Deny Separateness

A Lesson from Thomas Merton

May 20, 2020

Blue Jay sitting nigh

Notice me notice you and fly

from chain link fence to tree limbs nest

where love and purpose lie

I wrote this poem over the last couple of days while in quarantine. To protect my family, I’ve been isolating myself to the bedroom and backyard. We have a lovely yard, with tall pecan trees and a canopy of branches. The Texas summer is around the corner so I’ve been savoring the cool climate of the dawn. Blue Jays have made their nests in those branches and I’ve enjoyed watching them fly about. The males have been leaving the nest for food to take back to their spring chicks tended by their mothers. As I watch them fly to and fro I reflect on my inability to come within 6 feet of my children in order to protect them from contracting COVID19. I am no different than the Blue Jay. Our love for our children is the same. That’s where God calls home. This poem has been influenced by the lectures of Thomas Merton in an audible collection found on Hoopla, God Speaks to Each of Us: The Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke. Highly recommended ;)