Waiting …
Not in darkness of despair
But in God’s healing night,
A night
That holds the heart in hope,
That soothes Earth’s pain
And calms Earth’s fears,
A night alive
With God-love deep and rich,
A night
That waits for Christmas dawn
To light God’s world.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

The rain has stopped
and at the crest of distant hill,
just through the arch of trees—
one bare,
one still golden-leafed—
I see you in the mist,
a sun-kissed mist
that shimmers with your watery presence.
I run to meet you there,
toward the crest,
through the arch,
into the mist
and find,
to my surprise,
that you were with me
through the sighting
and the crossing.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Your door is open
oh so slightly …
I remember when it closed,
shut tight in fear,
but now, at least,
that oh so slight opening,
a sliver really
so the light can enter,
a light that barely touches
darkened depths
but still
that glimmer whispers hope;
a nudge …
more like a gentle breath …
and the sliver widens
till I can stand
within its space,
waiting quietly,
patient
till your eyes lose their fear
and quiet breathing tells me
I am welcomed
in your
heart.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

You speak in words,
in subtle phrases,
sometimes in half thoughts,
in melodies
humming softly in my heart.
But in time …
if I wait …
the whole will come
in poetry that stirs the soul
in song that swells my heart
in love embracing all my being.
And so I wait …

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Mid-day shadows born of
Autumn sun
Play out their silent dance
On ocean sands.
Sea gulls solo on their solitary way
Soaring
Swooping
Nesting in sun-softened sand
Sneaking food-for-one
Far from the prying eyes and hungry beaks
Of brother gulls
While smaller sea birds play
On skittish feet
Seeming in the late day sun
Like tiny ocean skaters
Twirling cross the
Sea-slicked sand.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

We call you
God of Power, Mighty One,
Ruler of the Sea and Sky.
But somehow–
Though wise and wonder-filled they be–
None seems to fit the God I know–
the God who comforts me
when I am sad
or when my heart’s in pain,
the God who calms my fears
when once again I simply fail to “measure up,”
my gentle God who whispers softly to my heart
and tells me I am good
and somehow full of worth,
the God who sings to me
and smiles with pleasure
when I echo back my love
in tones that may well be “off key,”
a God who smiles in sheer delight
at who I am
and who I still might be
and waits with gentle, patient love
until that moment comes
when held within God’s full embrace,
I’ll know
Divine Delight!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Darkness dims
As fear and doubt give way to
Morning light,
Light
That seeps with gentle strength
Beneath the rock of death
And slowly
Softly
Fills the void
With life
With hope
With Easter’s promised joy.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

© 2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

ice
drips from lips
that know the words
but cannot still
the frozen steel that drives their
icy thrust.

ice
slits ’neath frozen eyes
that look
but fail to see the heart
that freezes in their
icy glare.

but ice can melt
and God-love warms the coldest
lips and eyes;
come, God of Spring
come warm the frost,
come heal the pain within my
frozen heart.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Imagine eternity …
I will, I think
sing and dance with you,
my Love.
My voice will blend with yours
in perfect harmony
–and all in tune!
Our dance will not be
awkward, jerky
but lithesome, rhythmic
like young trees moving freely in the breeze of your love.
And dancing with us,
their voices rich with song …
all those I love,
all those I lost …
forever dancing in eternity!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

“This is my Body
Which will be given up for you.
This is my Blood
Which will be shed for all.”

So you spoke …
And so your words echoed down centuries,
Sustaining us,
Saving us,
Giving us hope,
Filling fear-filled lives with strength and awe
We cannot fully grasp—
That God-in-Love
Had Body broken
Blood spilled out
For creatures such as we.

this is my body…
breaking down,
taking turns and twists
that planning did not plan.
this is my blood …
lacking substance,
lacking strength
to foster healing’s growth.

take them,
God-in-Love,
weakened body,
weakened blood,
gifts returned to you who gave as gift;
take and use my lack,
my fear,
as gifts for hearts
that cry for strength
and love.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

You bring us gifts …
Gifts of self
That strengthen our call
And join our voice in sharing God’s Word
Gifts …
That brighten our day
And lighten our work
You are to us
Gift …
Gift of self
And gift of goodness,
Reflecting each day
The God of all Goodness
The God of all Gifts.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Child of all ages …
Ageless God …
Conceived and carried
By an Ancient Love,
God-ness
Birthed in hope,
Swaddled in promise,
Emmanuel!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

To give …
To offer …
To render to my God the
Emptiness
That is mine;
To give again the
Fullness
That my God bestowed on me.
To give to God
What was already God.
The God within
… in health
… in sickness
… in talent
… in emptiness
… in the pain that is unknown
… the hope that is tomorrow.
To give to God
All that I have
All that I am …
To give to God …
God.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Circling in dance,
our bending figures framing
halo-like
your triune grace,
stretching me with your love
in rhythms new,
in steps unlearned
yet never fear-filled,
stretching me
into your graceful dance of life,
dancing me into
love.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

With your song, my love,
You thrill me through and through,
Touching with your gentle ways
The core of all my being,
Surprising me,
Filling me with
God-ness.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

You spoke your gentle “Come”—
Not in words
But in lives observed
A girl-child heard and said
“I want to be like them!”
And a dream took root.

