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Christian : Catholic 20th Century	About Thomas Merton Timeline (1915 - 1968)
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Original Language English	Night-Flowering Cactus
Commentary by Ivan M. Granger Themes   Birds   Bliss   Garden   Night   Silence   Recommended Books The Collected Poems of Thomas Merton, by Thomas Merton Selected Poems of Thomas Merton, by Thomas Merton Thomas Merton Monk & Poet: A Critical Study, by George Woodcock A Thomas Merton Reader, by Thomas Merton / Edited by Thomas P. McDonnell	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.     -- from Selected Poems of Thomas Merton, by Thomas Merton Amazon.com
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Commentary by Ivan M. Granger

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.

Ivan M. Granger's original poetry, stories and commentaries are Copyright © 2002 - 2008 by Ivan M. Granger.
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