THE ONE WHO TURNS THE EARTH

The one who turns the earth knows

It can be turned for death,

Or turned for life,

The labor is quite similar

Between burial and planting.

The one who keeps midnight watch

Over flocks and herds to make assistance

To she who labors knows

That birth is a risky venture.

The one who plants a seed

And prays for harvest knows

That harvest is a death well-filled.

So as we celebrate a birth awe-filled

Let us not forget that it was indeed

A risky venture,

Well-lived yet claimed by death.

Nor let us forget that the death, tragic,

Was yet more wonder filled than the birth,

For it produced a life,

Reaped and shared and shared with all.

Then let us labor,

Turning at our heart

Both for burial and for birth.

George R. Pasley

Ketchikan, AK

December 16, 2009