Two Poems by Elise Gibson

Two Poems by Elise Gibson

In God’s mind,
there was infinity.
a slowly whirling,
glittering,
eternity
of terrifying bright night,
full of
flames that sprinted in ellipses,
and marbled floating globes with
golden belts of grit and sand
all this,
tethering His earth with their
gravities.

In God’s mind, there was
a glassy-toothed plesiosaurus,
smooth-skinned,
dark-eyed,
soaring through the
airy
green
deeps.

In God’s mind, there was
a rumply, wrinkly boulder of an elephant,
curling his corrugated trunk
shaking his curving tusks.

And in God’s mind there was His Child.
In God’s mind there were His children:
heads, feet, hearts,
muscles, nerves,
veins, eyes, and hands and mouths.
all these.

And once upon a time,
in God’s mind,
there was a
small,
feathered thing.
light-boned and fragile,
with a pert, sassy cock to its head–
a daring rascal of a bird!
It had a thin, flat tail like a paintbrush,
that flicked and bobbed as though
held loose in
an artist’s indecisive fingers–
As for the feet, their scales were like a lizard’s
gray, scalloped ones,
fringing eight skinny claws–
such a small bird!
And the wings –He smiled–
the wings were the best part,
those bronzy-edged feathers,
as neatly lapping over each other
as shingles on a roof.

Ah, yes,
in God’s mind there was
a sparrow.

So do not fear; you are worth more than many sparrows.
Two sparrows are sold for a penny.
Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.
Not one of them is forgotten by God.

When the many
penny-sparrows
fall
to
the ground

[copper autumn leaves]

I fear,
lest I am worth
far
less

[and forgotten]

I have
his
sworn
word: he never will,
and
it’s never enough

[for me]

my heart scorns
to believe
impossibility–
this sparrow

[are you mindful]

By Elise Gibson

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