The 60-Second Sabbath

waiting

  • O Antiphons: Desire of Nations

        O come, Desire of nations, bind        in one the hearts of humankind,    bid thou our sad divisions cease,        and be thyself our King of Peace. The world, worn and weary,barely able to rise from bed each morning,tired of grieving… Continue reading

  • O Antiphons: Wisdom

        O come, thou Wisdom from on high        who orderest all things mightily;    to us the path of knowledge show        and leads us in her ways to go. Wisdom approaches,and I hope, with her arrival,to walk… Continue reading

  • Something to Be Said

    There is somethingto be saidfor standingon your own two feet. There is moreto be saidfor kneelingon your own two knees. Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Empty

    "This morning,"she said,hands wrapped for warmtharound her coffee cup,"I woke up empty." "Empty?" he asked,spoonful of All-Branhalfway to his mouth."Empty as in…how?"For him,empty could be good, like Zen:    open,    clear,    ready.Or empty could be sad, like death: … Continue reading

  • What Waits Within

    The blooming roselives within the bud,the blood-red tulipwithin the dormant bulb,the canopy of sheltering leaveswithin the bare branch braced    against the raw winter wind. What then waitswithin you? Text and image © 2013 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • Missing Winter

    Where are you winter?Where the scouring windsand white-rimed leaves,hold-overs from last season's arboreal couture?Where the leveling whiteness,the inward-driving respitefrom summer's relentless restlessness? Where are you winter? Our warm outerwear waits in darkness,wondering, worried;a feeling of abandonment settles like duston the… Continue reading

  • For Bonnie

    Somewhere in the city,this dark September morning,before light infuses the eastern sky,before the crows stir and lift and caw their way back into the day,someone I knowkeeps watch at the bedsideof her dying sister. This sister, the one hovering near… Continue reading

  • The Gates of Patience

    I grab the rusted barsof the gates of patience–"Let me in! Let me in!I need so badly to be patient!" I continue, until,exhausted,I collapse against the ancient iron.I gasp, "I will simply wait here until they open." While I sleep,the great… Continue reading

  • The Door of Stillness

    I slam my fist.I slam my fist,I slam my fistagainst the door of stillness. Why deny me entrance? It finally occurs to meto sit in stillness,until stillness welcomes me. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading

  • The Border of Language

    I like lurking at the border of language,where the tongue blurs, slurs with vagueness. I hover here at the brink of Eden,eager to taste my own marrow. Text and image © 2012 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved. Continue reading