The Charcoal Fire

Sacred Poetry By Fr. Timothy J. Draper

Men,

I have written on sacred poetry before and you can find that -here

The beauty and truth of the Catholic Faith has fostered many poets. Before reading the poetry below, I want to preface it with the fact that the world, as much as we would like it to be, is not a bed of roses. The poetry beneath these lines are not to make you feel comfortable. They are to make you feel. In this particular case, The Charcoal fire speaks of the sorrow of St. Peter.

The Charcoal Fire

From night to night,
In cold and fright,
Stood I near charcoal fire,

And, warming there,
Did curse and swear,
And show myself a liar.

“Are you not he
From Galilee,
The friend of Him all meek?”

The cock did crow.
“I do not know
The Man of Whom you speak.”

But then He turned,
And in me burned
A flame, lit from His gaze,

At which I wept
For oaths unkept
And all my lukewarm days.

When He was tried
Him I denied
And failed to pass the test,

Though promised I
With Him to die,
Should fail Him all the rest.

Filled with regrets
And empty nets,
I turned to former hire.

But when dawn came,
He spoke my name,
While burned the charcoal fire.

Now at the shore,
He asks once more
If I will be His friend

And, on the sands,
With pierced hands,
Gives me His sheep to tend.

Be the Creed

Nick | Catholic Manhood