Natrional Poetry Month: Thomas Merton

Evening

(Thomas Merton)

Now, in the middle of a limpid evening,

The moon speaks clearly to the hill.

The wheatfields make their simple music,

Praise the quiet sky.

And down the road, the way the stars come home,

The cries of children

Play on the empty air, a mile or more,

And fall on our deserted hearing,

Clear as water.

They say the sky is made of glass,

They say the smiling moon's a bride.

They say they love orchards and apple trees,

The trees, their innocent sisters, dressed in blossoms,

Still wearing, in the blurring dusk,

White dresses from that morning's first communion.

And, where blue heaven's fading fire last shines,

Reflected in the poplar's ripple,

One little, wakeful bird

Sings like a shower

THOMAS MERTON (1915-1968) was a poet, Catholic theologian, social activist and Cistercian monk. His interest in Eastern religions was an outgrowth of his study of comparative religion and he initiated dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures including the Dalai Lama, the Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki, and the Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He published more the seventy books; Merton's life at the Abbey of Gethsemani near Bardstown, Kentucky was austere but his writing gained him a worldwide audience. He died while on a trip to Japan, by accidental electrocution, in 1968.