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Poem written and narrated by Christine Valters Paintner. Music by Jake Morgan.

lyrics

St. Teresa’s Ecstasy

You must have felt it
once or twice yourself
an early winter morning
as the sun tilts slowly
above the vale of earth

bird wings flap fiercely
slicing the sky as it turns
from lavender to blue
your heart a moth
fluttering in a jar

and for a moment you are
so in love with this world
everything is possible
your skin no longer barrier
but portal to communion

like St. Teresa in her moment
of ecstasy, Seraphim with a
golden spear clearing her out
for love, feet bare, head tilted back,
a moan escapes her lips,

rhapsody, relish, swoon
even when the angel recedes
as her tasks call her back
she can still taste bliss in her
pomegranate mouth

and there are glimpses of paradise
even on rain-soaked days
a sun still gleams
among the half-cut lemons,
the egg yolk, my wedding band.

---Christine Valters Paintner

From the poetry collection Dreaming of Stones (Paraclete Press)

credits

from Sound and Stillness: An audio collection of poems by Christine Valters Paintner, released August 9, 2020

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all rights reserved

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Abbey of the Arts Galway, Ireland

Abbey of the Arts, in partnership with The Dancing Word, produces albums to inspire soulful connection to ancient monks and mystics, to Celtic practice and tradition, to the sacred feminine, and to Earth and her creatures.

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