March, 2020
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- March, 2020
The plague spreads.The market plunges.We observe mandatoryshunning of our neighbors.Children secretly rejoicethat schools are shuttered.Churches are darkened,Easter perhaps extinguished.
And yet…and yet…
The little birds are back,goldfinches wearingolive green overcoats.Sparrows survey themselvesin plate glass windowslike ladies after shampoosin swanky salons.Summer warblers warm,awaken early spring'sstill frosty dawns.And oh! brave daffodilsswell, bloom brightin spite of frigid night.Lenten roses are lovely.Even the apple treerisks minuscule buds.We hold our breath,hope for apples. [End Page 152]
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"How Long, Oh Lord?"
[End Page 153]
Bonnie Thurston resigned a Chair and Professorship in New Testament to live quietly at home in West Virginia. She is author or editor of twenty-three theological books and six collections of poetry, most recently From Darkness to Eastering (2017) and Practicing Silence (2014). Anthologized in the US and UK, her verse life of St. Mary of Egypt is forthcoming. Bonnie enjoys reading, walking, gardening, cooking, and classical music.
