HOLY WEEK: ON THE BRINK OF A BARREN LAND

here i stand on the edge
of wildness
on the cusp
of wilderness
on the brink
of a barren land
eyes straining
sight searching
for a road through

Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven
is near!

finally i spot it
a silver sliver
snaking, winding
’round rocky outcrops
through thistle thickets
down deep, dark defiles
this is the way You’ve
made for me?

Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven
is at hand!

surely this
is not the way —
this wasted world
these waterless clouds
that riddling route —
surely this wanting road
is not
the way home
and yet …

Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven
is near you!

here i stand on the edge
of wildness
on the cusp
of wilderness
on the brink
of a barren land
waiting
dreading
longing
to take
the first step

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“THERE IS A LOT GOING ON IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. IS THERE ANYTHING PREVENTING YOU FROM FULLY ENGAGING IN HOLY WEEK THIS YEAR? A SPECIFIC EMOTION, A FEAR, A NUMBNESS? WHAT IS HOLDING YOU AT THE EDGE OF WILDNESS AND WILDERNESS?”

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Amelia Freidline has been writing poems since she was 8 and telling stories since she could talk. She is a member of The Poetry Pub and also has six collections of poems, prose, and pictures about the seasons of Advent, Lent, and ordinary life. She lives in her childhood home in Kansas City.