Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
By Joshua Kulseth - Charleston, South Carolina, USA - 27 August 2015
In the balmy pre-dawn dripping
Wet and muggy, awkward bird pipings
Arouse in the world a sense of humor,
To break up this lofty morning wonder.
I have to scold the dog to prevent him licking
His genitals, distracting
From the solemnity of the scene.
Without this perfect seriousness, or the screen
Protecting me from no-see-ums, suckers
Of dank summertime, the various raptures
Of simple God-given day
Would be lost upon me.
The rain is coming steady now, when before
It bore itself in lazy downpour.
And still the morning jogs on in fantasy,
The child of nostalgia and anxiety --
The sublimity of the morning's intake
Of breath, before the humdrum of awake
And active and productive
Is gone, and still I love
This day with all its contradictions
And impediments; with its contributions
To the not taking of life so seriously,
And the slow reading of good poetry.
Will I hear at last the angel's blessed Gloria,
Or drink the lees of Heaven's euphoria?
I do not know. I know only that birds sing;
And so do I, my simply glorying.