by Allison Giles
RUTH, UPROOTED TO BE COVERED WITH WINGS
“…the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge! (Ruth 2:12)
“Spread your wings over your servant, for you are a redeemer” (Ruth 3:9)
Ruth, you left the sound of your mother-tongue
echoing glibly through the market,
beckoning you by name to buy the familiar,
basketfuls still leaving you with longing,
filling your stomach but leaving you empty,
longing for another place,
offering grain to idols that answered your
questions with silence.
And so you traded a place you knew
for a place your heart longed for.
Your gods for a God you did not yet know,
who meets us barefoot in the
barley fields and goes before us,
leaving behind our daily bread,
covering us, pouring out grain as a largess
into our outstretched garments,
that we did not plant,
nor did we labor for, but is given
to us, more than we
could ever carry, going out
weeping and coming back
carrying sheaves of grain,
roots torn out so that
we might at last
find where we belong,
sojourners hidden in the
shadow of your wings.
Your belonging making way for ours,
all of creation waiting for Another
to come to Bethlehem,
the Root of Jesse springing forth
from the fruit of the fruit of your
womb, leaving his home to
dwell with us, that he might
bring us home to live with him.
ALLISON GILES
Allison is a follower of Christ, wife, missionary, mother of three children, poet, and lifelong lover of words. She is passionate about weaving the Gospel throughout her poetry. Allison enjoys attending to beauty in the everyday, often finding that the smallest details can serve as symbols of eternal truths. After six years serving in East Africa, she and her family recently relocated to Nairobi, Kenya, where they offer technical training as a means of discipleship. Allison’s writings have appeared in The Way Back to Ourselves, The Clayjar Review, Vessels of Light, and Calla Press. Her work is also forthcoming in the Poems and Paraboles anthology.