Poetry of the Sacred

The annual winners of the Poetry of the Sacred Contest (2021), chosen by the Center for Interfaith Relations.

Into the Heart of Persian Sufi Poetry, by Marian Brehmer

Impressions from the land of Rumi

Entrance, by Rainer Maria Rilke

Whoever you are: in the evening step out | of your room, where you know everything …

Pulitzer-winning poet Mary Oliver has died at 83

Mary Oliver was an astonishing poet beloved by many and also a frequent contributor to PARABOLA over the years.

Inanna and the Land of No Return, by Rachel Nora Greene

A child retells the legend of the Sumerian goddess Inanna and her descent to the Nether World.

Three Poems by Jane Yolen

Three Poems by Jane Yolen

Walt Whitman: Song of Myself, Part 50

A poem by Walt Whitman in our issue, Happiness.

Every Word I Pick Here, by Lee van Laer

Every word I pick here | Is the wrong one, one | I’ve used too often, | Touched by thought | Until it’s worn and tired.

Pathways, by Mark Nepo

I don’t know why I was born | with this belief in something | deeper and larger than we can | see. […]

What It Takes, by Lisa Starr

All it takes is one blue rowboat tied to a buoy,
and its reflection, and this moment
for me to go remembering everything. …