Everything That Hath Breath

Everything That Hath Breath

Eric A. Potter

I hear all the creatures of the world
exclaiming, “For Christ’s sake we exist.”

The birds of the air are full of it,
from pelican to ptarmigan, parakeet to patrolling kite,
it’s in the loon’s laugh, the dove’s moan,
migrating geese broadcast it, roosters wake with it,
the killdeer shrill it, the swallows chirp it,
house finch and phoebe, nuthatch and chickadee,
the mockingbird repeats it, the woodpecker raps it,
it sets the hummingbird buzzing,
even the crows cry “Christ, Christ, Christ.”

Trout in the mountain stream,
the bass hidden among the weeds,
yellow perch and pumpkin seed,
pike submarining the shadows,
all reiterate that creed.
“For Christ” the salmon chant as they climb
the falls to their spawning ground.
Tuna and marlin, bonefish and tarpon,
even the restless sharks grin affirmatively,
in the ocean depths, the whales hum
their mile-long hymn to Christ,
and dolphins stitch his name in the waves.

From field and paddock horses praise,
cows mumble the name with their cud,
sheep whisper it to the infant grass.
It’s in the five calls of the alligator,
hiss of the cockroach, the honeybee’s gossip,
even the snake’s forked tongue signs it in the air.

Elephants trumpet the name of Christ,
it’s what the bear growls, the boar grunts,
the bull elk bugles it, the buck snorts it.
For Christ’s sake cry the wild dog and dingo,
howler monkey and hippo, kangaroo and koala,
muskrat, meerkat, ocelot, and lemur.
It’s in the howl of the wolf, the hyena’s laughter,
it’s what with kingly pride the lion roars.

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Eric A. Potter
Poet & Professor

Eric is professor of English, with poems published in journals such as First Things, The Christian Century, and Spiritus. In addition to several chapbooks, he have published a full-length collection, Things Not Seen (2015).

 Photography by Arun Antony