Hearing the voice

After Acts 8:26-40

He hears the voice, speaking

a short message, almost a telegram

staccatoed in his head, rise and go

south, down to the road, down

to the place between Jerusalem

and Gaza. It may all go south,

but he heard and he obeyed;

he went.

He finds the most unlikely

of sights: an Ethiopian, 

an official in a queen’s court,

stopped on the road, sitting

in his chariot, reading a scroll,

reading aloud as if struggling

to understand the words so

he reads them in his own voice.

He heard the voice and obeyed.

He hears the man reading

in his own voice and explains.

Photograph by Casey Horner via Unsplash. Used with permission.