Very Just Below
Wieder, Laurance
Very Psalm 4 Look at this! A circle dance Around a bonfire That won't stop, They swear, Until rain falls. If dance can make rain fall, Tears might make rain. If they could see What fools they are,...
...Just Below Psalm 8 Although we cannot say your name Aloud, both earth and sky Hang moving pictures of your present, Giving children speech and strength To quiet even angry strangers...
...If they could see What fools they are, Their wheatfields might Be watered, and wine flow...
...Laurance Wieder Commonweal I 6 January 15,1999...
...Or our children, who can sing Songs we've forgotten...
...But no...
...Yet all these goods spread out Before us, for generations, Do not begin to sound one syllable Of what the whole earth knows Best left unsaid...
...We stand Just below angels, who see glory, Honor as we do those fields, trees, Mountains, chasms, rivers, oceans You have given us sway over: Grazing herds and feral stalkers, Creatures of the house and barnyard, Songbirds, shore birds, fish, whatever Swims or sails through the deep...
...When I look at the sky, the night sky Moonlit, starred with patterns That go past me, I wonder What we are, that you take notice...
...I sleep...
...You bring the clouds...
Vol. 126 • January 1999 • No. 1
