Blog - Joyful Curmudgeon - Blog
A Mary T. Hoffman Commentary from All-Creatures.org

 

"Joyful Curmudgeon" An oxymoron?
No! I see all the beauty of God's creation and I'm joyful.  At the same time, I see all the suffering and corruption going on in the world, and feel called to help expose and end it so that we may have true peace and compassion.

 

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THE CLEANEST THING IN CREATION – 2 September 2008
By Mary T. Hoffman

For today I’ve chosen a poem by the Modern Greek poet Nikiphóros Vrettákos as translated by Kimon Friar in Modern Greek Poetry:

THE CLEANEST THING IN CREATION
By Nikiphóros Vrettákos

I’m not sure, but a smudge of darkness has remained.
The sun has poured into me through a thousand wounds.
And this whiteness with which I surround you now
you will not find even in the Alps, because this wind
swirls to that great height and dirties the snow.
You will find a trace of dust even on the white rose.
The perfect miracle may be found only in man:
vast stretches of whiteness that radiate truthfully
throughout the universe and are superior. The cleanest thing
in creation, therefore, is not the twilight,
nor the sky reflected in the river, nor
the sun on apple blossoms. It is love.

For more about Nikiphóros Vrettákos, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/heart/blog-20080823.html 

For a collection of poems and stories, visit:
http://www.all-creatures.org/poetrydir.html 

Go on to: Words of Wisdom – 3 September 2008
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