Thomas Merton (1915–1968)
The Flight into Egypt
Through every precinct of the wintry city
Squadroned iron resounds upon the streets;
Herod’s police
Make shudder the dark steps of the tenements
At the business about to be done.
Neither look back upon Thy starry country,
Nor hear what rumors crowd across the dark
Where blood runs down these holy walls,
Nor frame a childish blessing with Thy hand
Towards that fiery spiral of exulting souls!
Go, Child of God, upon the singing desert,
Where, with eyes of flame,
The roaming lion keeps thy road from harm.
Thomas Merton (1915–1968) was an American Catholic monk, poet, and writer on spiritual and contemplative themes. He entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani in Louisville, Kentucky. He was a pioneer of interfaith dialogue with figures like D.T. Suzuki, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Dalai Lama. This poem is from Thirty Poems (New Directions, 1944).
Selected by Amy Frykholm: amy@journeywithjesus.net
