Awakening

by Abigail Moma

If your voice causes the cedars to break and the deer

to give birth, how much more should it cause

my soul to wake, to shake off the heavy fog

like a dog who hates to bathe?

How much more should that seed of your word

start to kick in my womb, start to roll

and descend and prepare to be delivered?

It is not the fire or the thunder that will

stir me from my slumber, but only

your still, small voice that hovers

and alights upon my shoulder—

so soft and quiet, I would never know

you were there except for the shiver

that runs down my spine like lightning,

that dazzles the darkness and blinds the sun,

that dries up the unfruitful tree in me

and gives me the strength to run.

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Abigail Moma lives in Decatur, Illinois with her husband, cat, and their business, The River Coffee Company. Her poem, Song of the Water Lilies, was shortlisted for the 2017 Montreal International Poetry Prize, and in 2023 and 2024, two of her books of devotions and poetry were published, titled The Good Portion: Poetry and Reflections and Come Away, My Love: The Call of the Bridegroom. Besides this, she has had poetry appear in Ekstasis Magazine.