating on the Visitation on its own or as part of the rosary. Fantastic.
Thank you so much David. Standing on its own beside Malcolm Guite is high praise indeed!
I love how you wove Pentecostal images throughout...especially this yea with such a late Eater and Pentecost.And that motto--This is the place of our delight and rest. What a benediction for the beginning of summer!
Thank you, Kortney. I'm so glad you noticed the Pentecost imagery. I've been finding myself more and more drawn to pondering the working of the Holy Spirit in my life, in the world, in scripture. I don't think at the time I wrote the poem I'd have made a conscious effort to include Him, but the red ribbons of the windsock reminded me of the tongues of fire and it felt right to honor that vision. I'm loving how apt this poem feels this year with the two feasts so close together. What a joy to have the Visitation fall in the middle of the Pentecost novena. I love it when things line up like that.
Oh I love the Visitation connection. I hadn't connected those dots. Such a wonderful feast. "But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart."
What a beautiful painting! Your words are a lovely accompaniment. Some of the lines I especially liked were "she feels the leaping baby push against / her own barely-felt roundness. Against / the butterfly flutter that she can only / just sense..." I like picturing them with strong hands and broad grins, comfortable with each other and at rest.
Thank you, Abigail. I love that those images spoke to you.
I hate I wasn’t able to read this yesterday! Your poem is like a beautiful Ignatian reading. I pray for the grace to continually seek delight and rest.
Thank you, Katy. I often feel that frustration at finding art or poetry a bit after the feast, that being the vagary of social media that doesn't quite step in time with the liturgical year. But I often come back to the same works of art year after year so that they eventually do become a part of the rhythm.
I hadn't thought of it before how ekphrastic reading and Ignatian reading are so similar. I've never done an Ignatian retreat, only read about the exercises, but I've always worried that if I tried it I might not be able to actually put myself into the scene. I almost need to be looking at a painting and writing a poem in order to get my imagination to go there. I'm going to keep thinking about that connection.
"I pray for the grace to continually seek delight and rest."
What a beautiful prayer. I love that response to the poem and painting! What a joy when art turns our hearts to prayer and love.