People held out their thin arms.

love, poetry,

THE COMING

And God held in his hand
A small globe. Look, he said.
The son looked. Far off,
As through water, he saw
A scorched land of fierce
Colour. The light burned
There; crusted buildings
Cast their shadows; a bright
Serpent, a river
Uncoiled itself, radiant
With slime.
………………..On a bare
Hill, a bare tree saddened
The sky. Many people
Held out their thin arms
To it, as though waiting
For a vanished April
To return to its crossed
Boughs. The son watched
Them. Let me go there, he said.

-R.S. Thomas, 2013-2000

 

8 thoughts on “People held out their thin arms.”

  7. From Genesis to the New Testament Gospels. The poet was intentional and piercing in the use of his few words! This poem continues to speak…

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  8. Hello Gretchen, I’ll keep this short, both out of respect for your time of withdrawal from the blogworld during your Lenten season and also through trying to catch up with so many thoughtful comments left for me during a time of a heavy heart for the people of Ukraine. I wonder what April will be like for them?

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