Poetry for Ordinary Time

In the cycle of the Liturgical calendar, Ordinary Time refers to the days of the year that are not Advent, Christmas, Lent, or Easter. Ordinary Time is the longest period of the year.

The term "ordinary" should not be viewed as the opposite of special or "extraordinary," rather it is that time which is ordained for the everyday living of the Christian life. This becomes clearer in the Latin title, tempus ordinarium, which means "measured time."

For the Church, all of Ordinary Time is "ordained for" the purpose of sanctifying the everyday life of Christians. It helps prepare us for the other liturgical seasons of the Church year.

There are two distinct periods in Ordinary Time. The first is the five to eight weeks between Epiphany and Ash Wednesday. The second is the twenty-three to twenty-seven weeks following the feast of Pentecost and concluding with the Solemnity of Christ the King. The liturgical color for days in Ordinary Time is green.*

*From the University of Dayton, "Marian Poetry in Ordinary Time (2003)"

We are in the last of those 27 weeks between Pentecost and Advent.  Periodically there will appear on this weblog a piece of poetry for your enjoyment and reflection...at least once a month between now and the Reign of Christ (Feast of Christ the King) on Sunday, November 22.

Today's offering is by Robert Bly.

The Third Body

A man and a woman sit near each other, and they

   do not long

At this moment to be older, or younger, or born

In any other nation, or any other time, or any other

   place.

They are content to be where they are, talking or

   not talking.

Their breaths together feed someone whom we do 

   not know.

The man sees the way his fingers move;

He sees her hands close around a book she hands

   to him.

They obey a third body that they share in common.

They have promised to love that body.

Age may come; parting may come; death will come!

A man and a woman sit near each other;

As they breathe they feed someone we do not know,

Someone we know of, whom we have never seen.

Robert Bly, from Ten Poems to Open Your Heart, Editted by Roger Housden, Harmony Books, New York, N,Y., U.S.A., 2003