Splitting the Darkness is a collection of poems written primarily while the author was living in Boston for eighteen months. An appropriate subtitle might be "Prayer by another name" as the theme of prayer runs throughout the book, which is unashamedly written from a Christian perspective. The poems reflect the people and places that have inspired or challenged the author but also reflect the continuous awareness of things spiritual and of the relationships that have been the poet's foundation. Other subthemes might be described as awareness and appreciation, which are, of course, "prayers by another name"
Splitting the Darkness
By Brian CallanTrafford Publishing
Copyright © 2013 Brian Callan
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4907-1850-7Contents
1. Candle Light, 1,
2. White Blanket, 2,
3. Prayer Room, 3,
4. Your Chair, 4,
5. Nicola, 5,
6. Two Roads, 6,
7. Yesterday's Fall, 8,
8. Aware, 9,
9. Art Songs, 10,
10. Worthy, 11,
11. Blackfoot Tribe, 12,
12. Smile of Poverty, 14,
13. Auschwitz, 15,
14. Quiet Place, 16,
15. Always There, 17,
16. The Text, 18,
17. Hand in Hand, 19,
18. Prayer Tree, 20,
19. Stone Walls, 22,
20. The Prize, 23,
21. Terminus, 24,
22. Slipped Away, 25,
23. Pebble, 26,
24. Misplaced Mission, 27,
25. No Answers, 28,
26. Choice, 30,
27. Mendenhall Glacier, 31,
28. Disappointment, 32,
29. White Stone, 33,
30. Cageless, 34,
31. On a Plane, 36,
32. Circular Signposts, 37,
33. Milestones, 38,
34. Stolen Moments, 39,
35. Walled Garden, 40,
36. Offering, 42,
37. Another World, 43,
38. Dance, 44,
39. Pennyblack Prayers, 45,
40. Window, 46,
41. Seeing the Trees, 48,
42. Stopping, 49,
43. Words, 50,
44. Forgiveness, 51,
45. Walking, 52,
CHAPTER 1
Candle Light
The candles are all different
But the light is the same
Different shapes, sizes, colours
Some burn still while others dance
Some have fragrance, others none
But the light is the same
Splitting the darkness
Like those of us who gather to pray,
Different in so many ways
Ages, colours, countries
But the light is the same
Splitting the darkness
Just by being here.
White Blanket
The sky is falling gently down
Slowly over a sleeping town
Painting it Winter white
In a mirror full of moonlight,
Delicate designs dropping
In a descending dance,
Drifting towards the day
Purifying the present
With white powder prayer,
An array of tiny white dots
Covering a gray world,
Like a people in prayer
Because You are there.
Prayer Room
Ardfallen
I felt like a fountain
Overflowing with thankfulness,
Appreciation,
Just to be there.
Thoughts bubbling over
Catching the written prayers of others,
Prayer tree, prayer board, prayer pictures,
Making them my own,
Falling into a deeper pool
Than I ever knew was there
Immersed in unspoken care,
A holy place in a holy week
Walking without shoes
On the floorboards of reflected love,
Of a people bowed in prayer
Gathered in care
Just glad to be there.
Your Chair
Nicola—December 1994
Jan did not want to move your chair.
To rearrange the furniture
Would be to rearrange your life,
You filled her day
Taking an unequal share
That is no longer there.
Jan loved to feed you
To choose what you would wear
And for so very long
You were her softest song
The music of her life,
The centre of her day,
The edge of her night,
Jan did not want to move your chair,
To move might interrupt the prayer.
Nicola
December 2012
The Autumn trees are bare
Having cried their leafy tear
For another year,
Under a sky filled with the sea.
The colour has not yet broken into Winter
And you are gone away again
Without seeing your first Spring.
Your beautiful eyes
Did not focus very well
Except to focus goodness
From those prepared to love
And those who took the time to understand
You were more than just alive
You were the deep well
That echoed the reality of unconditional love
From somewhere we could not see
Before you were set free.
Two Roads
You are never far from my prayers
Early morning thoughts
Late night thoughts
The dream and the reality
Halfway to nowhere
But closer than before
With you yet without you
Separated by miles
Joined by incredible threads
Strong as steel, soft as silk,
Reaching in and reaching out
Following the road ahead of us
Stretching towards an end
That we cannot yet see
But know it is there,
Always with the question
Of what might have been
And what will be yet.
Yesterday's Fall
The leaves walked across our path
Gently dancing, flowing into each other
Carried on the wind, rooted to the road
Cartwheeling tip to toe, bowed beautifully low
Applauding a final curtain,
Last year's leftovers
Crackling brown and brown
Swept up and down
Like a ballerina clown
Gracefully colliding in mid-air
Falling with flair,
Now the new Spring of Autumn
Where the old leaves sing
Yesterday's...