by Andrew Taylor-Troutman

Genesis 28:16

The mosquitoes were unrelenting,
humidity thick and clinging;
since the wet sticks failed as kindling,
dinner was uncooked hot dogs and cold beans.
Then the hair-raising wind blew in a storm,
chasing us, howling, inside our tent,
which we had only just hastily pitched.
As I prayed that the blasted downpour
would pass, I dared to wonder if
his first camping trip could get
any worse. That’s when I noticed
my son’s grin. I hadn’t known it,
but angels had descended.
Yet I still slept on rocks like old Jacob!

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Andrew Taylor-Troutman is the author of Gently Between the Words: Essays and Poems and pastor of Chapel in the Pines Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. 

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