Gubbio, Umbria, Italy, image by sebastiano iervolino,
on Pixabay
Being Transported
This yearning to go is hard to bear,
To come to accept that there’s no returning.
My powered wheelchair won’t go on the cobbles
of old Jerusalem and the places Jesus walked:
Dead Sea and Jordan by documentary but
The actual road to Israel stays vexing blocked.
This yearning to go is hard to bear,
To renounce this desire for life-long learning.
I won’t climb again Assisi’s hills
be pilgrim where the wolf from Gubbio
submitted to him and find the silence
with Clare and her stern path of joy.
This yearning to go is hard to bear,
To follow the Saints my daydream still burning.
But I have my passport christened for joy
of travel beyond death to states unknown:
to seek his city and bathe in love
and try for size my own claimed throne.
This yearning to go is a joy to bear,
With Francis and Jesus to the Father returning.
Ted Witham lives in Noongar country near Perth
in the southwest of Australia. He has been writing
poems and stories since he could read. He has
been excited when they have appeared in journals
in Australia, like Studio: A Journal of Christians Writing, Indigo, and, in the U.S., like The Adelaide Review,
and in the U.K. His plays, poems, and stories have
been shortlisted in competitions. Ted is a retired
Anglican priest, and retirement has given him more
time to write. He shares his life with his wife, Rae,
and their Jack Russell terrier, Lottie.
November 2024 issue
"This yearning to go is a joy to bear." Wow.