Have You Seen My God?
Poem and photography by Pearl Roycroft
Have you seen the trees,
that stood before my time and yours
Have you walked among them
and felt a peace beyond tomorrow
Have you placed your hand against their bark
And remembered how to breathe
Have you held a seed
in the palm of your hand
So small, so delicate
Yet holding what it needs
to birth the largest of trees
Have you smelt smoke
lingering in the forest air
from a bushfire months ago
Have you seen the burst of life
emerging from the charcoal floor
ferns, bracken and shrubs in teal
Have your hands turned purple red
Under the mulberry tree
from soil to branch, branch to mouth
Have your lips tasted
the bitter sweet symphony
on a hunt for the ready and ripe
Have you heard an old woman laugh
A contagious childlike sound
Have you seen tears well in her eyes
A piece of joy in the midst of grief
Have you walked by the ocean
on a stormy day
Have you heard its insatiable hunger
Its power and might
as the waves crash against the rock
Have you stood in the rain
after a long dry season
let it drip down your face
Have you heard the land sigh
In utter relief, as the clouds are undone
Have you seen my God?
----
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20
Now all we can see of God is like a cloudy picture in a mirror. Later we will see him face to face. We don't know everything, but then we will, just as God completely knows us. 1 Corinthians 13:12
Enjoy this poem? Sign up to get honest stories and poems in your inbox for free on Wednesdays from Christian women in Western Australia from March—November 👇🏻
Pearl Roycroft - Regular Contributor
A gardener by morning, napper by afternoon and hostess by night, Pearl considers herself the luckiest girl in the world. She is a cacao enthusiast from the Perth Hills, who lives with a pet bird, a close sister and many trees. Pearl has travelled to unique places around the globe and across the country in her red van, of which you can read about at Pitter Patter Paper. For love, she makes music. Check out her album Closing Doors on Bandcamp.