The Body Is a Sacrament

Notebook and a copy of Anam Cara on a desk and window looking out on a garden and the ocean

What hidden grace

does this flesh and blood temple

make manifest?

I mirror the universe

outside my window,

star jasmine and juniper,

feathery fountain grass,

salvia’s royal velvet thrust.

The far horizon draws my gaze

across Mother Pacific

and up to Father Sky,

wisps of white like angels’ eyelashes

and prophets’ beards

splashed across the blue palette.

My hazel eyes offer passage

for the inner

and the outer light,

soul windows that reflect beauty

and shine forth my own glow

from the cave of my heart.

Grace it is to know

the Beloved lit the flame.

I wrote this poem four years ago while on retreat at New Camaldoli Hermitage in Big Sur, CA. Readers of Anam Cara by John O’Donohue may recognize my title as a quote from the book and some of the ideas it inspired in me.

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Mary Camille Thomas

Mary Camille Thomas is a native of Santa Cruz who is grateful to make her home on the California coast once more after living internationally and on the road. She studied comparative literature at UC Davis and received a master’s degree in library science from UCLA, which gave her a way to earn a living while making a life among books. Her poetry and essays have appeared in the Monk in the World Guest Post Series, Moving Force Journal, Presence, Porter Gulch Review, Second Wind, Sisters Singing, and The New Story, and she has completed a novel called What Lies Buried about a man reckoning with his family’s Nazi past.

7 thoughts on “The Body Is a Sacrament”

  2. sooo captivating and lovely, a special piece Mary…I miss you and look forward to being with you the end of the month at writing group…love b >

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  3. Love, love, love this, Mary! So touched by “…wisps of white like angels’ eyelashes….” Beautiful!

    🙏🏻❤️

    Mary Jane

    >

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