The Darkling Psalter
The Darkling Psalter
Poem for Psalm 19—The Word in the Wind
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Poem for Psalm 19—The Word in the Wind

Poem for Psalm 19—The Word in the Wind

Every night the sidelong hip of the Milky Way
Shows itself to you. You see
Backward across miles and years
Along the light of the works of the Almighty.
The earth at your feet is fruitful, wild, and weary.
The wind behind you, now at your face
Blows from another land
Which you have never heard of,
Which you are unequal to.
The sky and the screaming birds
And all the fullness therein say:
Holy, holy, holy.

Why do you wander pathless
In the mountain range of your feelings?
Why do you tremble at all your hidden faults?
Why have you passed so much time afraid?
If you would have light and heat,
Why are you not more in the sunshine?
If you would see the glory of God,
Why are you always elsewhere?
If you would hear the word in the wind,
Face the stars and wait.

Even now your chest, your ribs,
These rafters, this cathedral,
Fills with the breath that made it. 
Even now God’s ways wait whole and unmarred
Drawing you back—
You do not need to fill your hopes alone.
The birds at dawn are enough.
The way the leaves are green is enough.
The slim wafer of the present is enough.


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An idea can be a fragile thing and 150 poems and translations is a big idea. I meant this project to be ambitious though and, if it is ever complete, it will be the work of years.

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