Friday, March 25, 2011

Happy Annunciation!



(I wrote this for a competition & didn't win & had to put it somewhere)



In My Hand
A Verse for the Annunciation

Lentils strewn
across the wall
in a dusky wave

These things I remember

Mid-day hunger
we had an onion
so the stew smelled rich

I filled my bowl to the brim,
heard a rustling,
like leaves
or the tops of juniper trees
swaying in the wind

And turned

"Hail, Full of Grace ..."

Light broke 
with a voice
terrible,
but sweet

I could see him
yet through him
he was golden,
white and blue --
with silver specks
sparking off his skin
like moonlight on water

And the lentils,
they flew
from my hand
when I jumped
and gasped
and grabbed my throat
to find it silent

Only the sound
of a wooden bowl,
clattering across stone,
and his words,
"Be Not Afraid,"
filled the room

As strong and as real
as the fire beneath my pot

As strong and as real
as the cold beneath my feet

As strong and as real
as the waft of lentils
for which,
I was no longer hungry

These things I remember

I hold them in my hand
like the same wooden bowl,
now cracked on one side,
my finger finds the line often
and traces it
like a scar

Especially when I feed
my Son of the Most High
lentils or pottage or goat curds,
His favorite,
and He squeals and smacks and splats
them on His face,
in my hair,
on the wall

I laugh at the Child's dancing brown eyes,
but words spoken over Him
grip my heart all the more
as He now reaches
to grip my hand

"And of His Kingdom there shall be no end."
Yea, be it done to me according to thy word.


2 comments:

Abigail said...

The whole world should read your blog. With hope, I subscribed to fishsticks for just such a time as today. Hurrah!

And this- this- is absolutely beautiful. I am glad you're not stingy with your talent. I've read it several times already, and it's still not enough. I want to swallow a magic writing bean, but reading is the next best thing, so you'd better keep on sharing! (This said with a growl and a shake of the fist.)

Sarah said...

Thanks, Applegal for the very kind words.

I wrote this poem several months ago for a competition & so enjoyed the process.

Writing is something I really miss but have largely laid down for a time. The only time I find to write is after the kids are asleep. I always find that I just get started well past when I should get myself in bed -- thus leaving me no good to perform my duties the next day.

This competition provided a simple, small assignment I was able to spin about in my mind for a few weeks. What fun.

-- Sarah