carla funk: psalm of thirst (part three)

As deep calls to deep

in the immeasurable electricity of God

so thirst calls to water

the dry-tongued stones licking

the morning air     desparate

a man stumbling across

the sun-scorched sand

the word oasis a cold pool

of hope in his mouth

so the porous heart soaks up

what rain and goodness he sends

so my deserts turn to gardens

in the presence of the Lord

Funk, Carla. "Psalm of Thirst" Introductions: Poets Present Poets. Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001.

carla funk: psalm of thirst (part two)

I'm thirsty the man says

in the early morning on the hill

the first rays of sun swelling the horizon

in his mouth the weight of a whole earth

a thick coat of dust lining his throat

to his lips the hyssop branch

soaked with gall     that final drink

swallowing all the light from this place

Funk, Carla. "Psalm of Thirst" Introductions: Poets Present Poets. Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001.

carla funk: psalm of thirst (part one)

The sun like a burning eye stares
until the river shrivels into lines
and all that remains of the rainy season
is a watering hole sludged with elephant dung
the air a banner of gnats and tsetse flies


as the deer longs for water
so much more the creatures of this place
who bear the blueprint of thirst
in their bone-dry bellies


in this open throat of dry land
the island blends into the plain
and grown pelicans nesting there
begin to leave in search of water
while the young flightless ones left behind
walk over the cracked clay for days
until their charcoal bodies give out
fleck the baked landscape
in small feathered heaps

Funk, Carla. "Psalm of Thirst" Introductions: Poets Present Poets. Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001.

carla funk: messengers

All mouth and throbbing with the need to
speak they arrive, heels printing into the earth
a colon: the introduction of much
to come. They stand outside
dreams at the foot of your bed, scrolls of their tongues
unfurling, important, blessed tongues
written with indelible ink.

Listen. Someone is dying. Even this
made beautiful.
                            Proclaim the glory of everyday
life, bruises and the sweet flesh of earlobe. Swallow
the love you are given.
                            Hear me. Unto you a gift is given, no
strings attached. You are favoured. You are
whole.
              Fall on your face and seek wine in the dry 
valley. Find flesh among bones. Miracles
are prepared for the tasting.


And you startle at their voices, each
syllable a fire-fly in the ear, flicker and spark
upon waking. This may have been a dream, this
may have been more.

Funk, Carla. "Messengers" Introductions: Poets Present Poets. Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001.

george whipple: a hymn to God the Father

O God invisible as music, let me know
Thee in the least reflection of Thy much,
in termite, tick and earwig, in the glow-
worm striking matches on the dark, the house-
fly scratching his humungous-huge orbed head;
in all the creepy, crawly, earthbound things,
the bandy ant in black fatigues, the slow
gelatinous, fat snail.

                               Although I climb
to Thee in prayers that fall as if unsaid,
O Alpha and Omega, Logos, great I AM,
I know Thee in the nit, mosquito, flea;
in pollywog, boll weevil, gnat and louse
- and with the praying mantis, worship Thee.


Whipple, George. "A Hymn to God the Father" Introductions: Poets Present Poets. Markham: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2001.