Saturday, September 21, 2013

O faith of mine

O faith of mine

O faith of mine, o faith,
I run through you daily.

I run through you with feet of clay --
like running with a kite

over the hardscrabble landscape,
until the wind can catch it

and I can stop, stand my ground,
sufficient tension upon the string

to keep the kite aloft.
O faith of mine, o faith

of sticks and paper, string and wire,
I manage you warily, hands cupped in prayer.

You are my icon, my silent, bright relic.
You bind my life together at the end of this line --

my gathered, disparate, quavering self --
and keep my face turned upward

toward the floating, moon-like, bright-shining
kite above the hardscrabble turf.

O child of God, faith is the evidence of God's mercy --
the inward concern turned outward.

                       

1 comment:

  1. That last line is so powerful. "the inward concern...turned outward." One of my favorite verses from the Bible is when a doubting Thomas sees Jesus after Jesus' resurrection and Jesus tells Thomas to touch his wounds. Thomas then realizes that the person before him is in fact Jesus. Jesus says to him "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” – John 20:26-29. Your poem reminded me of that passage. Thank you, Brian, for posting these. What a gift!

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