Poem October 17, 1977 Issue

WHEN IS NOW

Rushworth M. Kidder

When "if God does" gives way to "since God is,"
and all the maybe's melt to certainly;
when my and mine yield cordially to His,
and "here's for you" submerges "what's for me?"—

when platitude (the aged counterfeit
of artistry) crumbles at sounds of new,
and childish tough-talk (blown-up opposite
of tenderness) bursts at the touch of true—

then shall (in other words) the Word appear
charged with a force so fresh no age can fear
its thrust, no youth resist its crisp compelling
(because, at last, it lasts beyond the telling);

and then shall now, cleaving the dumbstruck when,
weave in our tongue the words that heal all men.

Rushworth M. Kidder

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