Elijah’s Crossing

Poem by Jonathan Wooding

by Jonathan Wooding 4th June 2021

i.m. Graham Shaw, (1944-2021), author, teacher, priest, friend

There, at the footbridge, in Lublin province,
Kacyzne’s* camera finds Elijah out,
his cap, his waistcoat, the shod foot lifted

back, crossing the river, a grey flame.
And working horses (the charcoal, the chestnut),
break for the silver waters running

beneath Elijah’s bridge. A barefoot girl
paddling, looks up from the white, from the black,
and sees him. He’s monochrome incarnate.