OWL OF THE DESERT
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Ark

More water when there is nothing
but water,
the plunging sky’s generosity
a mockery. Water
seeping into upturned
mouths exhaling
vermilion promises.

There is no rainfall
like that bestowed
upon the open sea.

Open faced we rise
to the rainfall falling,
flooding across the pores
and grooves of our gopher wood
skin.

Are shadows colorblind
or merely appear so?
What are these swelling
phantoms elongating
across the water
day and night, night
after day? It is all
gray: gray
ocean and gray sky,
gray
minds
staring
downward.

      Our anchor
      is become a
      millstone.

      They say,
Are we kneaded from cloud or clay?
Must we choose a piece, a part,
or is glory birthed
in the whole?

      They say,
Are cisterns filled
with a taste of the sea
or does all water partake
of a single sisterhood?

      They say,
So long traveled
and for what?  Why 
not fashion phylacteries
from the skins of these orphaned
animals, for so are we?

      I say,
Beware the olive branch
plucked from Babylon’s advancing shore
where color fades.

      Rainbows were not made
      for pupils such as ours,
      such as us, ineffectual
      prisms.

      I ask,
Was the ark
fashioned for dry ground? 

      Step into the rain
      revealing the Arc
      with those 

            ascending Jacob’s ladder
            two by two.

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  • Home
  • Poetry
    • Fleeing Egypt >
      • Tower of Babel
      • The Orchard
      • Tithing Settlement
      • Chastity for Churches
      • Sign
      • Cleaning House
      • Elijah
      • Rulers of Sodom
      • Beware
      • Two Churches
      • Beginning At My Sanctuary
      • Toll Road
      • Get it Strait
      • Corporation Sole
      • The Religion of the Circle R
      • Fig Tree
      • Eve
      • New Jerusalem
      • Shemlon's Shore
    • Ascending Sinai >
      • Ark
      • Sin of the Calf
      • An Idol Observation
      • Dew from Heaven
      • I love you, Elder Holland
      • Easter
      • How Sweet
      • Haiku
      • The Barn
      • Patron Saint
      • A Conversation with Brigham Young
      • Mine Testimony
      • The Meadow
      • The Gardens
      • Ice Fishing
      • Without End
      • Forest
      • Continental Divide
      • A Great Sacrifice
    • Promised Land >
      • Lanolin
      • Zion
      • Wisdom
      • Take Up Your Cross
      • Was the Sun the Same
      • Plain and Precious
      • Bridegroom
      • Faith
      • Amos
      • But First
      • Wax
      • Parable of the Piano
      • Repentance
      • Wake Up, Child
      • Cold Storage
      • Covered Wagon
      • Multiply and Replenish
      • Rollercoaster
      • The Baptist
    • Seven Stations of the Cross >
      • Jesus Condemned to Die >
        • Life Signs
        • Fashionable Religion
        • Tithing Declaration
        • A Pretty Important Detail
        • Jesus is All
        • Salt Lake Temple
        • Zion in the Lion's Den
        • High Noon
        • Bookmark
      • Jesus Stumbles and Falls >
        • Unveil
        • But Faith
        • Sifting
        • The Ballerina
      • Simon of Cyrene Bears the Cross
      • Women of Jerusalem Weep
      • Jesus Stripped of His Garment
      • Jesus Nailed to the Cross
      • Burial and Resurrection
  • Blog
    • Previous Posts >
      • 2023 Posts
      • 2022 Posts
      • 2021 Posts
      • 2020 Posts
  • About
  • Contact