Sunday, April 08, 2007

[WE ARE AN EASTER PEOPLE AND ALLELUIA IS OUR SONG!]
~St. Augustine


i thank You God for this most amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
~e.e. cummings


JBelle
Bellemaison
The 'Kan EWA

20 comments:

The Fool said...

Happy Easter, JBelle. I really like the thoughts encapsulated in this poem. It is a very proper reflection to begin this day with. This really hit for this "tasting touching hearing seeing breathing any-lifted from the no of all nothing-human merely being." Nice.

Kudos. And may you reap the blessing of the day, friend.

JBelle said...

and You as well. always.

MarmiteToasty said...

Happy Easter (((JBelle and Family)) Enjoy your day......

Sometimes, just sometimes I so wish I had a faith....... sigh..... been a very emotional reflective week this week........ love ya xxxxxxx

Carla said...

Happy Easter. I hope you have a wonderful celebration. Beautiful poem.

Christy Woolum said...

I love to poem. Good use of words and images. It will go into my collection. Happy Easter!

JBelle said...

yikes. I just committed a major blog foul. I didn't attribute this poem nor the title, both very famous in my mind and apparently quite obscure in the real world. Forgive me. They are so familiar to me and have been for most of my life that I thought everyone knew. The quote "We are an Easter people and Alleluia is our song" is St. Augustine (although the attribution is not definitive) and every year without fail, suits me perfectly. I love Easter. I may have mentioned that. :)

The poem, a glorious anthem of spring, renaissance and renewal, is e.e. cummings, one of my very favorites. I absolutely love this poem and if you all are listening, would you see that somebody says it at my funeral mass?

JBelle said...

Good Morning and Happy Easter,

The day started quite early as Joe Montana got up and got ready to serve mass at the Cathedral. We were able to linger in the shower a bit and I ironed black linen pantsuits. Spring is really here! We went downtown to mass at 6:30 am and all my little friends from noon mass that live at the retirement home waved to us from the pews as we walked in during the second stanza of "Jesus Christ is Risen Today."

Came home and the parents next door had their little kids out in their nightgowns feeding the ducks that have nested in their front shrubs. It was, honestly, an amazing sight as we drove up the street. We got busy in the kitchen right away, marinating chicken and preparing the world renoun "Hola Memphis", the breakfast speciality here at Bellemaison. I put the dish in the oven and saw the grandparents across the way whose daughter died of a massive heart attack while driving them downtown to dinner on Christmas Eve. I walked to the window and saw that they had a grocery sack completely full of colored eggs--they were hiding them for a hunt in their yard.They were all dressed up. It was 90;30 in the morning. Pain and Joy. Joy and Pain. You gotta sign for it all.

MarmiteToasty said...

A special day for sharing........today I found it hard to share my day but not my mind...

x

Anonymous said...

Happy Easter, my dear, dear friend.

Pain and Joy. Joy and Pain. You gotta sign for it all.

Better than anything you quoted here IMHO. Will you see to it someone says this at funeral?

You gotta sign for it all.
Amen.

--

PS...Lovely post, naturement.
:)

Anonymous said...

Heh heh heh. I forgot the word "my" before funeral. Freudian, perhaps, lol?

Guess I'm not wanting to go any time soon.
Mysteries abound.

Renewal, if only for this moment.

--

The Fool said...

St. Augustine rocked!

BurdockBoy said...

Crap it's Easter,
That's why the coffee shop was closed.

I remember one year or cat had kittens on Easter that was pretty cool. Talk about a new beginning.

Happy Easter to ya J.

JBelle said...

Augustine AND Aquinas rocked!

:)

MarmiteToasty said...

Wendy.... Funeral Shoes? LMFAO ROTFLMRSSO!!!!!!!!! x

Anonymous said...

I hope you had a splendid Easter, Jbelle. And thanks for sharing the noble sentiments of EE Cummings wit us.

crallspace said...

I must admit, I gave next to no thought about Easter this year.

raymond pert said...

e e cummings: very underrated in my book...so often thought of by the high minded as a novelty poet...i've heard lousy disparaging things said about him by the high and mighty in the ivory tower...or was that the dungeon? he's magnificent in this low and humble boy's book...hear the same things about Stevie Smith and i love her, too...same with billy collins...oh the pleasures lost to the high and mighty

The Fool said...

Happy Easter, JBelle! (Thurs. 4/12).

Obviously, I liked your explanation of the season...

JBelle said...

Winterrrs: e.e. cummings always makes it a better day from this seat in the stadium. So do you.

heeey Oregon: we got all kinds of room for you here. Thanks for stopping by. I think you have your certain holidays and the rest can slide by quietly: me myself? It's Halloween and Easter. Odd because winter is my favorite time of year. So where do you ski?

Raymond, hey: e.e. cummings. liked him my whole life. Shakepeare, too. Never been afraid of range nor diversity. I like both Shakespeare and cummings for the same reason: they are authentic. They both speak clearly to me. cummings quietly, William out of the corner of his eye and the side of his mouth, in a whisper, suppressing a laugh. but don't tell anyone. :)

JBelle said...

o You Foolish Thing! Happy Easter to You!