Ruth Esther Gilmore - A lined map

A lined map*
(in memory of Beau Biden, 1969-2015)
By Ruth Esther Gilmore

The flight of the curved ball. The arc of my foot.
The bend of a river or Cupid’s taunt bowstring.
The antlers of a deer circled around the horizon.

Even my fingertips gently bend
With the rest of the arced world,
Contrasting with human-made straight lines.

Even my life and my love and my destiny
Stretch out on a lined map of rounded ways.
Hover my drawing-board and stay my pencil,
 
Mimicry the mysteries of graphite bondage,
For my spirit keeping a strange distance
Will journey free to the curved hand of God.

*from the book “braving life in these uncertain times” (Geest-Verlag) by Ruth Esther Gilmore