Poem written by St john of the Cross, formatted according to the display on my Hoopla phone app.

For I know well the spring that flows and runs, although it is night.

That eternal
Spring is
Hidden, for
I know
Well where
It has its rise,
Although it is night.

I do not know
Its origin,
Nor has it one,
That every
Origin has
Come from it,
Although it is night.

I know that
Nothing
Else is so
Beautiful,
And that the
Heavens
And the earth
Drink there,
Although it is night.

I know well
That it is
Bottomless
And no one is
Able to
Cross it,
Although it is night.

Its clarity is
Never darkened,
And I know
That every
Light has
Come from it,
Although it is night.

I know that its
Streams
Are so brimming
They water
The lands of hell,
The heavens
And earth,
Although it is night.

I know well
The stream
That flows
From this spring
Is mighty
In compass
And power,
Although it is night.

I know the stream
Proceeding from
These two,
That neither of
Them in fact
Precedes it,
Although it is night.

The eternal
Spring is hidden
In this living
Bread for
Our life’s sake,
Although it is night.

It is here
Calling out
To creatures;
And they
Satisfy
Their thirst,
Although in darkness,
Because it is night.

This living spring
That I long for,
I see in
This bread of life,
Although it is night.

St John of the Cross. Euclid, Ohio.