quaerere deum

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Startled cold waking
past anxious night,
dread rose early.
Clock hands wheel out,
light and shadow reverse.
Fingers slip against a
plunging length of chaos.

Until sunrise bursts late
with blushing clouds,
hastens to meet darkness,
paints its compliments
in crimson skystick.

CC 2007 Sharon Mollerus

Lake Superior, Duluth, MN

[g]od in my pocket: trial package,
private-size; his world swung
out and back on my yoyo string.

My Faith holds him in a tiny
silver cup; when it tips, he
spills out. I Myself can hardly
squish into such a thimbleful
of existence.

CC 2007 Sharon Mollerus

Temperance River, North Shore, Lake Superior, Minnesota

Bluefin Bay, Lake Superior, Minnesota

The girl kneels on the dirt floor,
sandals shed, her silence
veiling an awed heart.

The angel approaches:
a swift messenger who gentles,
steps softly to not frighten her,
pads a terrible voice down to a whisper,
in deference to His Intended.

Hail, O favored one.

Let it be to me according to your word.

The great waking of the Light is borne
on the voiced vow of the woman.
She speaks from her store of quiet;
her faith breathes bridal sighs
from inside the furled Time
of the world handed in to her
and tucked into her womb.

Dawn rises lightly over the earth,
from the consummate kiss of All Life
hidden deep in a crevice
in the hills of Nazareth,
in a nuptial cell curtained
with pinking morning clouds.

2005

Take the Greyhound to Santa Cruz:
here’s some fresh cash—crisp
unfolded ones and mint new quarters
with cold serrated edges. Winding
down highway 17, through canopied
redwood groves, you’ll sway
with the curves, jerk with the brakes
and bob above the hum of the bus.
Bring a sweatshirt in your backpack
and wear your bikini under
your granny skirt. The sun and sea
will cover you; you won’t need a coat—
yet. Don’t lose a flip-flop to the sea:
wave back with the “V” of the strap
clasped tight between your toes.
Bathe your shins in beachwater,
and keep a rim of sand beneath
your kneecaps. At the end of the line
you’ll find a cottage town with sand
blowing over wood slat sidewalks
and piling against the tiny shops
like snowdrifts. Wrap yourself
in a broad red apron, wait tables,
and eat sprout sandwiches in the back.
Get on board now—sleep sprawled
across the next seat. Tomorrow night
you’ll lay your head down on a cot
in the high school gym, with the others.
He’ll never know where you went.

CC Sharon Mollerus 2004

Published in The Homestead Review Fall/Winter 2004

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Lake Superior, Duluth, MN

Lake Superior near Gooseberry Falls, Minnesota

Ice boulders, Lake Superior, Duluth, MN

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Lake Superior, Duluth, Minnesota. This shot gives an idea of scale and place. I was down there walking cautiously around the ice formations, though there was a nice layer of snow for traction. This is where I took the two previous shots.

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Lake Superior, Duluth, MN. See the closeup of these boulders here.

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Ice boulders on the shore of Lake Superior, Duluth, MN

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Ice formations on Lake Superior, near Lester River, Duluth, MN

Ice mounds melting on the shore at the eastern tip of Lake Superior, Park Point, Duluth, MN