With the hot breath of pursuit on my neck
and the load of guilt in my heart,
the hard, suspicious looks of the strangers through whom I passed,
the long miles straggling by under a harsh sun,
the growing desolation, and nothing before me
but grim uncertainty,
questions,
guesses,
then nightfall
and the slow chill creeping up through the hostile darkness
and the desert place where I halted, footsore and parched,
my eyes still aching with day, and the night no comfort,
and made my bed,
found a pillow of stone,
sank
into numb sleep—
there, in that very place,
God unfolded the light from the heart of light,
and I suddenly knew.
It came like a vision
with bright-faced messengers going to and fro
on a ladder of light that reached from the shining dew
to the shining sky, brighter than moon or sun,
singing with light, radiant with soundless music,
triumphant yet gentle, washing my tired eyes,
wiping away my stains, filling my heart with sweetness,
and crystalline wonder mounting on wings of fire.
Surely God is in this place; and I knew it not. . . .
