This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room, an ekphrastic after Carl Bloch’s “Baptism of Christ”, is by Mark D. Bennion.
Arms Crossed
I like to think of His arms open when I die,
the span like an eagle or albatross
gliding over water. I imagine I’ll hie
into that embrace—the stilling voice,
fervent shoulders, a conductor’s eyes
and the crimson robe of wine vat and grace.
Yet before this scene unfurls in wonder,
before the heavens disclose any trace
of lambskin, dyed wool, and thunder
there is a personal reckoning, my face
and body cast before the mind’s true mirror,
yet even then it might exaggerate or flip
under the scrutiny of my every last endeavor.
I can only trust those arms crossed in baptism
and surrender before I am weighed and measured.
Mark D. Bennion currently teaches writing, poetry, and drama classes at Brigham Young University-Idaho. His work has appeared in various journals, including Irreantum, RHINO, Third Wednesday, U.S. Catholic, and Windhover. His most recent book is Ambrosia: Love Poems. He and his wife, Kristine, are learning how to parent four daughters, two sons-in-law, and one son.
