Max Von Sydow

stone saint

with Max’s young face

tell me his secrets

let me be a stone sparrow

chiseled into stories

of strawberries,

violins, and madness

let me knight you

and ride you through

death’s distant door

all in the palm

of your hand

Tell me

stories of Bergman

On Fårö Island

where the sea

thrashes through

 a glass darkly

and I can

believe in

God through your

so blue eyes

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Thank you to Tess over at Magpie Tales for this photo prompt of Saint Francis of Assisi. 

There is a sense of familiarity that comes with some people.  Some are even famous.  I’ve always felt that familiarity with Max Von Sydow.  He is a Swedish actor who got his start in Ingmar Bergman films.  Born in 1929, Von Sydow continues to act.  Early in his career he acted in Ingmar Bergman’s 1961 film “Through a Glass Darkly.” It is the story of one family’s confrontation with schizophrenia.  In the film, Von Sydow’s wife is released from an asylum, and is far from cured.   The phrase comes from 1 Corinthians 13.  It refers to the idea that people will only clearly know God when they die, until that time they see God through a glass darkly. Bergman lived most of his life on the island of Fårö in Sweden.  He filmed Through a Glass Darkly there.  It is breathtaking.