“What about this man?”—Sarah Crowley Chestnut

“I know you envy my ease with the Master”

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Sarah Crowley Chestnut lives and works at L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts with her husband and two children. She keeps a small vegetable garden, a sourdough starter and a messy desk. Sarah’s poetry has appeared in CRUX, Red Rock Literary Journal, LETTERS, Christian Century, and elsewhere.

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“What about this man?”

by Sarah Crowley Chestnut

                                               (John to Peter)

Why this fraught edge that competes for his favor?
Brother, how can I help you hold his every word, 
haul each breath in trustworthy nets to the market 
where none, not even you, must buy or sell—only 
receive?  
         I know you envy my ease with the Master—
it arrests me, too, how I melt into that perfect 
angle of repose.  
                   I followed that day because 
I am all craving and for once my hunger did not 
disappoint, but led to a table near buckling beneath 
the feast: 
          his words, the best wine; 
                                              his touch, bread.

I followed not to steal from you but because, 
like that woman prepared to content herself with crumbs, 
I knew there was always more in his one word 
than one man could eat.

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Photo by Michał Mancewicz on Unsplash