Whenever the bright blue nails would drop
Down on the floor of his carpenter shop,
Saint Joseph, prince of carpenter men,
Would stoop to gather them up again;
And he feared for two little sandals sweet,
And very easy to pierce they were
As they pattered over the lumber there
And rode on two little sacred feet.
But alas, on a hill between earth and heaven
One day – two nails in a cross were driven,
And fastened it firm to the sacred feet
Where once rode two little sandals sweet;
And Christ and His mother looked off in death
Afar – to the valley of Nazareth,
Where the carpenter’s shop was spread with dust
And the little blue nails, all packed in rust,
Slept in a box on the window-sill;
And Joseph lay sleeping under the hill.
This is so beautiful that I am using it with my students this week for the Feast of Str. Joseph (especially appropriate during the season of Lent.) Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. I have had my children memorize it and now in the classroom, my second graders are too. They just recited it for the Bishop and I think he was pleased. :)
ReplyDeleteIm a student and everyone in my class picked a poem and im not even christian but i picked this one cause its beatiful ;)
ReplyDeleteit almost made me cry and i am not very imotianal
ReplyDeleteWhile recently digging through my mother's trunk I came across a handwritten poem - Nails - by Leonard Feeney S J. I didn't know the author so i searched and found it on your site..
ReplyDeleteWhen I first found it, I didn't recall it or having copied it out in cursive writing.
I estimate that I was about 8 years old when I copied it. In those days, in Quebec we never learned to print - so I was very young when I copied it.
it has been a powerful meditation for me in recent years - simple people,
living simply caring for each other and loving each other greatly.
I'm sending it to my great grandson (17 months old) who one day will read it for himself.
Don Deakin