Scattered

After Nehemiah 1:1-11

Scattered across geographies

and boundaries, moved

beyond rivers and seas,

the exiles wander in memory

of a reality lost, forced and torn

away. The memory is of stones

and flowers, of winding ways

and streets, alleys filled with

the shouts of merchants and priests,

children calling out their games,

of sounds of horses and cows herded

with the sheep, and the quiet of houses,

homes behind walls.        

It is all a memory now,

waiting to become a hope.

Photograph by Lode Van de Velde via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

A gate is broken

After Nehemiah 1:1-11

A gate is broken, burned,

a wall torn down, bricks

and stones broken

in humbled heaps.

The city lies undefended

and abused, a sty for pigs,

streets for wild dogs choked

with weeds. A city dying,

its death must be mourned,

a memorial to pride and

self-sufficiency and power.

A wind whistles through

abandoned homes and shops,

deserted palaces

with no roofs, with no doors.

Photograph by George Hodan via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

In the waters

After Nehemiah 1:1-11

In the waters

deep, the waters

of my soul, a motion,

a movement, a stirring,

troubling what lies

still and placid.

It does not subside

or calm; it proceeds,

a hum, a slight wind,

a soft wave circular

in its attention.

Photograph by Linnaea Mallette via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.