Holy the Firm – a poem by Gene Hyde

Holy the Firm

			- for Annie Dillard 

Falling like saffron flakes at my feet, 
the glue that holds the cover of 
Annie Dillard's Holy the Firm comes 
undone, the cover slipping free as I 
sit in the car dealership, my brakes being 
repaired and my safety, at least in this regard, 
assured for a while. I gaze at the Blue Ridge 
out the window thinking of Dillard's 
Countenance Divine as it shone forth 
on the clouded Olympic Range, 
while the same God goes riding here, 
oblivious to tourists and traffic and human 
foibles, of which we are legion. God sits 
at my feet, in the dust of bookish glue, 
and washes across this waiting room filled
with unwitting pilgrims, infusing even 
indifferent souls with sparks of silent prayer. 

Gene Hyde‘s poetry, essays, and photography have appeared in such publications as Appalachian Journal, San Antonio Review, The Banyan Review, Raven’s Perch, Valley Voices, Tiny Seed Literary Journal, and Mountains Piled Upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene. He lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina with his partner and a scruffy little dog. You can find his website at https://www.banteringbibliocrat.com/