Metamorphosis

Metamorphosis

Six days of silence and rest
And on the seventh day
A walk
Up a mountain in the dark

There, looking east,
Day broke upon them
And scattered blooming shards
In an ever-expanding arc of light
Two billion sparks and more; no fear–yet

There, Moses on Sinai and Elijah on Horeb:
Heard the Name of God as a synonym for promise,
Or the whisper, still and small,
In a cloud and a cave’s mouth.
Then, down they went–
To an easily unsettled congregation
And to anoint Hazael and Jehu and Elisha,
With crowns and swords and a cloak,
Thrown without a word

But there the cloud, so black so bright,
(Morning, once broken, put back together again as night,)
Stops words that fall from Peter’s mouth like broken teeth
With the Word; now fear!
Now glowing faces buried in the dirt

The Word not only speaks but touches,
Raises from holes punctured in the ground at regular intervals.
(Easier to mow around.)
And, eyes opened, there’s only One to see
In all the Law and Prophets and Psalms
Sand still dropping from their foreheads and empty hands