As the Wolves Gather
- As the Wolves Gather
As a shepherd on a plain of sparse brown grassleans on his crook with his senses on high alert,surrounded by a sea of moving sounds,let me listen. Give me the strength to stopbeing awakened by the radiostuck on a station of depressing news.Let me wake up and lie there listening,for a minute, to the minute musicsof my heart, my house, and the world outside.Stopper my ears against the siren callsof my e-mail inboxes, of junk mail.Help me resist my Facebook stranger-friends.Help me reclaim in simple solitudethe whistle of nothingness in my ears.Give me a day without background music,its beautiful face masking distraction.Give me the commitment to being alonewith the thought of the cavernous cosmos.Remind me that I am an iotagifted with an infinitude of love.Give me the shepherd's focused vigilance,where shepherds find the strength to fight off wolves. [End Page 110]
MARILYN NELSON is the author of numerous books, including The Cachoeira Tales and Other Poems, The Fields of Praise, and Magnificat. Her books for young readers include How I Discovered Poetry, Carver: A Life in Poems, and A Wreath for Emmett Till. Her honors include three National Book Award Finalist medals, the Frost Medal, the Poets' Prize, and the Boston Globe / Hornbook Award. Nelson is an emeritus professor at the University of Connecticut, the former poet laureate of Connecticut, and founder and director of Soul Mountain Retreat.*
