Between the Rungs

Preparing to sleep I recall my blessings,
The first, heel grasped from the beginning no less;
Then maternal manipulation intended to bless,
But leaves me longing, alone and un-blessed.

For in my nuclear unit I have broken bonds,
And levelled father, which I have conned.
My flesh, the “cheater”, has yet another bond
Of image fusion onto which I am bonded.

Dreams are strange spaces from which to live,
In time and out of time; sleep then alive.
Embedded tales of lives that are lived,
Bytes, planted and placed, to keep us living.

Upon waking I know I will never be stranded;
The ladder did spiral, all filled with bands
Of what is and what will be, each side a strand
Complete, his promise of future, not stranding.

© 2017 – Kevin Ewaskow

Kevin sent me this helpful commentary on his poem which I think will help you appreciate his words on another level. He wrote: I took from the passage, Gen 27, the image of the Ladder and Jacob’s story and what came to mind was a poem about Jacob reflecting on his blessing and then going to sleep, dreaming of the ladder, and waking up.  But in the dream the ladder looks like a strand of DNA.  I have tried to use language associated with DNA throughout the poem.  I also try and use one word in different conjugation 3 out of 4 times in each stanza at the end of the line. The image of a DNA strand also was compelling because Jacob receives both human blessing and a divine blessing – alluding to the fact that we are both human and made in the image.

Note: This Advent series is using The Jesse Tree, a liturgical ‘tool’ to help guide and direct spiritual reflection.  Each day leading up to Advent, we  consider one Bible story, or character, beginning from creation, following chronologically (more or less) right up until the birth of Jesus. It’s a way to review the wide sweep of God’s pursuit of humankind across history.

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