Meditations in Fast Times: 35. The Lord GOD set a seal

Note to Readers: “Meditations in Fast Times” is a devotional writing experiment for the Season of Lent. Each day during the season, I am writing a poem as a meditation on, taking as my inspiration and intertextual basis, T.S. Eliot’s “Four Quartets”, as well as incorporating the daily office, current events, and other readings—some the same as those Eliot used while composing his seminal work and others.

                35.

The Lord GOD set a seal

Upon this, my trembling heart;

Beneath such healing hands, I feel

Compassion and love—the Healer's art

—Resolving this turmoil and tangle apart.

Healed from confusion back to ease
By the touch of this Master Nurse

Whose constant care is to bring release,

From those bitter dreams that threaten to curse,

And to insure our sickness not grow worse;

We realize the earth is our hospital,

Fostered by the careless billionaire,

Who would prefer it if we take ill and fall,

To succumb to an expensive paternal care

That persist in costing the highest fees anywhere.

Warmth ascends from feet to heart,

The healed soul, moved by gratitude, inspires
Those who seek better ways and art
Than what the billionaire’s business requires,

Adding to the ranks of the healthy by building tuneful choirs.

Wine, mixed with fresh water, to drink,

Organic produce and homemade bread for food,

In spite all we have been told to think,

We are more sound, and more enhanced is our mood
—But we are more aware now, how dis-ease is brewed.

© 2014 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen

Relevance

This holds that,
plus this and that,
better than the old glass dish
you gave away last year;
trouble is, this is toxic,
while that was not.

This allows you to talk,
to walk and talk,
to drive a car and talk,
and even to take pictures
and do research while
talking, walking and driving;
trouble is, you have to pay a fee,
charge it with expensive power,
and have a sense that when you are using it,
it is for something worthwhile,
because if you are doing all those things
with it while driving, you could get a ticket.

This is inside your head,
and holds far more than the toxic dish,
and does far more than the electronic device,
believe it or not;
this is built to last a lifetime:
is not toxic,
does not need batteries,
cannot be given away,
and doesn’t need to be regulated,
though it must be fed and nurtured.

This last item, used correctly,
renewing itself, as it does,
with the changing tides of concerns mundane and noetic,
has the potential to maintain its value and relevance.

The other items will no doubt end up in the dustbin;
it is only a matter of time.

© 2011 by Elisabeth T. Eliassen