by Peter Venable

spring twilight. The backyard porch. 
Frankincense wafts to rafters, as it did 
eons ago in Ephratah. Child, sit down! 
We have honored Magi. A bright star 
twinkles above dark pines— 
the beacon then? 
 
Ghost crabs burrow in my skin.  
Sand fleas scamper in sea-oat hair. 
Leg worts burgeon like barnacled pilings.  
These saltwater channels narrow, motor sputters,   
chipped propellers idle. The stern leaks 
and steering wheel loosens in dead calm. 
My last blink will look like winter cottage shutters. 
 
Behold, I tell you a mystery—we shall all be changed. 
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye... *    
 
Crickets’ serenade. Glow of 
Incense burns out. The brightest star,  
past The Milky Way, beyond Hubble’s peek,
speaks the greatest mystery, 
I shall be raised a spiritual body. *

*1 Cor. 15.51, 44.

Peter Venable has written sacred and secular verse for many decades. He has been published in Ancient Paths, Prairie Messenger, Time of Singing, American Vedantist, The Anglican Theological Review, The Christian Century, The Merton Seasonal, Windhover and forthcoming in Spiritus. His Jesus Through A Poet’s Lens is an eBook and print version available at petervenable.com.