To The Bride
(Hosea 14)


Sand in your teeth in the burning sun
Your sins are your desert-bound downfall
Time to take words
for the Lord and return

Say to Him:

"All my sins forgive
take me graciously
accept the fruit of my lips
I want to live"

Then will I bathe you in the dew of morning
in pools distilled where angel fish feed

You shall blossom a lily in the shallows

Like colossal cedars that stoop moss-drooping
languid tendrils in crystal streams
your loam-probing roots will deepen

With fragrance of cedar shall your tresses perfume

Beneath your vine banqueted with blossoms
novices in your shade shall dwell
sharing burgeoning sheaves of your well-favored grain
all manner of thing shall be well

Summer winds shall waft widely your subtle bouquet
famous like the finest of wine---

But I am your green pine
Remember and learn
Your fruitfulness comes from me

Should you return


by C. Van Gorkom