Longanimity

Longanimity			 	

 What can I say to give worthwhile examples?
Long-suffering declines to dwell
Upon the traitorous weaknesses
Of His creatures below;  even while
Hanging, in in agony, on the cross.  

Long-suffering turns a deaf ear
To the hollow echoes of our
Inconstant hosannas.

Long-suffering follows bad judgment
Around the circle of each day,
Picking up the broken pieces 
Of our good intentions.

Long-suffering is the perpetual
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a
Gift of infinite love.  

The Curator’s Notes: Unlike the wrestling tone of Immortal Day or the personal petition of earlier poems, this piece is primarily theological meditation. It contemplates God’s nature rather than the speaker’s struggle. The focus shifts from “how do I practice this virtue?” to “how does God manifest this virtue toward me?” The poem suggests that longanimity is less something humans can achieve than something we receive and witness. We can barely comprehend it, much less embody it, hence the opening acknowledgment of inadequacy. The movement from cross (historical event) to hosannas (biblical moment) to daily life (present tense) to the Mass (timeless) creates a sense of God’s patience operating across all dimensions of time; past, present, and eternal. This is the most contemplative and least personal poem in the collection, approaching its subject with awe rather than intimacy.