Monday, March 7, 2011

Was with, is


A referential millennium,
the concordance reports,
of the word word in all
of its variations and shadings,
permutations and seeming
meanderings, not aimless though;
each reference its own poem
in the collected, edited volume,
a multitude on the hillside
to center on the one.

This is a great mystery,
this hovering over the deep,
the formless, this shaping
of creation, a speaking or
the speaking of the hidden
into the light, the non-existent
into the real. A word
once thought, once uttered,
once written and thus codified
becomes eternal.

This word was with;
this word is.

This poem is submitted for The High Calling’s Random Act of Poetry. To see other submitted poems on “what’s in a word,” please visit the site.

Photograph: Bible Text by Petr Kratochvil via Public Doman Pictures. Used with permission.

6 comments:

Maureen said...

I was waiting to see how you were going to approach this week's RAP. I like this; it's cerebral, makes one think, and points up all we need to know.

Beth said...

I had to read this aloud several times. You've got this English teacher thinking hard after a long day and that's an accomplishment.
I like what I think you're saying about word.
". . . the speaking of the hidden into the light, the non-exitent into the real. A word. . . becomes eternal. What a beautiful explanation of what a word becomes. So true.

Jerry said...

For one who enjoys playing with words, this for me kinda told me to stop messing around so much and think about what I'm writing. How words might be received and adding or subtracting meaning is in the use and utility. I mean...It's not that I will stop rearranging
words and their meaning to embellish a mood or context...Oh, boy, talk about writing myself into a corner. The way you tracked from Word to word and words that began an evolution in meaning...What I mean is thanks for stirring my tanks. Tanksalot.

Emily Murphy said...

I liked this. Drew me in and kept me interested. Thank you.

Marcus Goodyear said...

Very rich biblical imagery here, Glynn. This is one that sends me back into the poem as soon as I finish.

Unknown said...

Glynn,

I love that you started looking at the concordance for references to 'word' (right?) and that took you on a seeming 'stream of consciousness' journey, yet, at the same time, centering.

And it is a beautiful thing to contemplate what it was for the Word to speak all that is. I have loved most the Narnia image in 'Magician's Nephew'...it's a song...heavenly language which is beyond all of the constructs we have this world over and yet a touch of each.

well, thank you for this.