Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Love is in the Ruins
Dale Kuehne mentioned Walker Percy's "Love in the Ruins" yesterday on the Q-ideas webcast. Dale's next book will carry that same title. That phrase has been lingering with me today and ended up finding it's way into a little tune I mostly borrowed from Malcolm Guite's song about Ruth called "Redemption Song".
Love is in the Ruins
Click here to listen to a recording:
love is in the ruins if it is anywhere at all
love is in the hard ground that breaks the necessary fall
love is in the flesh, the dust that fills our final breath
love has lived before all things and outlives every death
love is in the quiet, like a heart in shock and stilled
love is in the leaving when trusting has been killed
love in the restless, wordless, scream of prayer
love is in the empty hollow of despair
love is in the blood when lover's friendship dies
love is weeping tenderly as the selfish game expires
love is in the losing when we gladly fail to win
love is in the gut-shot ache for innocence
love is in the hunger, in the taste of broken bread
love in the time it takes to grieve the dreams that never lived
love is in the anger when the wrong is recognized
love is in confusion crawling past enemy lines
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This is beautiful - I'm listening to it a third time.
ReplyDeleteYou might like the last line of this bit of pastiche: http://www.chris.fewin.gs/poems/i-scribble/loves-the-ground/
Chris, thanks so much for listening (especially three times!) And that last line, "Love's the ground that breaks the fall" how great to see an idea affirmed in that way! Very cool. Glad to find your page.
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