The Mapmaker

The Mapmaker                                                                                     
 
A yielding in the chest as the ground gives way –
down to the roots, veins and stones
 
where the purest water collects.  You say
we come from the Ocean and I believe You –
 
things get too lonely and salt appears in the clay.
Remembrance of You is the only balm I’ve found
 
for this rasping away at the tender area of the heart.
Your human frame brought to mind –
 
instead of the Being-beyond-conception You are.
O Your body was conceived but who
 
could have conceived of You – 
infinite divinity fitted within the human flesh?
 
O child of God, when you feel lost in this world, remember
the Mapmaker hidden in the folds of your breast.

                                (from A Jewel in the Dust, 2011)