by Susan Sanderson

A famine brought my husband
From across the Jordan to my people’s land.
I gained a mother-in-law,
Named Naomi, father-in-law,
A brother-in-law and a sister-in-law.
We lived happily until sorrow entered the door.
First to die was Naomi’s spouse.
Her two sons took ill – her house had no heirs.
Neither Orpah nor I
Had offspring by her sons.
Hopeless situation;
Who would provide for us – our nation
Or Naomi’s? She decided that food
In Bethlehem could only be good news –
She would go back.
We set off too. ‘Go Back!’
She ordered, and Orpah obeyed.
I heard and was dismayed.
Naomi was like a mother to me.
There was something in her I could see.
I swore my friendship to her
And my acceptance of her people’s God.
I would not go back
However many times she said, ‘Go back!’.
It was a long journey we made.
I didn’t wish I had stayed in my own land.
Women were shocked;
Out of their houses they flocked.
Is this Naomi returned?
Would the foreigner be spurned?
We found the shelter of a cave,
But we needed to be saved.
Everything went well for me.
It was Boaz’s concern as he
Owned the field I chose to glean.
Naomi rejoiced, learning where I had been.
She hatched a plan
To get me a man.
At the city gates the decision was made.
A nearer kinsman’s rights were displayed,
But he forfeited his claim to Naomi’s land.
So Boaz and I could make her a grandmother
To Obed, who she dandled.
Her God our lives had handled
With mercy and power.
He is our strong tower.

Susan Sanderson is an empty-nester living with her husband in the North of England. As a blogger and writer she is a member of the Association of Christian Writers (ACW). Some of her poems have been published in ACW’s print magazine, Christian Writer.