How will I describe this moment

without my friends thinking me mad,

the ecstasy of Your caress

which pierced my heart

and then the marrow,

the feeling of lightness

and of flight,

the pool of tears that drenched my beard,

the psalmody of the Seraph and Cherub -

and then,

my little skip for joy!

 Lost Keys

He often wondered,

how was it possible

that the saints

were always in the chapel

preparing for vespers

when he was the keeper of the door -

quite simple really,

they had lost the keys

so they walked through the walls...

 

Metamorphosis
(For Saint John Chrysostom)

Thank you for the Divine Liturgy -

that such heavenly transcendence

of this lowly spirit

is possible,

when the flesh

is not only so immanent

but also so eminent,

is no less a miracle

than the metamorphosis

of the chrysalis

into a butterfly!

Sunset Over Mykonos

It was a sight

so beautiful

bringing water to my eyes

in gratitude

to Him -

the sun spread over the sea

like the exalted Platytera

over a blue Byzantine cupola...

Somehow Related

There is something

quite mystical

about the distant rustlings

of a train

like a forgotten monk

somewhere in the Athonite crevices

whose lonely chant

echoes across

the changing faces of the moon...

Another Visual Parable

He would pray

and raise up his hands

in supplication,

and then for a moment

you would think

that he had reached right up

and clutched at the foot of God,

those hands were temples

and trees, and biblical parables -

a revelation with two chapters!

 

Michael G. Michael is completing his PhD in Early Christian Studies at the McAuley Campus of the Australian Catholic University.