Laudate Deum

By Joseph R. Veneroso, M.M.

Let all that was and is and will ever be
Praise God from whom all creation erupts
Like a million billion galaxies and hummingbirds
Like swans, planets, centipedes and stars
Things visible and invisible like
Jellyfish, quasars, magnetic fields and gravity
Microbes, molecules, marigolds and manatees
Rainbows and rice paddies row on flooded row
Praise God.

Let all that grows and dies, eats and plays
Reproduces and decays, swims and flies
Praise God from whom all motion flows
Like babbling brooks and rivers
Mighty to behold, waters wet and wonderful
Gentle breezes, gendered hurricanes
Earthquakes and melting glaciers
Volcanoes, canyons, deserts and dust
From whom God created us
Praise God.

Let everything that borrows breath and time
From the eternal, most merciful One
Praise God from whom all life evolves and
In whom we live and move and have our being
Gorillas no less than grasshoppers
Cobras as much as caterpillars modeling
Death transforming into glorious resurrection
Which alone should inspire all to
Praise God.

Come join us, all you valleys and empty spaces
Who make way for mountains and music notes
And without whom chaos and cacophony
Would surely triumph over beauty and truth
Were it not for holy silence that births within
All human brains the grace to look in wonder
At all that is and was and, dreaming of what
May yet be, sees, tastes, hears and touches
God and whispers a resounding, “Amen.”

Click Images to Enlarge