Of Earth and Sky

Painting: 'Blue Ice' by Beecher

 Here is a lovely poem, by Drew Jackson, playing off the puns about 'adam' and 'adamah', humans and humus, enlivened with the breath of life.

Of Earth and Sky

Let me tell you about the ancestors,

she said to me as I sat and relaxed

myself into Grandma’s lap. She was

sharp, and even in her old age

her memory could search

into the far reaches of the past.

I can’t stay up too late, not like I used to.

And then she proceeded to tell me tales

of Greats and Great Greats who did some

great and not-so-great things. Our family

tree is filled with triumph and struggle.

The imperfections make it beautiful.

They’re all just human, you know, just like you.

She poked her frail finger into the flesh of my pectoral.

My kin, of the earth—the humus—yet filled with the breath

of God. Is this not what it means to be adam?

Never forget who you come from,

she said before calling it a night. Her words

implied that this sort of remembrance

would keep me grounded, but also keep me going.

Soaring high when they try to keep me down.

I won’t forget that I am of earth and sky.

Drew Jackson is a pastor and poet,