© K.J. Petrie 2005. The right of K.J. Petrie to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 Sections 77 and 78.
“Thy right hand shall teach a terrible instruction.”
So once the Psalmist wrote, and terrible it was
That in a world once silent, calm, enjoying memories of joy re-celibrated,
In a world of memories of peace, goodwill, to quiet slumber dedicated,
Such a world of cosy fires, nuts and dark blue midnights,
In a world of beaches, palms and topaz seas, a world of Word come flesh,
In such a world, the word unknown should wait its awed epiphany,
A dread baptism, waiting for its morning star to fling its rays afar.
In such a world as this, where Adam took the apple, somehow cursing self and all in all,
He disobeyed the word which had been spoken and found the world which had been ever broken.
Such fracture now unyielding grinding down, grinds down a world exceeding fine
And sprinkles far around its dusty desolation upon the inconsolable wound of nature rent.
To such a world as this came once the Christ-child, God made human, Word made flesh,
To learn, instructed by us on the horrors which the brokenness could teach while wood was fresh.
And, now it’s dry, and we would blame him in our lesson
As we learn a new word we knew not,
A word which even papers of few words use, which word their readers never would have heard,
When we would rail against the world’s construction, which permits such things to come upon us still,
Then we find in a Word the blame accepted, our apology and his combined and in his will.
We have been taught a terrible instruction, and learnt a word we never would have known.
Now let us learn the Word of death’s destruction, the Apology which both ways will atone.