In a storm on the Sea of Galilee, [1] [2]
Wild, white-tipped waves, mountainous and monstrous,
Wind-driven, swamp the boat threateningly,
Inundating, with power to sink us.
Some row, some bale, a desperate mission.
We cast flabbergasted, furtive, glances
At the figure lying on the cushion,
How can he sleep in these circumstances?
’Master, do you want us to die?’, I say.
‘Have you still no faith?’ [3] he asks us, standing,
‘Be still!’ [4] The raging sea is suddenly
Like a millpond and it is heart-stopping.
‘Who is this man?’, we wonderingly say,
‘That even the wind and the waves obey?’
© Ian David Wall 2023
[1] Biblical quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, Anglicized version, copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission.
[2] This poem was inspired by a passage from the gospel of Mark, 4: 35-41.
[3] Mark 4:40, NRSV
[4] Mark 4:39, NRSV