Tim Gavin

POETRY

Divine Property: Farmer’s Prayer in Cerca, Haiti

I lift these rocks and pray I remain strong;
I pray the rainy season brings forth crops; I
pray my cows grow fat and goats multiply;
I pray my chickens produce eggs; my child
Finds a prosperous spouse with land and house.
I pray skies open, close to my liking
and that my hands can pull roots of weeds straight
from the ground and make room for my own bean
and yam seeds; I pray the sun looms
over my part of the plain and evil
spirits flee and run off a cliff like hoards
of wild swine; I pray likewise for neighbors
to deliver steaming pots of coffee
and potatoes and boiled goat and warm
milk and sugar cane and I pray for rest
and reprieve so I can once again say
So long and moan and sigh at the new moon.

Tim Gavin is an Episcopal priest serving as a school chaplain and interim rector at a church. His book, A Radical Beginning: a Reflection on the Prayer of St. Francis, was recently released by Olympia Publisher, London, England. He is also the author of a chapbook entitled Lyrcis from the Central Plateau released by Prolific Press in 2018. His poetry and articles have appeared in The Anglican Theological Review, Blue Mountain Review, Grow Christians, Plough, Poetry South, and other journals.

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