A Child is Born
A poem by Fr. Bonaventure Sauer, OCD
Surely you understood that, starting today, everything must begin anew.
You, like us, born knowing next to nothing of the world,
Must await the sun to introduce you to this thing called warmth.
And you, like us, snatched from blindness, must now learn
To touch with feelers of recognition so many familiar faces. Later
You will have first to see the far horizon to hear the silver mountains
calling:
Hurry up, we can't wait forever, time's a-wasting, seize the day.
And you, like us, dragged from deafness, must now learn to
Hear things all at once. A violin set free from its box where,
For far too long, it had lain throttled as if by piano wire--today here it is,
All at once, singing. Air slips from its throat and bursts into a salvo
Which, like sunlight on the face, spreads out gently, intelligibly.
Starting today, then, you, like us, must grow older, suppler, if you would,
Like shadowy spring, become a vine stooped under fat grapes. And,
starting today,
From seeming nothingness you must grow up to become wine, resiny and red,
If you would wish to raise your silhouette before the setting sun.
Each and every one of us will drink its exultation, a fleeting taste that yet
Fills the cup, while you we will call our vintner of life's richer, darker
flavors.
Among them, of course, will be love, whose roots run deep, whose
Branches, like a wave, grow a thousand strong. Today you must begin to soar.