God with Us

By Ryan Keating

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The way a crumpled page torn
from the hymnal looks like a landscape
of snow stained with earth falling freely

and the paint on your cheeks is peeling
in the manger in the scene suspended
on the wall of the church in worship,

o come, o come, Emmanuel singing
through us in our voices together rising
as word breathed into life by heart,

and by hand make every page smooth,
every cheek retouched and new,
and this living temple healed and holy.

---

Ryan Keating is a writer, pastor, and winemaker on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. His work can be found in publications such as Saint Katherine Review, Ekstasis Magazine, Amethyst Review, Macrina Magazine, Fathom, Dreich, Vocivia and Miras Dergi, where he is a regular contributor in English and Turkish.

Ryan's other work on Foreshadow:
Jonah Moves (Poetry, September 2022)
Drawing from Deep Wells: Ryan Keating and Pilgrimage (Interview, February 2023)
The Wine Remembers (Poetry, June 2023)
Presence (Poetry, June 2023)
Snapshot of a Man in Front of a Mural (Poetry, March 2024)