Poem August 22, 2005 Issue

Holy ground

Bettie Gray

Even if we,
like Lot's wife,
idled and numbed
by loss and grief

Or pillared
in salt tears
on the plain
of regret

Even then...even then
the earth will yet
behold us all transformed,
and it will shout, amazed,
for all to hear:
What boundless grace
rises in this barren
plain!
What timeless Love divine
rains and washes
and wakens these seeds
to root and bloom
in joy's design
and dissolves the tears
from off this place!