Poetic Responses to Psalms and Scripture
Oh, but they are small! My kids, racing past the kitchen cabinets— will they grow, and pair, give birth? As I have. Will they listen to one word I say? How can they keep a covenant when they don’t remember their promise to throw fruit roll wrappers away? Lego men, pens and a pillow fort on the floor testify: they have more on their minds than You!
I try for them, to remember, cajole and admonish. I bark, a guard dog protecting their future. But my tone seems thin while my hands work: prepare their clothes, clean her ear piercings, put sunblock on his scar—her medicine, his wheatless meals. What must I know to fulfill my covenant with you? I’m afraid I fail. I do fear the Lord.
-- By: Ms. Karen Jessee, OP - - a member of the Dominican Laity, St. Mary Magdelene Group in Raleigh, NC. She writes and teaches, living with her husband and children near Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
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