PostPoems Be Artistic. Be Creative. Be Inspired!

I'm thrilled to know that I: I'm thrilled to know that I helped in any way, and wildly pleased by the good news. Seems your faith has been moving a few mountains lately. I can't tell you what an encouragement you are to me: your example of strength (You have more than you realize!) and your support for my work. You're an inspiration. God bless. 

Thank you.  You have: Thank you.  You have been instrumental in helping me to this understanding.  My reading of Glistening In The Dark led me to some prayers online at an Orthodox website, which led to this prose.  (So, I am happy and grateful to state, your poem stands like a great tower behind it.)  In less than twenty-four hours, Glistening has ministered to me in several ways.  It helped me to prepare for today's cardiological appointment at which I was expecting bad news, but God has blessed me with good results:  my blood thinness is out of the danger zone and thickness no longer threatens the function of my artificial valve (which, after fifteen years, continues to tick away efficiently).  Glistening has helped with this as well.

The most difficult, yet the: The most difficult, yet the most enlightened, guidance I can think of. But the most difficult path is also the most joyous when all is said and done. Few take the steep high road that leads straight into the realm of true peace and true freedom, but it's well worth the effort to, at least for a moment, step away from one's pride.   In the end, we can be right or we can be blessed.   You came to a very practical conclusion and stated the fact with clarity and wisdom when you wrote:   "The best way to deal with my perceived enemy is not to give that person any perception at all."   That was both clever and Christlike. No matter what others consider to be your offense, a grand gesture of Divine kindness puts you in the company of saints. This is supported by every ancient holy book and every love-based faith.   Joining you in prayer and friendship in the noblest of goals.   Peace and every blessing to you.  

Who doesn't love reading: Who doesn't love reading experiences that take them to another place?   The place you swept me away to was one of sensuality, nature and myth, and every step of the way you stirred the senses, sculpted earthy ambience and sparked human desire, primal and untamed.   Mesmerizing.   The siren is a huntress and her prey is doomed, but for one alluring, gorgeous moment, there was eloquent fire conjured in your gifted hands.   Starward's praise was well deserved.   Your pen is a wand!

I'm deeply troubled by the: I'm deeply troubled by the situation that is bringing you such anxiety and anguish. Sending prayers, compassion and positive energy now.    That my poem granted you comfort is the greatest reward I can imagine. Thank you for expressing your gratitude in your usual sincere and stunning way. Always the poet!   I'm also gratified that you extracted the essence of my work and then interpreted it with wit and insight:   "this fear, and the pain, do not have the final word, or even any kind of victory."   I'm humbled and filled with immeasurable gratitude for all your encouragement.   It would take volumes to express it.   God bless.

Once a Tom Sawyer and at: Once a Tom Sawyer and at another Huck Finn, finally wonder if each one ends up like Old Jim. at least that's one way a life may go, playing all these parts. Perhaps we could add Huckleberry Hound to to mix. A thought provoking poem. Thanks for the read.

First, I thank God that,: First, I thank God that, despite my medical condition, I have been blessed to live long enough to have read this poem---which is not only highly theological, but so deeply speaks to my own situation, both to comfort me and to remind me that, too often, I have relied upon feelings, not my Faith, when things get tough.      I am not going to put this poem to my usual analysis of a Patrician poem because, frankly, the poem towers above that so that anything I would have to say in my usual way would sound trite in the face of this great poetic blessing that the poem delivers.  A blessing both spiritual, literary, and partaking of the utmost verbal quality:  this is the kind of poem that only Patricia is qualified to write.  She combines both her cosmic and what I would call her local vision (the barn owl, the trees, the view of the moon), a combination she presents with unprecedented artistic and verbal finesse, which no one---and I mean, absolutely no one---can imitate.  In this poem, she not only matains the excellent quality of her previous poems, but she ministers to those readers who, like me, feel overwhelmed by their burdens.      Her use of the words love and light allude to Aoostle John's theology, and, while I would never presume to speak for the great Apostle, I have the distinct impression that he, too, would be mighty impressed by this poem.  As would be Dante and Eliot.         I am facing another painful medical procedure, unscheduled yet, but I expect to be told when during a phone call tomorrow.  And then, as it normally goes, my fear (yes, of the pain, one of the worst I have ever experienced) will begin to mount upon my back, and laugh in my ear, and make ugly faces at me.  But I have this poem to remind me that this fear, and the pain, do not have the final word, or even any kind of victory.  In this way, Patricia's poem is more than a poem---it is the conveyor of blessing and encouragement from the throne of God, and it is a reminder that we are here on this earth together, and have been created to minister to each other.     Thank you, Patricia, for posting this beautiful, powerful, spiritual, and ministerial poem:  I know that, when I face this next procedure, your poem will remind me, before I go, that the fear and pain will not get the better of me.  Thank you for that.