Let it be

We can see transcendence only
in terms of our three-dimensional
world -- even angels --
who see in us what is
invisible and visible,
counting our drumming
heart beats.

Before this painted encounter
we are quiet bystanders
as this winged being  --
a youth in feather-soft light
and wings in motion -- shows
power suddenly drawing near
our bedlam world.

This angel reaches out
to the maiden's accepting hand
that brings assurance now
and at the hour of our death
while she breathes
the holy air brought from
the original garden..

Here is all grace and gravity,
magnified in her response,
the beloved among the lilies ,
consoling the startled angel,
amazed at humans,
by these iconic words:
Let it be.

This same scene enfolds us
as if erasing all separateness
to receive gold-leafed light
into our lives
as we in our searching extend
our own hands.

--
Royal Rhodes is a retired educator who taught classes on the history of Christianity and on global religions for almost forty years. He lives now in a small village that is near a nature conservancy, a green cemetery and Amish farms.