Unaware, I came early to the glory porch.
Crepe myrtle, fucsia-headed, mopping
The fence, and the hummer
Darting, sipping at the sugar water spout.
Still,
Breathless with humidity and
Impending Blessing.
The Word spoke with a smile, and grace
Broke over my head:
“With honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”
Today! Yes, today, He had this waiting for me.
He laughed aloud at my gasp.
Only He could orchestrate the
Appointed day for
Summer reunions, old friends,
Long calendared,
To fall on the eve of
Honey promised
To the holy in
My morning reading.
~
I grew up on
Honey Rock Farm.
Had the man who built that brown frame home,
Who planted Sweet Olive near the back deck, and
Tucked it all up next to an oak-ringed field,
And named it Honey Rock,
Had he feasted on an impossible honey
That came, how on earth, from a rock?
Had Honey Rock come from his awe of a
Cleft in a Rock pouring clover’s wine,
Sweet and fine?
And when life in those walls had a rock’s hard edge,
When sorrow and worry
Fell like a stone on the heart,
Was there nectar to be sipped?
And could he have ever guessed how
That farm’s name would bring
Back-porch awe
Years and miles away,
Its syrup just now being sampled on the tongue?
Yes, and yes!
~
Psalm 81: 16

        
Allison Sieg, Paulette DuBose, Leslie Smith Milam – July 18, 2019