A Psalm Upon Returning Home to CT

My soul said to the Lord, "I dwell in a barren land."

The Lord said to my soul, "I know. You dwell in a barren land."

"So I will be to you a stream flowing beneath the your feet. 

Send your roots down deep; your limbs will grow up

thriving in spite of the heat."

My soul said to the Lord, "It is a dangerous..."

The Lord said to my soul, "I know. It is dangerous, indeed."

"I am to you a garden wall surrounding you on all sides.

Your daughters like rose vines are stretching out and blooming all inside 

their arms securely entwined with each other's and with mine." 

As my soul said to the Lord, "I am bereft of liturgy there,"

The Lord said to my soul, "You dwell among a people without living words."

"But I have surrounded you with books, piled tomes in your laps.

'My Word is in your mouth and on your heart so that you may obey it.'

See, here, the same finger that carved the law for Moses

is pointed now at your heart and it burns."

As I said to my soul, "Fear not," the Lord said it, too. 

"Fear not. I am God of every place. 

You are a towering, fruit-laden tree- a marvel there, 

bearing testimony of me to all who see."