This week’s poem in the Catholic Poetry Room is by Cynthia Erlandson.
Before Abraham Was
Far out of sight or sound the seed is sown,
An ancient secret neither seen nor heard,
Though light of light and God’s eternal word,
Growing where no stem had ever grown.
Once, planted in the silent desert’s drought,
The seed of Abraham took root in sand
And made a garden out of barren land
By bringing Isaac out of Sarah’s doubt.
Now, buried in the dark of virgin sod,
The hidden branch will blossom into view,,
For he who once made light makes all things new:
The rod of Jesse an the Son of God.
The night is ending now; prepare the way,
For Abraham’s true seed springs forth as day.
Cynthia Erlandson is a poet and fitness professional. Her three collections are These Holy Mysteries, poems for the church year; Notes on Time, a tribute to the themes of time and music; and Foundations of the Cross and Other Bible Stories, which was published earlier this year by Wipf and Stock. Her poems have appeared in The Book of Common Praise hymnal, First Things, The Society of Classical Poets, The Catholic Poetry Room, Modern Age, and elsewhere. She is a Top Four winner of the 2023 Maria W. Faust Sonnet Contest.
