Poem by Diane Wilbon Parks

Seeds of Grace and the Hope of Harvest

I hold in my left hand
a past that was given a poor woman’s name, Hope,
she carries a child in her belly who will walk the earth
with only grains and rainwater to feed his body,
when the child is released to earth like crop and cornhusk,
he will feed the world through heart and hope,
his mother will place the earth in his hand,
his life will be a testiment of sacrifice and seeds.

And in each arm,
he will carry the prospect of hope and the pain of hunger,
he will weep for the unfed, and mourn the sick and dying,
he will examine the lives of those who holda field of crops
and livestock in their hand, food and water, and shelter
he will loosen the soil around the hearts that bury an answer
he will pray for each closed mind to open a harvest of hope
he will shake loose the trees to feed the poor,
sift through the fields for the compassion of strangers
to find a savior.

I hold in my right hand
a future that was given a rich woman’s name, Grace,
she grows the earth back green and finds a savior in the sun,
we are the ripened fruit of the shaken trees,
we are the hands that will plant the earth
before a child’s empty belly protudes,
before tears fall to hollow’s hunger,
we are the overgrown fields that will feed the famine,
we are the knotted past that will unknit
scarcity and deprivation by sewing seeds of Grace
and becoming the hope of the harvest.

Diane Wilbon Parks (Prince George’s County, MD) is a poet, visual artist, and author; Diane has written a Children’s Book and two poetry collections; her most recent, published collection is The Wisdom of Blue Apples.   Diane is one of six PG County Poets whose poetry has been highlighted throughout the DMV. She celebrated the permanent installation of one of her poems and art pieces at the Patuxent Research Refuge - North Tract.

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