A three days' walk, there and back…
plenty of space for the mind
to wander
off in fields abandoned to brambles
and burdocks whose burrs, clinging
to his cloths, put up fierce
wind resistance.
It's long, often lost
-in-thought plodding beneath
the endless airy circles the vultures turn
above in search for a crack
where life slipped through and vanished.
How many times his faith
suddenly entered his sandal
and there like a stone
shot pain right through every step
of the way towards a hope
already realized but not yet
held in a father's weeping,
exultant arms?
Footsore he climbs the porch
stooping to pick up the old news:
"yesterday just after lunch
the fever left the boy"
Saved.
The journey by no means in vain.
It turns out
all those miles
of faithful wondering
were put there
to prepare
the joyful reception.