Shallow grave

Shallow grave                                                                                       
 
This old watch won’t be repaired
but tossed into a drawer to collect dust;
 
a pine box of bones and a suit of rags
lowered into a shallow grave.
 
Giving up any notion of salvation,
all I have is Your name on my tongue
 
and the cold stone of Your Tomb. 
I won’t be saved but You will –
 
Love prevails and whatever shards and shavings,
by Your grip are firmly shaken from me,
 
will not drop into the grave
but catch the wind,
 
spill and glint brilliantly
upon the freshly turned earth.
 
O child of God, can you measure a dream?  
What is the value of God’s hand
          placed upon on your shoulder?

                                    (from A Jewel in the Dust, 2011)