ANOTHER SCRIPTURE

by Marguerite Bouvard


There is the calligraphy of shadows
that scroll across the skin of gleaming
snow, and on tree barks,

with the earth continually rewriting
its holy book, a quiet way
of entering our lives

that encompasses every country,
every map we want to rewrite, telling us
how every moment is filled

with so much meaning, that we need
to pause, and change our pace,
so that a moment can become

an ocean that holds us
in its arms, a meadow with
its fields of burgeoning flowers,

so we can discover that
we need to care for each other,
like the minorities we disdain

and have mistreated for decades
creating so many new
borders they cannot cross,

so we can untangle presence
and absence in our daily
lives, and in our perspective

If we take a moment to open
the windows of our hearts
and let the spirit guide us,

we will see more deeply
and gain an understanding,
awakening us to a wider world.


* * * * *

Marguerite G. Bouvard is the author of 11 poetry books, two of which have won awards including the MassBook Award for Poetry. She has also written a number of non-fiction books on women's rights, human rights, social justice, grief, and has just finished one, Healthcare Workers on the Frontline of the Pandemic. Her latest poetry book that came out last fall is The Cosmos of the Heart.