I Thirst

 

“I thirst.” and the damp settled.

And my languid arms like languid branches

Sagged beneath unwanted weight.

A cloud, a breeze would cheer

Or butterfly with bright orange wing

Would lift a smile in a moment

For a moment.  Then in dry heat

Again, it settles, wearied with that old

        Hunger. 

                I seek. 

He whispers, “Take and eat.”

Around I look and see the waving

Of singing branches, my eyes

Too full of tears for singing.

Soon this all is dust.

There, beneath my feet I feel

The forgotten cracks throughout this crust

Of earth in which I stand. A sense

Of something warm, immense--

A whisper, “Come and drink.” 

 Sink my roots more deep. He says,

“Eat and Drink. And you 

                       shall never die.”

There touches fire

That does not consume.

Revived, my branches lift and face the sun

Ah, there are those from whom I come--

One smiles, “Where your roots?”

“What you have found beneath this ground,”

One says, “cannot be truth.”

Roots deep, veins aflame, branches sweep

In breeze and sun--what shall I say?

"Come and see, that Heart

                that never lies."