The very last lines

Poetry would probably be near the end of the list of my favorite literary genres. I remember a few classic children's poems, a little Lewis Carroll, and snippets of Shakespeare, but that's about it. But after seeing excerpts of Rachel Joy Welcher's poems on Twitter, I was moved, and I wanted to read more.

I'm not going to quote entire poems but the last few lines from two of them. If you have suffered loss, these are for you. If you have found that life goes on after sorrow because of Christ, and not just a half-life but a life worth living, these poems are for you.

From I Used To Think He Had The Kindest Eyes:
And the only gift
I can thank you for
is the contrast you will
forever provide
between faithless and Faithful,
secrecy and intimate light;
I am alive in spite
of your sin
against me.


And from the very last poem in the book, Old and New:
It's ok to not look back.
It's ok to look forward to the future
with a broken heart and a limp.
Is there any other way to travel toward God
this side of heaven?

Two Funerals, Then Easter: A collection of poems by Rachel Joy Welcher, Dustlings Press, 2018.