Author Archives: Sarah M. Wells

Version 2 – A Voice in the Crowd at Capernaum

John 6What I really need to know is how the callousesblossomed on your fingers. I want to feelthe bristle of your beard on my cheek,place my hands around the feetof the man who feeds. You knowwhy I’ve come here: to make the impossiblebecome miraculous, to turn your vengeanceinto grace, to learn the difference between breadandContinueContinue reading “Version 2 – A Voice in the Crowd at Capernaum”

A Voice in the Crowd at Capernaum

John 6I have come up with a hundred reasons whyyou are unbelievable – you are, after all, just a sonof some carpenter, the illegitimate offspringof a teenage mother. I know where you’ve come from.Still I’m intrigued – I want to know moreabout the man who fed five thousand,his mysterious disappearance across the lakewithout a boatContinueContinue reading “A Voice in the Crowd at Capernaum”

"recipe for love"

(Thanks, Mary!)For six hours this afternoon, I was without wedding rings. If you’ve ever worn a ring or other piece of jewelry daily for five years, you know that feeling of the lost appendage. I took it off to get ready for kneading dough and then an hour later could not find them anywhere. IContinueContinue reading “"recipe for love"”

Psalm 40

BootsPsalm 40These boots by the door are still cakedwith hardened clay, their leather darkenedby water, still swelling, absorbing,the flannel lining damp and pungent.Clumps of mud stick to the kitchen floor,discarded here and there from the fieldthat pulled and sucked until I was stuck.I will not use the broom – I like the imprintsleft behind, theContinueContinue reading “Psalm 40”

Jesus Walks into a Bar

(This is for Sean Lovelace, who insists there ought to be more poems about Jesus walking into a bar.)It is always darker than it should be,but over the pool table, a haloof florescent light. My father, his brother,like weathered sailors, dock at the barwith other tired shipmates, hunched,feet propped on the reflective footrests,haunches resting heavyContinueContinue reading “Jesus Walks into a Bar”

Crater

Wrap your atmosphere around me –I do not want to be the moon, unable to deflectthe smallest cosmic speck. I flinch and dodgea thousand bullets in a meteor shower,yearn to watch the light show at night without fear.Without you, my surface is sensitive – I bruiseat the slightest affront, scurry away to nurse each hurt.IfContinueContinue reading “Crater”

Junction

There is no el train in Auburn, no steady rumblelike long thunder on a summer afternoon.Instead, Suburbans honk and veer behindmy neighbor’s combine, pass and speed to the light,line up at four-ways for permission to turn.The Cleveland and Eastern Interurbanused to pass through here, the Maple Leaf Routecurving slow through Newbury out to Amish country,itsContinueContinue reading “Junction”