ArtWay

Beauty is not pasted over suffering but grows out of it—like the proverbial shoot from parched ground. Bruce Herman

Luci Shaw & Sebastian Wien

Luci Shaw (poem)

and

Sebastian Wien (sculpture)

How?

by Luci Shaw

How shall we sing the Lord’s songs 
in a strange land? The old rhythms,
the melodies of praise, strangle 
in our throats and the words 
fall to the ground like leaves in autumn. 
The air feels thick with suspicion and doubt
and who’s to say, any more, what
is true enough to last, to prevail?

Isolation feels like a punishment
for offenses we never enacted.

Let us trust, now, the ground under
our feet--that which has proven steady
for generations. Look up. The heavens
are still there, unclouded, beatific.
We breathe, even though masks clothe 
our faces. Prayer surrounds us, close
as our skin, weaving for us garments of
trust and solace. Even in our isolation
we are joined in love, never alone.

***

Luci Shaw. Born in London, England in 1928, Luci Shaw is a poet and essayist, and since 1986 she has been Writer in Residence at Regent College, Vancouver. Author of over thirty-seven books of poetry and creative non-fiction, her writing has appeared in numerous literary and religious journals and in 1913 she received the 10th annual Denise Levertov Award for Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University. Her new collection, The Generosity , will be released in August, 2020, by Paraclete Press. https://www.lucishaw.com/

Sebastian Wien. German artist Sebastian Wien made a metal coronavirus sculpture (25 cm diameter), which he hopes will raise money for charity. He welded the work together from steel and screws. He aims to make 99 copies and donate 20 per cent of the proceeds to a homeless project. http://www.sebastian-wien.de/