The Samaritan Woman at the Well {poetry for lent}

To be honest, at first I really did not like this poem.  I though the alliteration and wordplay in the first few lines were boring, overused ways to talk about water (sorry Mother Madeleine!). 

But a few days after reading it, I'm still thinking about this one, particularly the ending.  So even if it's not the best poetry, maybe it's worth sharing:

The Samaritan Woman at the Well
by Madeleine L'Engle


The waters are wild, are wild.
Billows batter with unchannelled might.
A turmoil of waves foams on the ocean’s face
wind-whipped the waters hurl


the rivers rush


fountains burst from the rocks
the rapids break huge boulders into dust
the skies split with torrential rains


waters meet waters
the wind and waves are too tumultuous
no one can meet them and survive


In this wilderness of water
we shall all be drowned
the ocean cannot be compassed


I weep, I die
Put my tears in your bottle


drowning
I thirst


Look!
the water is in a cup


(O Lord open thou our lips)


I thirst


Is it any less water
because you have contained it for us
in a vessel we can touch?


Originally published in A Cry Like A Bell (1987)

an explanation of {poetry for lent}