On Waking At Baggot St
(To The Sound of the Rill*)
Open your eyes to the new day’s light
open your heart to the grace that flows to you
in a stream of life,
a stream from love’s very source.
Mercy-water is a pure spring,
to wash, to bless, to drink,
a water that is life,
a water that heals and refreshes.
In the drought time
the thirst time
the empty cup time,
the absolutely there is nothing left to give time
when the throat is dry
and no rain shows
(not an Irish thought, this!)
remember the distant
gently coursing
universal water that
is
mercy.
Let your spirit drink.
In the desert of urban concrete
is heard a tiny watercourse,
in the wilderness of forsakengod age
a spring of godlife flows.
*A feature of the back garden of Mercy International Centre, the Rill was significant at the opening in 1994, when representatives from all over the world carried water to it in specially made vessels, symbolising each nation in which Sisters of Mercy live and work.
