Grateful for Daniel Berrigan, Poet & Prophet

Mortality

A leaf’s falling tells
or morning red or evening grey

which of two mingling airs
blue or blue, time or eternity

color old eyes. Tells
if flesh melts

like snowman under time’s fire; or bones stand
clumsy and crutched, March trees waiting –

flesh a flowering cherry, blood, a May wine.

-Daniel Berrigan

A Familiar Pose. Father Berrigan speaks in October 2006 at the 3rd Annual Staten Island Freedom & Peace Festival. Photo by Clara Sherley-Appel

Daniel Berrigan, the Jesuit priest and acclaimed poet who for decades famously challenged U.S. Catholics to reject war and nuclear weapons, died on April 30 at the age of 94. He was a Jesuit for 76 years and a priest for 63 years…

A literary giant in his own right, Berrigan was best known for his dramatic acts of civil disobedience against the Vietnam War and nuclear weapons. He burned draft files with homemade napalm and later hammered on nuclear weapons to enact the Isaiah prophecy to “beat swords into plowshares.” His actions challenged Americans and Catholics to reexamine their relationship with the state and reject militarism. He constantly asked himself and others: What does the Gospel demand of us?

America Magazine April 30 2016 excerpt from Poet and Prophet