Thursday, April 13, 2006

The Wilderness

The Wilderness

the wilderness
came
so suddenly
on the journey
it
was a
desert unbidden
without
warning

coming from the
lake that day
a dove-borne
benediction
freshly
laid on my brow

I was unprepared for
the way the
trees fell away
and water
disappeared and
all life
seemed hidden
beneath the
surface of
arid
clay

my last
drink
was not as I had
hoped it would be
a gulp of
lake water on
my way back
up from
surrendering to
his "suffer it to
be so now"  that
he said becometh us

the wilderness
came upon me
so quickly and
with it
the darkness
of doubt and
fear

how quickly
i traveled
from
exalted son
to
exhausted
child
searching for
a parent
to make things
right
again

jackals
pursue me into
the
night
yelping at my
heels
mocking me for
thinking that I
could ever
be
what I thought
you told me I
was to
you...
a loved son
who
pleased you

at first I
pick up a large stick
and
flail at them with
all my might
missing
my mark
with every swing
until I
realize
my power is
in
Your words

just as it was Your
words that
convinced me of
who I was and
what your purpose for
me is
it is those same
words of
authority that
will send them
cowering into
the
shadows
where they
have no
identity

so I
take your lead
and
speak
with authority
and the
wilderness
becomes a
place of
beauty
and
promise

It is written

I remember now

It is written
and it is
done

and I am
fed








K

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous11:41 AM

    Dynamic imagery, Kate. I have been here, not with you, of course, since we always travel the wilderness alone but at the same time with you -- in empathatic companionship. Thanks for a graphic picture of the wilderness experience. Shirley

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