I wonder
What are we building?
With the tools we have been given.
What can we build?
That will stand in wind and storms.
That won’t perish, like the earth,
and fade like worn out clothes.
What are we building?
That will last longer than silver and gold.
That will be blessed from the ground.
That will hold its form, and outlive our days.
What are we building?
With our tools, and hands made of clay.
We, whose lives are briefer than the earths,
what foundations can we lay?
That might remain.
I wonder
if the tools we are given,
though we are so weak and human,
might in fact be stronger and more lasting,
than we think?
And able to wield things of worth,
much greater than we measure our attempts.
For we together make a house. And we have hearts,
that, for as long as they beat, will love.
I think if willing is a prayer,
then longing, and desiring each other’s good might almost be enough.
Especially, If our clay hands and feet, then
do the work of our earnest hearts.
Yes, we whose lives are briefer than the earths,
what foundations can we lay?
That won’t in the end be measured,
by their love.
Ana Lisa de Jong
April 2017
Living Tree Poetry