Wheel of Water

For God’s Creation

Grass emerges from the winter snow.
Blades lengthen. Flowers grow.
Trees in the wind sway and sough.
The summer of life is all we know.
Autumn breezes start to blow
and all of life begins to slow.
Brown turf is snuffed in snow.
Life and death come and go.

Clouds roll in over the plain
releasing countless drops of rain.
Water flows in the seaward drain
only to rise once again.
The wheel of water is an endless chain,
an infinite loop of wax and wane.
The land upholds loss and gain,
but land itself cannot sustain.

Dust is scattered, dust restored.
Not even the land can say: Never!
For children of light who love the Lord,
the wheel of water is a passing pleasure.
We praise creation with one accord
and promise to save this tender treasure.
The children of light love the Lord
and the love of the Lord lasts forever.

NOTE: This is one of the poems I wrote for the liturgical cycle. It was for Sunday, June 7, 2020 (Trinity Sunday), and the scripture was the opening of Genesis. I set these words to music. The St. John’s Episcopal Church choir will be singing it this coming Sunday as a celebration of Earth Day. The tune is ‘Blaenwern’ written by William Penfro Rowlands in 1905.