William T. Burke, S.J.

Two foundational graces have been the center of my life as a Jesuit and will continue to direct me in the years ahead. The first grace is from my father, a welder-pipefitter, who spent his life providing for ten children. He loved babies and young children. He carried sticks of gum in his pocket to give them and did magic tricks with coins to entertain them. He was always spending his life in the service of others. He did so with joy and laughter. He was the most attractive Christ I have ever known.

ROUGH HANDS

fondle babies
and pull nickels out of
children's ears
squeals of delight,

fix toilets
and drive old Mary to church
on Sunday,
change diapers
and laugh at babies bottoms,

pray and die
doing magic tricks
for the world,
out of pain,
peace and promise,
deft touches of love.

The second foundational grace in my life came through my mother, her piety, her faithfulness to the Lord and her love of the Blessed Mother. She and my dad began saying the daily Rosary when I was fifteen. They celebrated their sixty-second anniversary together before my dad died. My mother three years later. My father was converted to the faith largely due to my mother's influence. She was very creative and had a lovely voice. She sang Ave Maria as we rode in my father's '37 Buick. And at my final vows as a Jesuit, she sang "Somewhere My Love" from Dr. Zhivago after the evening meal. It is from her I received the gift of poetry.

ROSARY LADY

Through the beads
she touches God,
senses His Presence
through her fingers.

Through the beads
she lifts the veil
of hiddenness
and finds Him waiting for her.

Heart speaks to heart.
Whatever He wishes,
she will say yes to it all.

Tomorrow she will come again
with her beads and her fingers.
He will be waiting for her.

I am sixty-five. In the near future I hope still to be employed as a hospital chaplain at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. But I will be thinking about how long I can keep up with the fast pace. And I will begin to make some slowing-down plans. Included in these plans will be time for writing more poetry and a longer time for prayer.

PRAY-ER

I meet You in the Word
before dawn,
sitting in my favorite prayer chair.
I have to be at ease to pray.

You don't mind.
Our best encounters
have been here
where I have time
to process Your Presence,
let it sink into my bones.

It takes time.
Sometimes it's
only later in the day
You make Your Presence felt,
and I am suddenly filled
with gratitude and joy.

But whatever I am doing, I will find God's Presence there, and it will percolate inside me, and I will have to express that Presence through poetry and service. It will be love answering love.

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