The Ruba'iyat of Solomon

He was all earth,
having been dealt
both muscle and
control,
he knew what he
could bind and
call his own,
was all that he
could grasp and threaten
into a kind of
mute admiration.
But he knew
naturally,
nothing of the
interior,
save what he could
trap and watch
and devour.
And so he could wait
forever, if need be,
positioned on the shore
...absolutely still
in the sand,
watching for her
to come out of
the water.

She saw him there
waiting, and knew
she was prey to
that ancient dance
of the closed circle.
And she could feel
herself falling,
falling like
a storybook child
through the hole
in Time -
falling, falling like
a feathered bird
all means of escape
shorn into surrender.
She had borne
the weight of
her soul and his,
with as much dignity
as one might,
having lived
all this
a thousand times or more.

Yet she had a dream
once,
of the imperious stag
transformed into
the gentle hart.
She could wait for
the awful heat
to lift;
she could wait for
his hunger
to be fed
the communion of
love.

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• Icons by Fr. William McNichols

• Information on obtaining Icons by Fr. William McNichols

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This page is managed by Fr. Raymond A. Bucko, S.J. of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Creighton University. E-Mail: bucko@creighton.edu Page Last Updated: December 1, 2001

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