Elemental Psalm

(Found here)

I was salt, so the Lord mined me.

I came as a field of silvery trees

laden with olives hardened by frost,

a rough crop with some spots

tender to rottenness, some spots

coarse and unusable, bruised

and eaten on the edge.

So, the Lord cut from me the unusable

and, from the rest of me, he made pure oil.

I was coal, so the Lord impressed me.

I was parched, so the Lord planted

deeper within me, until it took

years of digging to break the surface.

I was salt.

The Lord mined.

In the darkness, there is no greater

reprieve than a spark.

In the desert, there is no miracle

greater than cold water.

~Nicholas Samaras