{"id":275,"date":"2009-06-02T14:13:09","date_gmt":"2009-06-02T14:13:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2009\/06\/drew-dellingers-poem-on-thomas-berry.html"},"modified":"2009-06-02T14:13:09","modified_gmt":"2009-06-02T14:13:09","slug":"drew-dellingers-poem-on-thomas-berry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/06\/drew-dellingers-poem-on-thomas-berry.html","title":{"rendered":"Drew Dellinger&#8217;s Poem on Thomas Berry"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Given the negativity that so easily can come to seem the defining feature of this society, it&#8217;s good to be reminded of why so many of us push back against the forces of dark ignorance.&nbsp; <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.drewdellinger.org\/\">Drew Dellinger&#8217;s<\/a> poem is a wonderful statement of why, and a reminder to us all that good people of great wisdom are found in every spiritual community.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><br \/>\n<font><b>Carolina Prophet&nbsp;<\/b><\/font>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br \/><b>&nbsp;<br \/>Poem for Thomas Berry&nbsp;<\/b>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>we were dreamed<\/p>\n<p>in the cores<\/p>\n<p>of the stars.<\/p>\n<p>like the stars,<\/p>\n<p>we were meant to unfold<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>we were dreamed in the depths<\/p>\n<p>of the undulating ocean.<\/p>\n<p>like the waves,<\/p>\n<p>we were meant to unfold<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>like bursting supernovas, birthing elements,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>which crucibles give rise to creativity?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>the world makes us<\/p>\n<p>its instrument.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Father Thomas,<\/p>\n<p>speaking for stars, in a voice<\/p>\n<p>old as wind: &#8216;origin moments<\/p>\n<p>are supremely important&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>what are the origins<\/p>\n<p>of a prophet?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>found in syllables of Sanskrit,<\/p>\n<p>or Chinese characters?<\/p>\n<p>in a decade of midnight prayer?<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>in childhood epiphanies<\/p>\n<p>rising like heat?<\/p>\n<p>blue Carolina sky;<\/p>\n<p>dark pines;<\/p>\n<p>crickets;<\/p>\n<p>birds;<\/p>\n<p>sunlight<\/p>\n<p>on the lilies,<\/p>\n<p>in the meadow,<\/p>\n<p>across the creek.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>born in Carolina<\/p>\n<p>on the eve of the Great War,<\/p>\n<p>Saturn conjoining Pluto in the sky.<\/p>\n<p>raised in a world of wires and wheels,<\/p>\n<p>watching dirt roads turn to pavement.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>brooding intensity,<\/p>\n<p>measuring loss<\/p>\n<p>when others could see only progress.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>white hair communing with angels of Earth<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Father Thomas, reminding us<\/p>\n<p>we are constantly bathed in shimmering memories<\/p>\n<p>of originating radiance<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>we are constantly bathed in shimmering memories<\/p>\n<p>of originating radiance<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>the psychic stars:<\/p>\n<p>the conscious soil:<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>this thin film of atmosphere;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>and only gravity<\/p>\n<p>holding the sea from the stars.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>when a vision of the universe takes hold<\/p>\n<p>in your mind, your soul becomes vast as the cosmos.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>when the mind is silent,<\/p>\n<p>everything is sacred.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>like the spiral<\/p>\n<p>like the lotus<\/p>\n<p>like the waves<\/p>\n<p>like the trees<\/p>\n<p>like the stars,<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>we were meant to unfold.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Given the negativity that so easily can come to seem the defining feature of this society, it&#8217;s good to be reminded of why so many of us push back against the forces of dark ignorance.&nbsp; Drew Dellinger&#8217;s poem is a wonderful statement of why, and a reminder to us all that good people of great&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,112,106,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-art","category-nature","category-pagan-culture","category-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Drew Dellinger&#039;s Poem on Thomas Berry - A Pagan&#039;s Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/06\/drew-dellingers-poem-on-thomas-berry.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Drew Dellinger&#039;s Poem on Thomas Berry - A Pagan&#039;s Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Given the negativity that so easily can come to seem the defining feature of this society, it&#8217;s good to be reminded of why so many of us push back against the forces of dark ignorance.&nbsp; 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