The Way Faith Happens
is by waiting
or walking at ease.
Here lies the most subtle form
of grace : Heart
seeking a singing soul ;
green yearning for green ;
green beneath turquoise ;
the roots of the earth
standing beyond rivers
reaching out for you,
like seven stars in winter
waltzing upon a crystal forest.
The way faith happens
is by dreaming
sotto voce, having listened
to pitch black silence despite
haunting white voices in the head.
The way faith happens
is that after is always before,
and you decide to laugh out loud,
living through today with
yesterday no more.
Skyscrapers, alchemy, magnetic force,
Rue Séguier, Gare du Nord,
trains arriving, mobs leaving,
wheels, motors and railways,
I know you are there,
anywhere but somewhere,
hidden within streets and lights
watching the dusk across the
bridge down River Seine.
I know you are there –
your eyes follow the stream
to my heart. I know
rocks always exist,
Notre Dame testifies.
The way faith happens
is that some day
they will move.
Greta Aart,
born as Fiona Sze-Lorrain, writes in both French and English. Originally
from New York, she graduated from Columbia University and New York
University. She recently edited Silhouette/Shadow: The Cinematic Art of Gao
Xingjian (Paris: Contours, 2007) in which she translated the
Nobel Prize Laureate Gao Xingjian's poetry from the French. Also a musician,
she now lives in Paris, France and misses the vast American
landscapes.