God Dance, Bone Dance

our joints were connected
by His coming;
diaspora of bones collected,
knuckles and digits
strung together,
thighs molded,
shins extended,
ankles swiveled,
shoulders shaken,
palms smacked:
the promise
of no more dislocation
but collection and fixation.
everybody knows
God gathered up the bones
and Ezekiel danced in the valley
with the clattering recollection--
God dance,
bone dance.
the body knows
how well it's stuck together,
the body knows
Jesus was a man
called his bones
to come,
and dance together.

Elizabeth Martin was a 1980 Sojourners volunteer