Love's Fall

Perhaps we are here in order to say: house, bridge, fountain, gate, pitcher, fruit-tree, window
- Rilke, ninth Duino Elegy

Demas heard the order, just like the rest of us:
Return at once.
He had statued himself atop a stone,
"in order to get a better look," he said.
"Just a minute longer," he said.
Demas. From the moment his feet touched down,
the pen was moving.
I had quietly questioned God's wisdom
in giving such a gift to one so young.

He begged me to look at his final page:
tears, dusk, winter, black, crows, dirt.
I reminded him of Lot's wife.
He did not seem to care.
"Just one more," he said.
As I moved away, my eyes saw his final word: death.

There are those who fell in pride,
and then there are those who fell in love.
Demas would be the latter.
As the company fluttered away, our eyes met.
"I think I'll stay," he said.
"It's so beautiful," he said.
We watched our comrade's fall into creation.
The stone beneath his feet slowly rose
until the incarnation was complete.

[Abbey of the Arts "Invitation to Poetry" provided this image. I encourage you to visit and participate: www.abbeyofthearts.com]