Kathleen Brewin Lewis
On the Brink
—Island in the Sky, Canyonlands National Park
I would swear this is where Christ
spent his forty days and nights,
parched, starved, on the brink.
What tempts me as I stand here,
something like hunger
gnawing my long bones?
I have tried turning stones into bread,
and though the urge to jump lurks,
I will not do it.
I am drawn to descend, walk down
into the sheer silence, become
a speck moving between
sunbaked rocks and hard places,
toward a remnant river.
I want to know what would find me first:
rattlesnake or ranger,
heatstroke or angel,
fiend or god.
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Artwork on this page:
Detail of Faint from joy
22 x 78" oil on wooden door
Irene Hardwicke Olivieri
Detail of Faint from joy
22 x 78" oil on wooden door
Irene Hardwicke Olivieri