I wrote this poem after the manner of St. John Primus; it’s a mysterious one for me, dream-like in its references to Plato (who I was teaching while I wrote it) but also to St. John of Patmos. It’s considering how the Word sustains us.

A few years back, our landlord decided to sell the house we had been renting, where we raised our kids, and knew and loved all our neighbors. It was devastating. We had to find somewhere in Seattle that we could afford on my professor salary, and quick.

This poem, written in the style of Marvin Bell, considers the challenges of faith in evangelical context. People always talk about “having faith” as the hard thing about being a Christian, but for me, it’s the easy part.

This is a quiet sort of poem, perhaps my favorite one to read aloud. It’s a poem about death, that last great transformation, and the ease and loveliness with which Christians are meant to approach it.