Poem January 13, 2020 Issue

Exodus

Guillaume Olivier

I heard the good news*—Christ; I go,
dropping my daily business,
leaving it be. I start
my journey, my exodus.

“I am now free,” I think, but the end isn’t near.
Divine Love leads me in the day as I walk in the desert
for freedom and peace.

A pillar of cloud** I follow. Joyful I sound.
But night is coming—doubt, uncertainty, and fear are
covering, wrapping about me.
Hurt and alone I feel.

I fall down and cry, “Where are You?
You, who delivered me?
I am far from home in that cold desert You led me to.”

Oh, foolish I am. Divine Mind You are!
Never absent. All present.
Like the resounding Truth, a pillar of fire**
appears, and I can now hear,
“Keep going, My child; peace is at hand.”

Drying my tears, I go onward,
feeling, knowing that the land sought is near.

—Guillaume Olivier

*See Proverbs 25:25. **See Exodus 13:21.