Jessica Powers is one of my favorite poets. This Carmelite poet was able to put into words things I knew about God but did not know how to say. I have shared some of her poems in the past, but want to honor her today as she died on August 18, 1988 at the age of 83.
Here is a short poem that I have not quoted before:
If You Have Nothing
The gesture of a gift, is adequate.
If you have nothing: laurel leaf or bay,
no flower, no seed, no apple gathered late,
do not in desperation lay
the beauty of your tears upon the clay.
No gift is proper to a Deity;
no fruit is worthy for such power to bless.
If you have nothing, gather back your sigh,
and with your hands held high, your heart held high,
lift up your emptiness!
This is from the book I would urge you to buy: "Selected Poetry of Jessica Powers: edited by Regina Siegfried and Robert Morneau, sheed and Ward, 1989.
Let us lift up our emptiness to God today!
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