The Stag
“Lord, what wouldst Thou have me do?” St Hubert after meeting a stag with a crucifix between his antlers
The light of the world
in red, green, gold
in company, I saw you
knock at every heart’s door
yet you spoke to me
pierced the cloud of unknowing
with presence
as antlers supplanted the crown of thorns
the points of the crown as bone
pierced to the bone
pierced to the heart
blood and nerves, living tissue
the steely grit that climbed the cross
encased in velvet, moss-soft
saying to me –
to me –
open the door, I will come in and eat
me with you, you with me
saying to me –
to me –
I am with you always
wild beasts are creatures of God
and am I not the Lamb?
Inspired while teaching Christian attitudes to animals and the environment in Religious Studies, Barbara Usher now cares for retired ewes who bring their lambs at foot, and ex-commercial hens on her 8 acre animal sanctuary, Noah's Arcs. Her poetry has been published in Borderlands: an Anthology, Amethyst Review, Dreich, Green Ink Poetry, Last Leaves, Last Stanza, Liennekjournal, and in the anthology Thin Places & Sacred Spaces. Her work appeared on the Resilience soundscape 2022 for Live Borders, with background accompaniment of her late pigs. She writes on Celtic saints, farmed animals, and her local area.
Amethyst Review 