Decibels of Praise i. Now The chorus of praise sung by creation drowns out ours— the white-throated sparrow spilling its golden notes on winter days; spring peepers and katydids in their season. In choosing to be human, we yielded to sorrows that pierce through hearts to joy. We chose the flinty grace of arrows, the grinding of the hours that sharpens the callow young. And when we want to cry we sing a lullaby. ii. Later The first to rise will sing, Hallelujah! and shake creation. The sleeping will cry, What’s that brouhaha? while Christ calls out, My dears, I know you! Such will be the exultation when the first to rise sing, Hallelujah! and shake creation. iii. At Last Thorny bougainvillea, cells that move by cilia, lichen and giraffe, mother frog and bull calf, the pampered and abused, well-loved and ill-used will see in their stories the makings of glory and join their sweet words in praise of the Lord.
J.S. Absher’s second full-length book of poetry, Skating Rough Ground, was published in 2022 by Kelsay Press. His first full-length book, Mouth Work (St. Andrews University Press) won the 2015 Lena Shull Book Contest from the NC Poetry Society. His poems have recently been published or accepted by the NC Literary Review, Triggerfish Review, and Tar River Review. His poems have been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize. He lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, with his wife Patti. His webpage is js-absher-poetry.com.
Amethyst Review 