persist: a poem about worms

( for the ones who wonder if their hidden work really matters... )

persist

the worms know:
humming their vocation, unseen
turning earth over
and over
and over again,
sowing fertile space in the black loam
slow-tilling soil with their very bodies
(these soft bodies with no bones)
and yet 
the ground gives way

they bank away nourishment for 
growth they cannot see,
cannot imagine, and
in blind faith
extract the promise of the new
from the decayed
and the dying
they are the monastics of
persistent hope,
the gardeners
of resurrection

so put your pen to paper, beloved
your paint to the canvas
mouth to the microphone
hand to the Work
breath to the prayer
heart to the Love

and do not fear;
we are the worms
and the hard earth
will give way before us

-EBD
04.22.22

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Why this poem?

Some seasons are chock full of invisible work: preparation, planning, organizing, and “marinating” in whatever creative project is next. Usually this hidden work feels exciting and soul-level satisfying, like the early springtime when the brown buds on the trees have yet to burst open, and the bare earth is pregnant with possibility: something wild and wonderful is afoot.

But in this particular season, I stand in the middle of an institution (the United Methodist church) that is decaying and dying, and my vocation compels me to extract the promise of the new: to turn the earth over and create messy, gritty spaces where people in search of Love and belonging can gather in a different way, and put down new roots together.

This invisible work feels wildly unproductive and insignificant right now, like a bewildering exercise in futility: What have I accomplished? Am I getting anywhere at all? Nothing is finished. NOTHING WILL EVER BE FINISHED. The institution is too big, and I am too small.

Perhaps you’ve felt this way too?

I never imagined that a worm would be my spirit animal, but here we are.

If you’ve ever wondered whether your invisible effort really matters, beloved… this poem is for you. And for me, too. Let’s keep turning the earth. Persist.

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What is the Work you love, and yet still doubt is yours to do? What is the hard ground that seems to be in your way? Let’s practice a little #WormSolidarity today.