Alongside a Sermon

Alongside a Sermon

Alexander Jackson

Few in attendance can deny
these words convey eternity
by force deep into our hearts to beat
swords into plowshares

and I would cleave here to this seat
if Above allotted me the monks’
eyes’ rapt attention to gaze
on the light-strewn kingdom.

Now my children burst upon this
excelsior,
jerk my inner eye, chafing
silent under bonds of love,
back to coloring books, germs, the
wisdom-through-clenched-teeth of vita
activa

wherein all my plots twist
to ends I cannot fathom
by hands I cannot see
while halting songs
chirp from my weathered lips.

---

Alexander Jackson
Poet & Carpenter

Alexander lives in Central Virginia where he used to teach and now works with his hands. For over a decade, he has been exchanging unpublished poems and short stories with friends to draw out the wonder that lies behind the visible world. He is currently working on a full length novel.”

Photography by Siti Hajar