Firebreak
the winnowing time is back again
it lengthens with each pass
threshing out, fleshing out
faithworthiness, the task
the chaff and wheat resemble one
another—there’s the rub
between the wheels of growth and death
the grain comes forth with blood
chaff and wheat, goats and sheep
separation comes
in good and forward-looking steps
to cull the harvest home
distinguishing is difficult
the two mix and disguise
the past can prove false counsel
for the crops can change their sides
truth hides within the millstone
invisible and hard
around the neck it weighs and drowns
flat, it grinds forth food
always unexpected, what
final division shows
the husk conceals hope, wisdom
and straight gold wheat betrays
God’s ways can be unethical,
immoral, even, says
a weed tossed by the wayside
tramped down but reborn,
for ethics are for neat-plowed rows
untouched by searing thread
the scars of war teach different ways
to grasp life by the hand
sacramental bounty grows
despite each season’s deaths
the autumn’s sadness also calls
each bleeding grain to feast