You spoke your gentle “Come”—
Your soft-voiced invitation
Spoke of dreams that only you could make come true.
A young girl heard
And dreamed her dreams
Of what her life might be.

You spoke your gentle “Come”—
A “Come” that also promised love and strength
On days when “Yes” was hard.
A woman, young
Unsure of all your “Come” might mean
Voiced her “Yes” in vows
That lived the dream in each today.

You spoke your gentle “Come”—
Whispered often as the years slipped by
Whispered always with a love that said
“I know my dreams for you”
And certain of your love,
A woman lived your dream
Throughout the years.

You speak your gentle “Come”—
Today, tomorrow, and beyond,
Echoing your gently whispered dream
Beyond the child,
Beyond the girl,
Beyond the woman who said “Yes,”
A living dream that’s ever new,
Reflecting in its vibrant heart
The vision of a living,
Gently whispering God!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

poled apart
like axis through the heart of Earth,
our mother
racked and wrecked with pain,
a world where fear breeds hate
yet yearns for milk from out the heart of
hope …
a world where stark survival pitches camp,
where living battles giving
and the dream of being other,
being more,
begins to dim …

but in the chaos and the fear
our God still lives …
our gentle God,
our God of Other,
God of More,
whose heart still throbs with love
whose breast still nurtures
with the milk of
hope
and calms with mother’s kiss
the fears of Earth.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

When God first thought of me
did God smile gently and say
that I am good?
I hope God did—and does!
And I smile back!
And in that smiling
there is everything—
all that was
and all that still will be.
And no words are really needed—
Just that smile
That look of
pure
unblemished
unadulterated
love
between my God and me!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Notes of my life,
Sometimes muted,
Sometimes loud and vibrant
Melodic
Or off-key
But always in the voice that is mine—
God-given!
My song …
God’s song …
One and the same …
A song of love
Sung in tender notes.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Remembering a God who hurts,
Who knows the tearing pain of lash,
The agony of sharpened thorns
And nails that rip the flesh
Unleashing rivers of a Godly love
In blood,
A God
Who knows too well the searing pain
That tears the heart—
The pain of dearest friends
Who did not understand
And slept while danger lurked,
Who bruised the heart
With smiling lips and friendly kiss
That hid a greeter’s greed,
Who promised, “I will serve,”
Yet claimed aloud, “I know him not.”

My God of Love,
My God who hurts,
Remind me of the days I caused you pain,
The days when love was scarce—
When promises were made
With half a heart;
Remind me of the days
When I too slept
And did not understand
Your love was mine to share,
The days I smiled and said
“I will!”
But all too soon—
My courage on the run—
Announced defeat in whines that claimed
“I can’t.”
Forgive me, God of Love
And let my Friday pain
Arise with you on Easter morn,
My God of Ever New.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Father, Mother God
To carry others
As you have carried me—
Gently
Tenderly
Not smothering them with me.
Healing them with the warmth
Of your tender loving heart.

Then teach me how—
As gift to others—
To let them carry me
Knowing that their arms are but
Extensions of your own
Their own hearts beating
With the rhythm of your tender love.

And in the holding
And the healing
Your godly love will
Heal the tender scars
That mar our hurting world.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Two old souls
side by side,
comfortable in the silence,
little need for talk
save the occasional
word
or phrase
or even grunt—
we speak in
heart talk
learned across the years—
my God and I.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

If I sat
in the midst of Trinity
what words would each one speak?
Beloved child,
I fashioned you in love
And love what I have made …
my wonder
and my work of art!
I love you like a
brother, sister loves,
at times a teasing love
spoken with a smile that says
relax …
all will be well!
Yours is the breath that carries
my breath,
my heart,
my love
to others in so many ways …
a breath at one with mine
and uttered in my words!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Just for today, God,
just for today,
can you just love me?
Just for today, God,
my heart,
my spirit
are just a bit fragile,
brittle,
broken.
Just for today, God,
can you just love me …
brittle as I am?
And maybe tomorrow, God,
when my clay has softened,
you can mold me into something
more loveable …
just for today.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

You give me all I need
To live and share your life.
Childhood blocks
that spell your holy name.
Books
that tell the tales of those
who live your life.
Music
through whose lyrics you sing me
gentle love songs.
Words
through which I share the
wonder and the awe
of who you are.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

It’s who we are;
It’s what we do;
It’s how we live.
It’s me—it’s you!

The “good news” of a God in love,
The “good news” of a God who cares,
The “good news of the God in you,
The “good news” of the Earth God shares.

