The widow asks Elijah, "What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?"—Anna A. Friedrich

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Stack Takeover: We’ve invited Anna A. Friedrich to take over our Substack for two weeks to share her latest poems that examine the lives of the prophets Elijah and Elisha through a poetic lens. Read more on her Substack, Monafolkspeak and in her new book Under the Terebinth.

The miracle is lost—
of jar and jug. We trusted

you, your word, your
god, but tell me why

did flour, did oil abound
to feed and to sustain
only to lead, still

to death? The rain
you promised
has not come—the brook

you knew, dried up—
(you said as much)

the breath of life
you claim
in Yahweh’s name

is gone, already
from my son—am I

to blame? My sin
replays—the strangle-
hold

will not relent—Elijah!
Rainmake or watch

as sorrow drowns
our household in 
your drought.

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Anna A. Friedrich is a poet and arts pastor in Boston, MA. She shares an original poem every Wednesday morning at annaafriedrich.substack.com, and her first full-length poetry collection, Under the Terebinth, is now available (from Wipf and Stock).