Nature’s Family
—after Francis of Assisi
To glance at Brother Sun’s resplendent gaze,
To feel he signifies omnipotence,
To undertake his unseen Maker’s praise
Excites a sense of life and love immense.
To see the sky surrounding Sister Moon
With sparkling stars in every charming phase
Allures lips granting pardon oversoon,
Entranced by vision lovingly ablaze.
To understand our Brother Wind as breeze
Sustaining life with air serenely warm
Or cooling clouds afloat, breathing hearts’ ease,
Uplifts and calms love gusting through a storm.
To cherish Sister Water, pure and chaste,
Humble and useful, lustral for salvation,
Relieves the thirst of poverty embraced
By loving Providence in tribulation.
Robust and merry, mighty Brother Fire
Enlightens night, and wakes intelligence,
Refining gold, destroying vile desire,
To overcome lost love, with love intense.
Our sister, Mother Earth, yields canopies
Of particolored flowers, leaves, and fruits
To cheer inhabitants of lands and seas,
And crown peacemakers’ civilized pursuits.
Our sister, Death of the body, when life fails,
Transmutes pain, settling free will’s choice within
Of gravest guilt or grace that oversails
The woe incurred by death in mortal sin.
Thanksgiving in the highest to Our Lord
For matter and the spirit’s universe,
Companion creatures dwelling in accord
Intended by the Father’s love at first.
Margaret Coats lives in California. She holds a Ph.D. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University. She has retired from a career of teaching literature, languages, and writing that included considerable work in homeschooling for her own family and others.
