Conception, conversion, consummation

Three linked poems by my friend Wilf.

Conception

The flame came down encountering the lily

And both were held in awe

Innocence marvelling at purity;

The bearer of the news,

The bearer of the word

Trembling on the edge of the moment

When the seed of God would tip into our world

In the heart of a pure girl’s womb.

Conversion

When the ‘brave’ braced back bends braver

And the knee knows now to kneel.

The conquered king is caught from his castle

Hauled, galled, called to the hallowed gallows

Head held high. Clawing, gnawing, mauling;

Part lamb, beast and man;

And tears turn fears to trembling trust.

In this chaos of contrition

The seed slips silently in

And all heaven exults.

Consummation

Still, still, still the newborn earth

And heaven here is hushed

No faintest breath disturbs the air

Through which the nubile figures move.

If divinity can look with awe

Then this, this, this is the moment

For the groom has locked his gaze

Upon his bride.

She whom he has drawn from the beginning

Draws close and ever closer

The first touch,

Time and eternity meet as so many times before

Parts of the one, eternal moment

The first kiss, and then...