This is a poem I was made to recently revisit in a surprising “this-is-the-Lord” sort of way. It doesn’t rhyme, but hopefully the progression comes through. Henna, or Camphire, is a plant metaphor I wrote about a few years back, one that grows in a desert oasis (David fled to one for protection from Saul). Right now, “henna” has an even fresher meaning to me. Jesus is my “cluster of henna-flowers in the vineyards of En-gedi,” Song 2:14.
Journey of Tears
Nipping foxes,
trashing hopeful vines.
Noise and confusion as the wind howls,
trudging through loneliness, and…
Tears
in a land,
no glimpse of God it seems.
Only there in the distance,
the sight of blooming Henna, brings…
Tears
of delight,
hope renewed with budding vines.
Henna mean no more foxes,
eating no more blossoms, so…
Tears
are now waterfalls,
watering fruitful vines.
The Beloved is to me a cluster of Henna,
In an oasis of happy…
Tears!
Ein-Gedi Botanical Gardens, Modern Day Israel
For more reading, see: “On the Scent Trail of Henna – Song 1:14
2 comments
Very nice!
Steve
Lovely Pam. Embrace the free form … counting syllables and rhyming lines 1 and 3, and 2 and 4, brings tears … and … paper cuts from rifling through the pages of my rhyming dictionary and thesaurus. ;^)