It has taken a while for this Easter poem to come together. Not too long, though, I hope.
Old Stone
Too big to move, they said.
Steady, sedate, settled
for centuries. Passed over
when the Temple was built.
More walked around than stumbled
over. Not worthy of rejection -
just ignored.
Perfect then, to jam
the gap, seal
the tomb, end the
talk, gag the
Word.
Late in time came the gang
of destiny, cursing a final full stop
into the darkness.
But briefly, briefly…
All it took was one sharp
snort from the
Eternal to eject that great god-
gobstopper.
Unstoppable You – You
spat it out. Here, at last, a
mouth of hope. Now
let spirit breathe, dead
live, stones
themselves cry out. Solid
joy. Divine
sneeze.
SAC 16.4.12
Stephen –
I read your poem and thought, ‘huh….so that’s what it means for humanity to encounter the Divine’. Really cool.
Thanks
I love the freshness of this imagery Stephen. It certainly put a resurrection smile of surprise on my face. The image was brilliant, the word that stuck in my throat (if you’ll pardon the pun) was ‘snort’ How can a snort eject something when it is produced through an inhalation of breath, to me snort is more of a sound than an action and has a perjorative connotation. Maybe, like the poem, I just need to lighten up a bit, or suck it and see!!!
Thanks Caroline. Delighted to provoke that resurrection smile.
I was thinking of ‘snort’ as a powerful but perhaps derisive exhalation, but your comment sent me anxiously to the OED and I am relieved that the good compilers support that meaning of the word. They talk about, ‘the loud sound made by the sudden forcing of breath out through the nose, often as an act of contempt, indignation, or incredulity.’ in the poem it is God saying ‘so much for that little stone’.
It has other meanings too such as to snort cocaine, which I guess goes the other way.
Thanks again.
Stephen
Thank you for this Stephen… I’d never considered it from this perspective.