The Arrow that Flies by Day
(Psalm 91)
To my first readers I present fragments, half-
rhymes, vowels, words, somewhere a metronome
beats time and we split the line
into syllables, metric feet, then come
the myths and metaphors, music sounds
near. That arrow flies ceaseless,
rebounding again and again, consecrating
light, the sun, the gap between the trees branches,
glinting off windows. We watch and listen to
the ceremony of the day, we bow before it
and our first reader,They will lift you up in
their hands and you will know wrong word,
wrong order and await their wisdom,
and the slash of the red pen
turning the page crimson. Flight feathers
flutter down and time goes on like noise,
like silence and we wonder who survives
and who is wrecked here unable to rest.
Jean O’Brien‘s sixth collection was published by Salmon Publishing in Spring 2022, called Stars Burn Regardless. She is an award winning poet, having won, amongst others The Arvon International and the Fish International and Highly Commended in the Forward Prize.