Georgene L. Wilson, OSF

Spring 2019: Tribute to Mary Oliver

Invitation to Prayer

Watch for the white rose.
See it in dreams delicious with beauty,
after diamond-winter snows,
in the midst of struggles and seasons,
and between journeys and jolts.
 
It appears as a whisper,
as a delicate light in deepest darkness,
as silence in terrible storms,
as bud emerging from thorny growth,
and as breast milk on an infant’s lip.
 
It is the scent of mother love:
a holding of the Infinite and finite as one.
Behold this glimpse of glory.
Offer gratitude for its sighting.
Then quickly return to gazing.

You have done no-thing
to create such mystery.
It is gift.  It is now.  It is free.
Be gift.  Be now.  Be free.
Watch
for a white rose.

*In the poem, THE DIVINE COMEDY, Dante envisions paradise and beholds the
Trinity and Woman, representing Wisdom, Creation, Mary, seated on a white rose.

Haiku: Beauty Moves the Soul

The soul sees beauty
And is moved to know itself
As full when empty

Presence

An epiphany of the almost
Seen…  yet not
Felt…   yet not
Known…  yet not
Subtle…  yet not

Like fog
Celling me in the “here”
Breathing misty whispers of “near”

Like whale prints
Serving a smooth watery circle
         amidst wild waves
Then fountaining a deep dive
         into ocean caves

Here I am
Watching and waiting
Gazing and greeting
Being one with
Almost
Yet …..

There is a painting that accompanies this poem that can be seen in the Art Gallery

Georgene L. Wilson is a Wheaton Franciscan Sister, a friend, teacher, spirit companion, artist, and poet and a retreat animator.  She lives as a neighborhood contemplative in Wheaton, Illinois at Wisdom Webbings Anchorhold.   Out of this neighborhood house of prayer and service she invites others to engage whatever their lives present and return blessings so that together we may make of this world something beautiful and ONE COMMUNION.

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