Friday, February 27, 2009
How He Left (poem)
How He Left
(for John O’Donohue, Who Departed Early)
He already knew all he needed to know.
He had plumbed the depths,
met the strange forms below,
captured their wisdom.
When dawn broke,
the birds caroled
their knowings
into his ear.
He listened,
and understood,
meaning behind the sounds.
The winds carried him
to unmarked places,
revelation swept
over him
until he was filled
like a holy vessel
with radiance
from the ancient source.
These gifts found meaning
in what he gave to others:
the world was his parish,
humanity his flock.
His words fed many.
When his time came,
he acquiesced gracefully
and departed like a bright lantern
carried upward on the currents
into the final light
above.
Dorothy Walters
(for John O’Donohue, Who Departed Early)
He already knew all he needed to know.
He had plumbed the depths,
met the strange forms below,
captured their wisdom.
When dawn broke,
the birds caroled
their knowings
into his ear.
He listened,
and understood,
meaning behind the sounds.
The winds carried him
to unmarked places,
revelation swept
over him
until he was filled
like a holy vessel
with radiance
from the ancient source.
These gifts found meaning
in what he gave to others:
the world was his parish,
humanity his flock.
His words fed many.
When his time came,
he acquiesced gracefully
and departed like a bright lantern
carried upward on the currents
into the final light
above.
Dorothy Walters
February 26,2009
