auratus

a poem for you

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auratus

Isaiah 49:7-13

you are beloved

you are bound for brighter fields
beyond the edges of this night

you are true beyond
the nature of your burdens

you are bold beyond
the boundaries of your fears

you are free in flight, fenced in only
by open sky, enveloped only by clouds

you are sharp as an arrow aimed at the heart
of desolation, bearing new birth in your body

you are crowned with the Word that releases
spring into the world, sheathed with glory

you carry the sun in your wings,
an ornament on the breast of a queen

for you have been chosen, royal as a child
who has discovered they are loved

you will shine with every splendor you possess
on the day you dawn out of your long affliction

you will wake to the bright song
of laughter and know it is your own

This is what the Lord says—
the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

This is what the Lord says:
“In the time of my favor I will answer you,
and in the day of salvation I will help you;
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people,
to restore the land
and to reassign its desolate inheritances,
to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’
and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’

They will feed beside the roads
and find pasture on every barren hill.
They will neither hunger nor thirst,
nor will the desert heat or the sun beat down on them.
He who has compassion on them will guide them
and lead them beside springs of water.
I will turn all my mountains into roads,
and my highways will be raised up.
See, they will come from afar—
some from the north, some from the west,
some from the region of Aswan.

Shout for joy, you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.”

This poem was inspired by this beautiful painting of a Northern Flicker by fellow artist Abigail Olson, during a “Pass the Piece” project with folks from the Rabbit Room. Abigail is not on social media, and neither am I, and this was from a few years back. If you know her, I’d love to tag her!

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