Blinding Kind
Blinding Kind
Linda McCullough Moore
It is hard for thee
to kick against the pricks.
The Lord Jesus strikes Saul blind
on the first-ever road to Damascus.
The briefest conversation for all that.
A query: Why? An introduction: I.
An order: the what next. And slivered
in the middle: It is hard for thee
to kick against the pricks.
I’ve always liked the sharp, pointy-edge
tips of the phrasing. An old monk
late at night translates the Greek
as goads, then shivers, shakes his arm
against the cramp, says, No, blots out goad
and scribbles prick. Goad too round a sound
for something the Lord Jesus bothered
to address in this his singular appearance,
once ascended into heaven.
It is hard for thee
to kick against the pricks.
But here is more than condemnation, here is
compassion found, the Lord acknowledging
that sin’s a piece of work not effortlessly done,
but tiring in the main. The Lord recognizing
that it is exhausting going town to town
on donkey back corralling martyrs
in the making, taking on the God of all creation,
handing him a sword and taunting;
it wears a person down. Is hard.
Bone weary, bruised and worn as that.
It’s hard, this Jesus says. Hard, if hard means
spitting in the wind, if hard means
the slow fraying of a soul, too often now
alone, bereft; so hard, if hard means piercing,
biting pricks, a hundred felt with every kick.
It’s hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
But, not said, but startlingly implied:
the goads to be as never having been
once all the flailing’s at an end.
Linda McCullough Moore
Poet & Author
Linda is the author of two story collections, a novel, an essay collection and more than 350 shorter published works. She is the winner of the Pushcart Prize, as well as winner and finalist for numerous national awards. Her first story collection was endorsed by Alice Munro, and equally as joyous, she frequently hears from readers who write to say her work makes a difference in their lives. For many years she has mentored award-winning writers of fiction, poetry, and memoir. She is currently completing a novel, Time Out of Mind, and a collection of her poetry. www.lindamcculloughmoore.com
Photography by Dylan Leagh