Breathbodyprayer

Breathbodyprayer

Matthew Pullar

…that form of prayer in which the soul makes use of the members of the body to raise itself more devoutly to God. In this way the soul, in moving the body, is moved by it.
~ The Nine Ways of Prayer of Saint Dominic

Fooled by the body’s misfirings –
the thought misdirected; the brain
connecting anguish to the neutral moment –
you cannot pray, for every
earnest ascent is duped by the pounding
head that cries out, Terror, terror
on every side. And you,
longing for peace where there
is no peace, cannot spy the waiting,
pumping heart that welcomes,
that is already here, is open.

So prayer, at these times, is as much
a breath as a hand outstretched,
an air-parched mouth gulping as it clutches clouds.
And while the body,
in its movement, stretches
its wild, warring muscles,
it wrestles and settles

encased behind the billowing
ribs of its maker,
who did not despise these scars.

---

Matthew Pullar
Poet

Matthew is an Australian poet who has authored three books, including The Swelling Year.

Photography by Alvaro Matzumura