Feast Day of Saint Kevin of Glendalough
St. Kevin and the Blackbird
(after Seamus Heaney) by Christine Valters-Paintner
“Imagine being like Kevin.
Your grasping fist softens,
fingers uncurl and
palms open, rest upward,
and the blackbird
weaves twigs and straw and bits of string
in the bowl of your hand,
you feel the delicate weight of
speckled blue orbs descend,
and her feathered warmth
settling in.
How many days can you stay,
open,
waiting
for the shell
to fissure and crack,
awaiting the slow emergence
of tiny gaping mouths
and slick wings
that need time to strengthen?
Are you willing to wait and watch?
Not to withdraw your
affections too soon?
Can you fall in love with the
exquisite ache in your arms
knowing the hatching it holds?
Can you stay not knowing
how broad those wings will
become, or how they will fly
awkwardly at first,
then soar above you
until you have become the sky
and all that remains is
your tiny shadow
swooping across the earth.”
Art by Clive Hicks-Jenkins
Chorlton Unitarians 