At no remove
A poem after St Juan de la Cruz "I entered in the Unknown"
What form do I take? What shape? I am of the earth Placed in this body Yet my soul sails It goes without Mantenido sin remover En profunda soledad “Held at no remove In profound solitude” St. John prayed -- each day I find myself again here (Perhaps here), such Is the unknown. Faced with one truth I wake again to quiet The I I know myself to be Transforming, and yet Still. Naught changes. The light fixed Yet color shifting Re-shading the landscape A hill erodes, yet still, earth rising. Sun sets. Moon rises-- I fall into shadow.
I found this poem in my Day One notes from May 17, 2021, along with a link to an article in American Magazine about St. John of the Cross, written by Lawrence S. Cunningham.
I don’t remember how I came upon the article or why I wrote the poem.
Though I’m no longer a practicing Catholic, I observe Lent. I feel connected to the unknown and to the silent questions. To the tests we give to ourselves and how we can answer them. St. John’s poetry spoke to me.
“God is not some object out there but an inexpressible mystery who is both near to us and beyond us and our imaginings and thought. …
“John says that the Father spoke one Word, which was his Son, and this Word he speaks always in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul. …
“John insists that God sustains every soul and dwells in every soul substantially … God is nearer to us than we are to ourselves.”
Ese conocimiento perfecto Era de paz y santidad Mantenido sin remover En profunda soledad. That perfect knowledge Was of peace and holiness Held at no remove In profound solitude. (from St. John's "Stanzas Concerning an Ecstasy Experienced in High Contemplation")