Divine Poems (134)
When,I,was,no,bigger,than,a,huge,
Star,in,my,self,I,began,to,write,
My,
Theology,
Of,rose,and,
Tiger: till,I,burned,with,their
Pure,and,Rage. Then,was,I,Wrath—
Ful,
And,most,
Gentle: most,
Dark,and,yet,most,Lit: in,me,an,
Eye,there,grew: springing,Vision,
Its,
Gold,and,
Its,wars. Then,
I,knew,the,Lord,was,not,my,Creator!
—Not,He,the,Unbegotten—but,I,saw,
The,
Creator,
Was,I—and,
I,began,to,Die,and,I,began,to,Grow.
Copyright © 1941, 1942, renewed © 1970 by Jose Garcia Villa; from Doveglion: Collected Poems by Jose Garcia Villa, edited by John Edwin Cowen. Used by permission of Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. All rights reserved.
José Garcia Villa
José Garcia Villa was born in Manila in 1908. He published several poetry collections in the Philippines and in the United States, including Have Come, Am Here (Viking Press, 1942), which was a finalist for the 1943 Pulitzer Prize. He died in New York City in 1997.