Waves . . . oh how this world waves.
Breakers fling themselves at the shore
Beasts flick their ears to scatter flies
Gills ripple underwater
Land heaves and undulates
And we wave back
We wave to . . .
point out the marvelous: Look at that!
We wave to . . .
beckon guests: Come in, come in!
bid farewell: Come back soon!
hurry and harry our children: Mustn’t be late!
rally: You can do it!
flaunt: I did it!
be the whole parade: Look at me!
we wave to . . .
interrupt proceedings: Now hear this!
swing flares or flashlights: Accident ahead or Detour or Park here
wield placards: Travesty! Injustice!
furl and unfurl our flags: My country, right or wrong!
swing lanterns: One if by land, Two if by sea
brandish swords: Follow me!
We wave and it says I am here.
And sometimes, we waive our rights.
Or we make a stand, then waver.
Does it originate with the woman who waved Eden’s fruit?
Does it continue with one Palm Sunday colt (having the day of its life?)
and the One astride, born of starlight and Spirit,
sandaled feet brushing Jerusalem’s dust?
Wave, waive, waver
Fronds one day,
nails the next: two
callused palms
pierced by the wielded
mallet, our secret
names invisibly etched
beneath wounds
What do you think about making waves?
Nancy Ruegg says
What do I think about making waves? I want to make waves of worship to my Savior who waived his rights as the King of the universe and paid the penalty for my sin. All praise to him who never wavered! Thank you, Laurie, for once again stirring our hearts with your creative thought processes. Beautiful!
Laurie Klein says
Nancy, what a deeply-felt (and witty) answer! Delightful and delight-full 🙂
Anna Evans says
Beautiful post! May I share it?
Laurie Klein says
Anna, yes, of course! Thank you and wishing you rich blessings on this Holy Week ahead . . .
Susie says
I love everything about what you’ve written here, Laurie. So many words that sound the same, yet conjure up such different thoughts. God bless you and your Bill. (Did you ever find the song ‘Just My Bill’?)
Laurie Klein says
Susie, I did find the song from Showboat and listened to several versions. 🙂 Thank you again for directing me to it. And as ever, thank you for reading the post, and for your teaching all those years ago, helping me fall in love with language!