Genesis One  /  Joshua Alan Sturgill     

Once upon a time, a King
built a palace and a reflecting pool.

But the pool was yet unfilled,
its borders and walking paths planned
but not established.

So the king decreed a garden should be planted
and a well dug to fill the pool with clear water.

And the King painted the palace with vivid colors
and lit great lamps in all its windows
so that the reflecting pool would glimmer continually
by day and by night.

And the King chose lilacs, roses, peonies and jasmine
to fill the garden with intoxicating fragrances
and dahlias, zinnias and snapdragons
to dance and wave at their own faces
on the surface of the pool.

And the King brought song birds
to fill the air with music
and koi, anemones and angelfish
to scatter the surface of the water
and make the reflections dance.

Graceful animals came to drink from the pool
and birds nested in the pillars of the palace
and oak, ash, cedar and dogwoods
raised their crowns over the garden
and made a show of moving shadows on the grass.

The King asked,
Who will share this beauty with me?
Who will walk in the woods and eat from the vines
and see the beauty of the palace
made more beautiful by its living reflection in the pool?

Then the King looked down
from the palace into the waters
and the King’s Image in the waters returned his gaze
and the evening and the morning pressed around them
as each welcomed the other silently
into his tranquility

All poetry and supplementary material: copyright 2024 by Joshua Alan Sturgill. All rights reserved.

Leave a comment