A solitary silhouette
You stand,
Against the stark backdrop
Of azure blue
And feathery white clouds

What makes you prevail
In this sun-scorched earth
Inhabited by thorn
And thistle?

All by yourself, you grow

What desires have you housed
In your tent
Other than the thirst for life?

Each rare instance that rain falls,
You receive as a kiss of grace
Quenching your thirst
With a vision of heaven

Every branch and woody sinew
Turned towards the light

Watered by a quiet stream
We cannot see
All through the year

1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

² But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

³ And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

⁴ The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

⁶ For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.