There are few poets as poignant as James Kavanaugh.. He was a visionary, and recognized what he ultimately used as a title for his poetry, "There Are Men Too Gentle to Live Among Wolves". I used one of his poems in a small men's group, and there were tears in many eyes, as well as mine.
His poetry, as well as that of Robert Bly, were monumental in my ideas of the consummate male. I even watched myself, through some years, share some about him to a potential love. The ones who had absolutely no connection were "on the road soon". There were a few ,,, a very few ,,, who strongly resonated with Kavanaugh's heart, and brilliance, and in digging deep into the male heart.
He was a Catholic priest who most remember as an advocate for reform in his Church. He became famous in the mid-sixties with his controversial bestseller, "A Modern Priest Looks at His Outdated Church". He lived to be 81, and not many writers can express so much emotion in such a truly poignant way. I discovered him when I was in school, and his poetry moved me deeply. As time went on, I saw that he was, indeed, representative of those men who, while strong and charactered men, were gentle ... who were really capable of love.
This next, had me cry at the authenticity and integrity with which he thinks.
Kavanaugh writes this about himself:
“I am one of the searchers. There are, I believe, millions of us. We are not unhappy, but neither are we really content. We continue to explore life, hoping to uncover its ultimate secret. We continue to explore ourselves, hoping to understand. We like to walk along the beach, we are drawn by the ocean, taken by its power, its unceasing motion, its mystery and unspeakable beauty. We like forests and mountains, deserts and hidden rivers, and the lonely cities as well. Our sadness is as much a part of our lives as is our laughter. To share our sadness with one we love is perhaps as great a joy as we can know - unless it be to share our laughter.
We searchers are ambitious only for life itself, for everything beautiful it can provide. Most of all we love and want to be loved. We want to live in a relationship that will not impede our wandering, nor prevent our search, nor lock us in prison walls; that will take us for what little we have to give. We do not want to prove ourselves to another or compete for love.
For wanderers, dreamers, and lovers, for lonely men and women who dare to ask of life everything good and beautiful. It is for those who are too gentle to live among wolves.”
