To walk into a room

After Acts 2

To walk into a room

full of people

of another language

another culture

another world

and be told to speak

and be told to encourage

and to teach

with no forethought

with no preparation

with no understanding

to feel the beginnings of sweat

the beginnings of fear

the desire to flee

and then to stand in hope

to stand and to speak

this is called idiocy

this is called trust

this is called faith

Photograph by Circe Denyer via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.

The wind, the voices

The wind pushes them

from the room. They flow

into the street, the wind

behind them, slicing

the light, separating it

into component colors,

component voices.

The crowd hears the noise,

a cacophony of languages,

these followers speaking

tongues they do not know,

tongues they do not understand.

The voices sweep the streets,

replacing the air with noise

of thunder and fire. Houses

and shops are burnished gold,

becoming the echoes

of the voices. Even

the dust has colors.

Photograph by Sabine Sauermaul via Public Domain Pictures. Used with permission.