A Cry and a Sign
Quiet! For the wind cries from the east; It speaks of suffering and of silencing shattering, It speaks of courts, in whose cants are death’s shade, It speaks of a gathering against His Anointed, That all like lambs may be led to the slaughter. Quiet! For the wind cries from the west; It speaks of softness and stupor. It speaks of sweet words, a voice not in the wilderness, It speaks of lords who proclaim life everlasting, Yet glory not in God, of their gaping maws. Quiet! For the wind cries from the north; It speaks of sweet-clawed, soft-eyed shepherds, It speaks of idolaters, lusting for deference, It speaks of men who celebrate His name While welcoming sin, the world’s wake. Quiet- for the wind cries from the south; It speaks of the righteous, redeemed, ne’er forsaken, It speaks of their doubts, their sins, their dread, It speaks of love, of hearts half-sacred, Sons who lisp as that father did of belief. A sign, of waters who sing from the east. Who drinks from the wine of man’s mountain, beware. He shall drink of a finer vintage, which the lords of the feast, Men unrighteous and mad, mocked at the making of, The wine of the tower’s fall, against which their wickedness failed. A sign, of waters who sing from the west. The voice which urges slumber has been silenced, for lo, The prophets are rebuked, by their fathers through-pierced, Cast alive into the lake, their lovers made salt, And shame, ere they are cast, had their garment become. A sign, of waters who sing from the north. Their millstone is heavy, and the waters are howling; They sing high and mighty, “Let the sinner come down.” Like the third-cursed waters, they waste and they groan. Let long-leafed eyes see the truth of their lives. A sign, of waters who sing from the south. The day of judgement will come, of joy and swift fire, For a seed has taken root, the mighty God, the Son, Who intercedes, upholds, whose hand brings salvation And the increase of His tabernacle shall taste no end.
Note: Written 2/26/23.