POETRY
“A Father’s Wound” read by Maura H. Harrison.
A Father’s Wound
The leaving, working, and the coming home:
A father goes and daily tests the bounds
And grounds of worldly cares, commotion, chrome.
He toils his way through routine’s busy sounds.
He’s mapping out the obstacles—the mires,
Brambles and bogs, the easy faithless way—
And naming constellations: Legal Liars,
The Mediocre Mob, the Soulless Sway.
The naming is an endless work. However,
With atlas and the Creed, he leads the way.
When he was made a father, heart torn wide,
He knew he had an open wound forever
In need of care—a father’s love that day
By day draws all the children to his side.
“I’ll Know You in the Breaking” read by Maura H. Harrison.
I’ll Know You in the Breaking
A meditation on receiving Holy Communion and Luke 5:1-11
Put out a little distance
Into the lake, along the shore
Where schools of Kinneret
Throw flecks—a million silver flashes
Of sun on scale, of awe.
My love moves swift and quickly here
Among these smaller words.
Hear and partake of parable.
Put out into the deep
And lower nets, believing in
The call to try again.
Lower into the well of wells
And catch the weight of Musht,
Come take this, all of you, and eat
My words—these teeming fish
Raised from the Sea of Galilee—
That bless and break your net,
Trust me, I’ll know you in the breaking,
That bless and raise the shallows,
Today with you in paradise,
That bless and beg you follow.
Coming ashore, give all away.
Maura H. Harrison is a poetry student in the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at the University of St. Thomas, Houston. She lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia.
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Photo Credit: “Where are you?” by Eva the Weaver, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0, via Flickr.com.
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