Phil Aud

The famous public places of the earth
The Eiffel Tower, the Statue of Liberty, Big Ben,
And a thousand thousand others
Now sit empty
Mostly unseen.
They have become like
the hidden places
of the earth
The deep caverns spired with calcite,
The deep oceans where wild-toothed creatures
Swim in inky darkness.
Or they have become like
the high peaks mantled with cloud,
To blue black depths:
All have become like
mysteries kept for your eyes alone, O Lord.
While we don our face masks to fulfill the simplest tasks,
The earth removes her face mask,
Inhales deeply,
Gathers into her lungs sweet air.
And our eyes now behold things, too,
Things we could not,
In our haste,
In our waste,
see before:
The Himalayas
The sky above Beijing and LA
Our daughter’s school work
Our spouse’s hands
The thinness of our own soul,
The everywhereness of Grace.
So empty us, O Lord,
and fill us.
End this season, soon, but do not let us
Miss nor forget it’s many surprises,
its manifold blessings,
Its gifts of renewal.
Or you.