Monday, February 28, 2011

Psalm of the Resident Alien


Alien in the midst,
called to be
a seasoning of salt,
a light purifying;
          yet hidden.

To be in, not of
this place, this field
of groaning, aching wheat
seeking its harvest;
          yet hidden.

This paradox,
this contradiction:
salt, light, in not of,
seeking, harvest yet
hidden, concealed,
safe in the hiding place
while moving unhidden:
your heart
your hands
your house
where wisdom is taught.

This poem is submitted for the Warrior Poet Circle, hosted by Jason Stasyszen at Connecting to Impact. To see other submitted poems based on the prompt of “hidden in God,” please visit the site.

Photograph by Nancy Rosback. Used with permission.

14 comments:

Unknown said...

Love that title bro'...the poem sings like a psalm!

Anonymous said...

Very nice. We certainly are a walking contradiction.

Bob Spencer said...

Nice!

Louise Gallagher said...

Very nice -- and it does roll into the mind like a psalm.

Anonymous said...

residing
on earth
while learning
the language
of heaven

Anonymous said...

Great title--great words. "Alien in the midst." Nice.

Kathleen Overby said...

ahhh. the tension. [groan]

Linda said...

This is beautiful Glynn - the paradox of life in Christ.

Cassandra Frear said...

My all time favorite by you.

I do feel alien, home in the Lord, yet not home. It's hard to describe. But you capture it well.

Anonymous said...

What a sweet prayer from a spirit who is working it out in the words between the worlds. - Brendan

Anonymous said...

Beautiful way to describe it, Glynn. Thank you.

Mommy Emily said...

love the imagery of groaning, aching wheat... a beautiful whisper of his grace in this, friend. thank you.

Anonymous said...

"Aching wheat seeking its harvest." That's good stuff, Glynn. Thanks for posting.

Anonymous said...

We Western Christians are not very good with paradox, are we? That's why I am loving poetry so much - it's one way to capture paradox in words, and get away with it as beautiful.

Nice poetry, man.