Poem: Hosea 13:5

Hosea 13:5

You have cut back the thorns,
the only survivor of summer's drought,
those thorny fronds threatening
the color of God's summer, that

if left, would choke the life, the color
from the garden,
then die themselves,
a lesson you have learned

in your own life,
once so choked with thorns
that you could not see past them
to the life beckoning,

the life desired for you,
lovingly prepared
by a God who loves,
but expects you, not him

to be the gardener.

And so you have learned the lesson,
that even in the wilderness,
there can be life, joy and flowers,
that color can survive

even your own efforts
to starve it away,
and those things you have cut away,
those things long lost

are not lost at all,
but merely compost
for the coming spring.



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The verse in the bible that this poem refers to reads: "I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought." It is from this morning's bible reading.

The picture was taken near Dorset, VT, this summer. You can click on it for a larger version.

Tom