Each joy, each pain,
Each risk we choose,
Each hope we bring—
We’re God’s Good News!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Love spoke—
A world was born.
Earth sinned
And Love spoke the Word
A Word of peace and of a future hope.
And then a virgin spoke
And the Word took human flesh—
Born of a people’s hope,
Born of a virgin’s faith,
Born of a God’s love—
Emmanuel!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

I view my life, my God
And you are there –
Always,
Ever,
Near me,
Around me,
In me.
And yet — at times
Unseen,
Unheard,
Like air that gives me breath,
Caressing gently
What has been, –
And what now is –
My life.
God of memory,
You come to me in gentle glimpses of the past –
Of times,
Of places,
Of people.
You held my hand,
Caressed with gentle touch
My memories of years and days.
You gentle memory
And soothe what once held pain.
You give your eyes
That I might look
At scenes that only I have seen
And have not fully understood.
I thank you,
God of memories,
For who you are
For who I am
And who I still can be –
Becoming in your love!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Your words
spoken in my heart,
your word
written by my hand,
your word
sung softly
in my voice,
My words …
authentic words
words I pray into being …
These are
poetry.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

The rhythm,
the music of your heart,
my Love,
you sing to me each day.
And in your songs
you tell me of your love.
You sing the words of poets—
musicians—
whose words you have inspired.
You sing to me softly
over and over
and I sing back to you …
with you …
our hearts in full and beautiful
harmony.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

I need you, God,
To hold me tight,
To soothe and quiet
With a mother’s “hush”
The storm that sometimes stirs my heart.
Gather raveled threads
That choke my calm
And weave serenity into my life
That I in turn
Can share and soothe the fears
Within my little piece of
World.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

You warm us
with your spirit’s breath
and give us life;
You share with us
the secret of your triune heart
and give us love;
You bless us
with the beauty that is you
and give us Earth;
You love us,
brokeness and all,
and give us hope.
For life and love,
for beauty and for hope,
we give you thanks!

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

You look with loving gaze
one to one to one—
the circle unbroken—
yet each glance
each loving look
embraces me as well,
curled there
in your midst
childlike and unsure,
no words uttered
yet burrowed deep
within my heart’s frail core
I hear the whisper
of your love.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Hold me close, my God,
A child held safe and snuggled warm
Within your moth’ring arms,
Safe against the strong and rhythmic beat
Of loving heart,
A beat remembered from so long ago
Within your shelt’ring womb,
The rhythm strong and sure
Recalled from eons past—
A future child
Held safely in the loving heart of
Mother God.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Words …
true words …
beautiful, meaning-filled words,
born not from the cluttered frantic
rumblings of my brain
but from the silent
hidden depths of my heart—
my soul.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

We hold the Earth
God-birthed
God-graced,
In hands that choose
To share its life
Or close and choke that life with human greed.

We hold the sun
Whose powered rays can light our world
And power Earth
For evil
Or for good.
Whose rays can burn five billion years
Beyond the finite worlds
Our hands control.

We hold the heavens,
Sparkled with a God’s clear gaze,
That light the nights of Earth since time began
And tremble as we cloud that light
With strident glares of bombs’ displays.

We hold the wind and air
Whose cycles power Earth with energy and life
Whose being now is choked and burned
By human power’s threat.

We hold the waters of the Earth
And weeping, share
Not tears
But hope
With half our globe
Where water’s pure and cleansing forces do not flow.

We hold within our hands
The power to caress and nurture Earth,
To kindle from Earth’s hearths a world of peace,
Or fan the holocaustic flames of nuclear war.

We hold with reverent awe the fruitful Earth
That mothers all,
That makes us one,
And weep to see the face we mar
Is ours.

We hold with humbled hands our tangled tapestry
The sin
The shame
Of centuries and worlds that mar our Earth …
We hold the threads of pain,
The fears,
The tears we wove…
We hold the fringe of hope
That lives at-one with Earth
And with Earth’s God
Will one day live in peace.

We hold them all
The shame …
The pain …
The tears
That birth the hope …
… The hope
That Earth so graced by God
Will mother once again
A home where God can dwell.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

You look with loving gaze
one to one to one
the circle unbroken
yet each glance,
each loving look
embraces me as well,
curled there
in your midst
childlike and unsure …
no words uttered
yet burrowed deep
within my heart’s frail core
I hear the whisper
Of your love.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Tree bereft of leaves
Mourns the blaze of color lost
And fears approaching death,
But deep within her buried roots
A new life waits –
Patient,
Confident
That time will birth a richer growth,
And color –
Strong,
Vibrant,
Fully alive
Will blaze anew.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.

Fear
Like tapestry unraveled
Straggles into tangled threads of doubt,
Twisted strands
Of what might be.
Lost amid the scattered
Tattered threads,
Patternless
I stumble
Through bewildered jungles of
Knotted fear
And severed strands
Till softly,
Calmly,
My Weaver God
With gentle touch
Gathers up the tangled mess
And weaves with
Gentle hand
And loving heart
A pattern new and strong,
Tapestry
Both beautiful and
Unafraid
Creating wholeness
Out of what had been
And weaving newness
Out of fear.

Ann Marie Slavin, OSF

©2015 Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. Poetry for Prayer: Volume III. All rights reserved.