THREE POEMS ON DISLOCATION AND PANDEMIC

Arts and Culture
Written By William Danaher
Photo from Unsplash.

Photo from Unsplash.

torn

let’s break ourselves open
let our insides out
the tender parts we hide and protect
the heart was never meant
to shelter in place
it heals
by bleeding

habeas corpus

o Lord
even if 
i cannot
taste
or touch you
as I have 

may
your Word
wet my lips
and 
feed 
my body 

rather 
than argue
with fate
let me 
feast 
on your 
mystery 

fill me
with wine
human hands
have not
made  

give me
bread
that alone
satisfies
my hunger
even
as it
leaves me
craving

sacrament

my hand shook
for no reason
the coffee 
ran around the rim
and leaping
from the cup
landed 
around me
as if 
I had 
baptized myself
or 
spilled a chalice
or 
was celebrating 
exuberantly 
but 
no such 
occasion
existed
except
the morning

William Danaher

The Rev. Dr. William J. Danaher is Rector of Christ Church Cranbrook, which is located in Metro Detroit. Previously, he was Dean of the Faculty of Theology at Huron University College, Associate Professor of Moral Theology and Christian Ethics at The General Theological Seminary, and Associate Professor of Theology and Ethics at Sewanee. His publications speak to the intersection of theology, ethics, and the arts.

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PSALM 119 AND THE WORK OF PRAYER: CONTEMPLATION (PART 4)