Simultaneous translations

After Acts 2:1-13

It is a polyglot of nations

represented, people from

everywhere living

in one place, this city

at this time, people

hearing the wind

thundering and rushing,

a mighty river cascading

down mountains,

a waterfall of sound.

They hear the wind

and come running,

called to see and

called to witness

this event at this time,

what none have seen

before: the languages

of nations pouring forth

from men who know

only own, their own.

Photograph by Zac Ong via Unsplash. Used with permission.

A rushing wind

After Acts 2:1-13

It is the wind we hear,

the rushing sound,

the mighty roar filling

the space around us,

the space inside us.

Tongues of fire appear, 

divide and rest above

each of us, a singularity

translating into tongues

all could understand.

The sound brings men

running to where we are,

shocked to hear languages

flowing from tongues of men

and from tongues of fire.

Before we miss it, though, 

there is a preamble 

to all of this, a presupposition

or possibly even a pre-condition:

we were all together.

Photograph by Mahkeo via Unsplash. Used with permission.