God’s word to his creation (a Cento)
I give you every seed-bearing plant on earth
every tree that has fruit
to everything that has the breath of life in it
I give every green plant for food.
sing a new song
you who go down to the sea
Leviathan, formed to frolic in it
wild animals and all cattle
creeping things and flying birds
not one of these shall fail
not one shall lack her mate
for My mouth has commanded it
let everything that breathes
offer praise
ask the beasts
if they keep silent, the stones will cry out
the stork in the sky knows her appointed seasons
turtledoves, swallows, and cranes
observe the time of their migration
I will make a covenant on that day
with the beasts, the birds, and the creeping things of the ground
and all flesh will see salvation
who let the wild donkey go free?
I untied his ropes
Genesis 1:29-30 NIV Isaiah 42: 10 NCB
Psalm 148: 10 NCB Psalm 104: 26 NIV
Psalm 150: 6 NCB Isaiah 34: 16 NKJV
Job 12: 7 KJV L uke 19: 40 NCB
Jeremiah 8: 7 NIV Ecclesiastes 18: 22
Hosea 2: 18 NLT Luke 3: 6 KJV
Job 39: 5 ICB
Barbara Usher cares for retired ewes who bring their lambs at foot, and ex-commercial hens on her animal sanctuary, Noah’s Arcs (barbaraushernoahsarcs.com). Her poetry has been published in various journals including Amethyst Review, Last Stanza (Editor’s pick) and in anthologies including Thin Places & Sacred Spaces. She is the representative for the Fife Stanza of the Poetry Society, and led a workshop at the St Andrews International Literary Festival in 2026. She is co-editing an anthology Crossings: writings from Fife and Edinburgh, which will be published in November 2026.
Amethyst Review 