Through Layers of Beauty
By Ann Applegarth - Roswell, New Mexico, USA - Ordinary Time/All Saints 2011.
I seek your face, O Lord.
Above the butte and shrouded Douglas fir,
shine moons and stars with splendid names unknown.
Past vast expanse of icy, empty black,
somewhere out there, hidden, is my home.
Today at dawn I stood and gazed through reeds
past shining pond to brush and pines beyond
and, further, hills alight with morning's glow
beneath a purple sky splashed bright with sun.
At Liturgy I looked past those I love,
past consecrated hands of my dear priest
beyond your Book, to icon's red and gold, your
painted face severe and yet so kind.
Four layers of truth that bridge the awful gap
from earth's delights to Heaven's sweeter door:
body, vicar, Word, and image full of grace.
O Lord, your handmaid longs to see your face!