Grace hums to herself
as she riffles through a compilation of saintly
scrap bag lives for the pieces
to form a queen-sized quilt—
a collection of darks and lights,
striped days of earthly sorrow
intermingled with touches of heaven.
Joy fingers her medley of floral’s,
primary brights, fuchsias, aquas,
neon yellows—
summers triangles,
springs pastel rectangles
shares freely with an open hand
Mercy mends her tear-stained blocks
with appliques of Bethlehem stars,
covers over fields of somber November hues,
midnight blues despair with the help
of Hope’s skillful embroidery.
She picks through Joy’s offerings
to accent each completed square.
Faith’s invisible seams hold together
a count of fabricated days.
Patience assembles the quilt
stretches it within a frame—
Peace passes out the thread.
Each lady dons thimble, needle,
bows her head to studied toil…
Adds their own special flourishes
and embellishments with artistic flair.
To complete the work Charity
takes strips of scarlet binding
formed from Christ’s wounded heart
and encases the frayed edges
of mortal existence
The imperishable covers the perishable
with life everlasting (amen).
The quilt becomes a token of bridal love,
as heaven prepares for a wedding in the Hall of the King
c.Darlene Moore Berg
Darlene, this is excellent! Thank-you for gracing my morning!