The Gate of Heaven is Everywhere

A poem

“The gate of heaven is everywhere” - Thomas Merton

The gate of heaven
is everywhere
if you have eyes
to see it,
if you are blessed
with a moment
of lightning.

For Merton,
it was the corner
of Walnut and Fifth
in the shopping district
of Louisville, Kentucky,
where he saw everyone
shining like the sun.

I recently beheld
the chariot of God
gliding over Target
on a dreary late
February afternoon.

The kingdom of heaven
is breaking through,
and the humble,
the weary,
the teary-eyed,
and bent low,
stumble in
and are dazzled.