Jan
28
2022
By Anonymous (not verified)
Father Andy Davy, MIC, pastor of St. Mary Parish in Plano, Illinois, also writes poetry. Here, we share some of his work and his commentaries on that work in the latest installment of a weekly series.
The Hymn of Narcissus
O what great joy
To live myself
In an echo chamber!
For all experience is
Validated
From each of my dear good neighbors!
My truth defended,
My citadel secure,
All foes have been unfriended -
Not one cent of reality
Will they ever procure!
As I ascend to myself
Amidst triumphant opinions acclaiming,
I need not others to help me grow
For I am verily the Lord self-sustaining!
Within my triune reality
(The great Me, Myself, and I),
I listen to my praises daily
resounding over my limited sky!
Limit is my armor,
Narrowness my secure!
For if (from the outside)
A word is let in -
Perhaps it's really an arrow ...
That I couldn't ever endure.
Narcissus, a rather dragon-hearted individual and quite alive today, was a mythic man who vainly worshipped his own image and saw nothing else beyond himself. He was so transfixed on his own reflection in the water that he eventually became exhausted and, falling in, was drowned! This is where the term "narcissism" comes from. This satirical poem is meant for self-reflection. How do I find these subtle tendencies justified within my own heart? Where do I need to grow in the merciful gaze of Jesus? The new evangelization must start with the renewal of my own heart before I can "remove the speck in my brother's eye" (Mt 7:5).
The Hymn of Narcissus
O what great joy
To live myself
In an echo chamber!
For all experience is
Validated
From each of my dear good neighbors!
My truth defended,
My citadel secure,
All foes have been unfriended -
Not one cent of reality
Will they ever procure!
As I ascend to myself
Amidst triumphant opinions acclaiming,
I need not others to help me grow
For I am verily the Lord self-sustaining!
Within my triune reality
(The great Me, Myself, and I),
I listen to my praises daily
resounding over my limited sky!
Limit is my armor,
Narrowness my secure!
For if (from the outside)
A word is let in -
Perhaps it's really an arrow ...
That I couldn't ever endure.
Narcissus, a rather dragon-hearted individual and quite alive today, was a mythic man who vainly worshipped his own image and saw nothing else beyond himself. He was so transfixed on his own reflection in the water that he eventually became exhausted and, falling in, was drowned! This is where the term "narcissism" comes from. This satirical poem is meant for self-reflection. How do I find these subtle tendencies justified within my own heart? Where do I need to grow in the merciful gaze of Jesus? The new evangelization must start with the renewal of my own heart before I can "remove the speck in my brother's eye" (Mt 7:5).
BIDM
