A Poem for the Heart of Darkness. For All Who Suffer Anxiety.

"A Light shines in the darkness . . . and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:5)

Brothers and sisters:
Rejoice in the Lord always.
I shall say it again: rejoice!
Your kindness should be known to all.
The Lord is near.
Have no anxiety at all, but in everything, 
by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, 
make your requests known to God.
Then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:4-7).

Winter Solstice

The chill creeps into the bones:
December 21 and sun gone long before 5 o’clock;
huge gray clouds roll in off Lake Erie
riding the Witch’s gale, spitting sleet and

fears as real and as organized as the swirl
of pin oak leaves down Lakeshore Boulevard.
This day, shaken by nameless fears,
seems to last forever:

I wonder how I will get through the next minute,
and the minute after that,
and the minute after that,

wonder if I can make it
until hope returns

until peace-which-surpasses-understanding,
as mysterious as winter solstice’s fear--
my heart standing still, turning cold,
my spirit abandoned--

until peace returns like grace like unexpected

gift.

                        Robert M. Coughlin

Winter Solstice Poem

Help each other out in this dark time! Be the Light that shines in the darkness!

Winter Solstice

The chill creeps into the bones:
December 21 and sun gone long before 5 o’clock;
huge gray clouds roll in off Lake Erie
riding the Witch’s gale, spitting sleet and

fears as real and as organized as the swirl
of pin oak leaves down Lakeshore Boulevard.
This day, shaken by nameless fears,
seems to last forever:

I wonder how I will get through the next minute,
and the minute after that,
and the minute after that,

wonder if I can make it
until hope returns

until peace-which-surpasses-understanding,
as mysterious as winter solstice’s fear--
my heart standing still, turning cold,
my spirit abandoned--

until peace returns like grace like unexpected

gift.

                        Robert M. Coughlin

New Poem--about Suffering

Stigmata

You have emerged from the dark tunnel

into the marvelous light--

a bit scarred, yes, marks of the crown of thorns there 

on your scalp, under your hair,

and on your feet, hands, and chest,

the marks of the stigmata--

very subtle, hardly noticeable really, O friend.

You have suffered a lot,

have seen too much of death.

You once told me, "Everyone I ever loved . . .

has died."

And, of course, you know that you and I

will follow that path one day ourselves.

You have emerged, with a wicked sense of humor

and deepened humanity. Forgive others,

and yourself, more easily now.

Those who've walked in the darkness

have seen a great Light.

This Light, of spirit, liveliness, strange grace,

shines in the darkness.

And the darkness cannot overcome it.

[Bob Coughlin / December 15, 2014]

William Butler Yeats and John F. Kennedy: The Light Shines in the Darkness

Below is part of a great poem written by WB Yeats. When I think of the killing of John F. Kennedy, I think of parts of this poem. Thanks be to God, evil has not prevailed.

The light shines in the darkness . . .
And the darkness has not overcome it! (John 1:5)

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)
       THE SECOND COMING (parts)

    Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity . . .
    
    And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
    Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?