Sabbath Poem
Rent from DeepDyve- Sabbath Poem
for Wendell Berry
Wind rises brisk, brusque, to gale forcedriving horizontal rain under the eavesto appear as stains on the upper wallsabove windows shut tight in a stoic stayagainst this unpredicted storm's might.
Even prim Charlie at the organ wincesat the lightning strike, the choir hittingan impromptu, off-key high "C" over "C"while minister and congregation alikehear the towering fir north of our church
grumble its old roots out of the earthand twist with a cracking, blown limbscrackling down on our brand new roofour Board of Deacons proudly approvedjust last year out of missionary funds,
and we all jump up as if summoned,and of course we know we are, hustlingin the thunderous roar of fir and roofcoming down together, smashed beamssprinkling splinters like blessings upon us [End Page 141]
as we flee from our inside perspectiveto a new understanding that God wantsHis people, in their overweening pride,to hasten through doors and do His workmeekly, not inside churches but outside.
Rob Jacques grew up in northern New England and enjoyed a thirty-year career as a technical writer. He now lives on a rural island in the state of Washington's Puget Sound. His poems have appeared in numerous literary journals.
