I wrote this poem for Kate Motaung’s book release, A Place to Land. Kate’s journey to find home was a story I could relate to as a mujer navigating my own sense of home and place. I was overjoyed with she asked me to write a poem to read at the Festival of Faith and Writing, 2018 in honor of her book.
This new version has been slightly modified. The original poem contained a song to which I do not own the rights. The following is a slightly revised version to fit an online platform. I hope it encourages you should you find yourself in an in-between place.
**
From Cape Town to this town,
the Most High calls me missionary,
a traveler called in God’s name.
You, my God, are an ocean
that carries this temporary vessel.
When I’ve sailed too long,
you are the tide that washes me in.
You are a net cast over my heart
when the labor becomes unbearable
from the unpredictable toil
that brings life changes.
Weary pair of traveling companions
my feet yearn for soil
not quite ready to be loosed.
My soul becomes tangled
between a promise from heaven
and the moment my eyes catch
on the plume of mother’s last breath.
This languid body offers refuge
in your honor on this earth
while heaven opens wide it’s shores
as our forever home. At bedside,
with labored breath,
before we have to say Goodbye.
I know God awaits.
I hold the Most High, a saving grace
upon my soul, until we’re carried home
on the waves of kin-dom come.
**
Photo credit: Photo by Lance Asper on Unsplash
- A Place to Land - July 18, 2018
- The Grito as Prayer - June 11, 2018
- Being is the Greatest Act of Resistance - April 21, 2018