Saturday, December 14, 2013

Switch on a star.

This poem from Joseph Brodsky's Nativity Poems makes me feel the personhood of God as He has shown Himself in history and nature. I love the part about miracles gravitating toward the people who are waiting.

25. XII. 1993

For a miracle, take one shepherd’s sheepskin, throw
in a pinch of now, a grain of long ago,
and a handful of tomorrow. Add by eye
a little chunk of space, a piece of sky,

and it will happen. For miracles, gravitating
to earth, know just where people will be waiting,
and eagerly will find the right address
and tenant, even in a wilderness.

Or if you’re leaving home, switch on a new
four-pointed star, then, as you say adieu,
to light a vacant world with steady blaze
and follow you forever with its gaze.

~ Joseph Brodsky (1940-1996), Russian-born poet, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1987


2 comments:

Gumbo Lily said...

Oh, this is a good one! I like the word picture of the miracle finding those who are waiting for them -- the right address, even in a wilderness. (better than Santa!) Thanks, Gretchen.

M.K. said...

I like that!