Christographia 46 | Sojourners

Christographia 46

the day after death
the day before life
a liturgy
of silence
under the rubric
O my God why
are you forsaken

emptied out
exhausted in grace
body stops
gravity
& relaxes against
whatever is between it
& the earth's
compelling center

clouds coming together
promise a shower
this evening
the air is still
the clouds fade
into haze
at the horizon

my spine measures
the torsion
of my soul
warped by fears
I do not name
images come
together
storm clouds fading
into dust

blood floods out
from heart
to head & foot
ebbs back
to center

after one thousand
nine hundred
and some Easters
the fact remains

the day before Easter
sitting exhausted
I count clouds & sounds
rest in silence within
await the shower
still held
in the dark & massive sky

after every
lying down,
a rising

after every
shutting up,
an opening

after every
exhalation of stale air,
an inrush
of new breath

after every
dying,
a new waking through the surface
into light

Eugene Warren was on the editorial staff at Sojourners when this article appeared.

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