Garden Work—Luci Shaw

We’ve invited the renowned Christian poet, Luci Shaw, to take over the Substack this week. Luci is the author of more than 35 books of poetry and these poems come from her latest volume, An Incremental Life.

For more poetry from Luci Shaw, pick up her new book, An Incremental Life (Paraclete Press), or order a copy of the Rabbit Room’s book of interviews with well-known Christian poets, An Axe For the Frozen Sea.

by Luci Shaw

Look at a garden, almost any garden, and it will
look back at you, breathing an essential loveliness
in your direction. It will not stop work in the evening

but all night long the world's beauty will seep into
the soil, the air. Into you, too, as you engage in
a conversation with the Seed Sower. Acknowledge

and respond to the loving care, the diligent digging,
the forming of furrows, the patient sowing of seeds,
the covering, then, with damp soil. The waiting

for the holy breath of Weather to speak loving-kindness
and tender mercy into the sprouts that shoot up
into the wideness of air. Then pause, considering

the yield of hand work, the heart work. Smell
the fragrant air. Lay aside, for a few moments, the world's
struggles. Let the blessing of the garden enter you.

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Copyright: Luci Shaw. Used by permission of Paraclete Press

Luci Shaw was born in London, England, in 1928. A poet and essayist whose writing has appeared in numerous literary and religious journals, in 2013 she received the tenth annual Denise Levertov Award for Creative Writing from Seattle Pacific University. The author of over thirty-five books of poetry and creative non-fiction, since 1986 she has been Writer in Residence at Regent College, Vancouver. She lives with her husband, John Hoyte, in Bellingham, WA.

Photo by Laura Cordido on Unsplash