POEM
Kneeling
Moments of great calm,
Kneeling before an altar
Of wood in a stone church
In summer, waiting for the God
To speak; the air a staircase
For silence; the sun’s light
Ringing me, as though I acted
A great rôle. And the audiences
Still; all that close throng
Of spirits waiting, as I,
For the message.
Prompt me, God;
But not yet. When I speak,
Though it be you who speak
Through me, something is lost.
The meaning is in the waiting.
R. S. Thomas, “Kneeling” from Not That He Brought Flowers. Copyright © 1968 by R. S. Thomas. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd.
Source: Collected Poems 1945-1990 (1993)
