March 3–9 ❘ Endless

Endless

God is in the past where hordes ripple
like a sea of candles lit and snuffed
in waves. They stumble on the same stones:
battles waged, money worshipped,
passions fed that then fade as old age
weighs in. Over millennia, generations
run together like wax. There is nothing
new under the sun.

God is in the future where humankind pursues
safety, satiation, a less confusing world.
They hope to glimpse it gleaming down
the path and so place careful planks
as bridge toward paradise,
but tribulation’s shifting sands
sweep all off course. There is nothing
so stable as change.

God is in the present where I sit
with mortality clinging to me like heavy,
wet clothes. He feels the constant ache
in my left foot, the torment of cricks and pops
that follow me up the stairs. He stays with me late
into the night as I complain of unresolved conflicts
and unmet needs. There is nothing
in the desert, and no man needs

nothing. Most things don’t last forever,
but many are made eternal
by God’s presence in them.
Everywhere and when,
     even now,
He holds a space open for me
to enter and rest.

• Read more of my poetry at www.facebook.com/latterdaysaintpoetry

• Contact me at merrijane.rice@gmail.com