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Poetry
Chaikhana
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About Thomas MertonTimeline (1915 - 1968) |
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Original Language |
Night-Flowering Cactus
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I know my time, which is obscure, silent and brief
For I am present without warning one night only. When sun rises on the brass valleys I become serpent. Though I show my true self only in the dark and to no man (For I appear by day as serpent) I belong neither to night nor day. Sun and city never see my deep white bell Or know my timeless moment of void: There is no reply to my munificence. When I come I lift my sudden Eucharist Out of the earth's unfathomable joy Clean and total I obey the world's body I am intricate and whole, not art but wrought passion Excellent deep pleasure of essential waters Holiness of form and mineral mirth: I am the extreme purity of virginal thirst. I neither show my truth nor conceal it My innocence is described dimly Only by divine gift As a white cavern without explanation. He who sees my purity Dares not speak of it. When I open once for all my impeccable bell No one questions my silence: The all-knowing bird of night flies out of my mouth. Have you seen it? Then though my mirth has quickly ended You live forever in its echo: You will never be the same again.
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Thomas Merton is using the cactus flower, its secret blooming and its association with the serpent, as a metaphor for the sacred experience. It rises from the serpent (Kundalini Shakti) in secret. It is unnameable, of the void. It lifts you into ineffable joy. It is a totality, a wholeness. It is pure, innocent, virginal, yet open to all creation. It is perceived as a whiteness, a hidden cavern or well, or cup. It is an engulfing stillness and silence. Indeed, you will never be the same again.
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Ivan
M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright ©
2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
All other material is copyrighted by the respective authors, translators and/or
publishers.