The olive garden is no place for blood
(nor is solitary prayer to the Father, though
this may furrow in us the desire)
but in dark hours the Heart is wrung
so hard
blood flows with the sweat of struggle
to surrender
the very instincts of being
to the perfect will of I AM.
The body staggers under the weight
of the will lifted up in sacrifice.
Comment by Ann
November 11, 2007 @ 6:15 am
It’s a moving, stark poem, economical with words but not with meaning..and the last two lines sum it up so beautifully. Well done, KT.
Comment by JustMe
November 11, 2007 @ 8:26 am
Yes, Ann, and its very brevity is simply riveting–I can’t say how many times I’ve come back and sifted it over my tongue again, like fine wine, for all the nuances. If you thought you weren’t done with this one, kt, I’d have to argue. It says, I think, the very core of Christ, and of us.
Comment by kathryntherese
November 11, 2007 @ 10:48 am
You are both very generous toward a poem that was written in about 2.5 minutes!
This is the first poem sprung from the Scriptural Stations. I think brevity is good for these - less is more, and leaves more room for God to speak.
I may use this rhymeless “formless form” for all of them…
Comment by Pia
November 11, 2007 @ 2:13 pm
I love rhymeless, formless form, and brevity too.
And olive groves. 
Comment by Gabrielle
November 12, 2007 @ 12:25 am
Lovely poem, kt.
Jesus’ blood and water came forth at the very beginning of His Passion, just as it did at the end, because of His Sacred Heart. When He was pierced with the sword, and blood and water poured out, we think now of Divine Mercy, don’t we. But there was Divine Mercy in the Garden of Gethsemane too; so much Divine Mercy being given to us by Jesus when He consented to do the Father’s will, and take our sins upon Himself.
Comment by JustMe
November 12, 2007 @ 1:17 pm
Amen, and even before that, blood and tears shed in His circumcision, that He may be one with all, atone for all. His sacrifice was total.
Comment by JustMe
November 13, 2007 @ 1:41 pm
“You are both very generous toward a poem that was written in about 2.5 minutes!” Well, all I can say is, many folks have been generous toward a person whose implanted creation took about 2.5 minutes, and God wasn’t visible at the time. Hence, I, like a poem, am to flower Him for others to see.
And I think one of your phrases here would make a marvelous short prayer/mantra: “Furrow in us the desire, Lord.”
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI
