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TEMPEST

The night is filled with turbulent blackness
—God brought up the deep over the earth—,           Ezekiel 26:19.
and our heart, like the parched earth
that is dying of thirst, is happy to bathe
in the soaking deluge; it was not afraid
when downpours drenched the forests
and streams of water poured from the sky;
when the fountains of the great deep burst,           Genesis 7:11.
and the windows of heaven were opened,
when the waters poured down the mountains;
when sudden torrents of mud
swept away the poor herds of cattle,
or when the trees were battered; our heart
wants to smell of mud, not of dust,
and for God to be present in the deluge.
The cascades from the dark sky sweep over
your body and cleanse its blood for us;
and our hearts are flooded with the purifying
water caused by the tempest of your death.

When we are dying of thirst, Christ, give us
a downpour of black waters that soaks us
to the very depths of our soul; but don’t let
our heart die of thirst, even though it is
swept away by the storm; the thick crust over
the rottenness of sin must be stripped away,
leaving it naked, in living stone.
That is its longing: to become
naked, in living stone, face to face with
the naked sun, and it grieves for the water
that has despoiled the soil of the earth.
And your paths are found in all the waters,           Psalm 76:20.
Father of Christ; the sea is your highway.
Our heart becomes a rock of the sea,
a naked rock beaten by the waves,
which you scald and illumine from the sky
with your unsheathed rays, oh Sun!