I”ve fallen out of love with him; this band”s become a fetter
A quick glance back, the thought emerged
I could have done much better
Deferring hopes became as dust and settled round her soul
Shadows stretched by sinking lights collapsed into the whole.

And then one morn a sunbeam danced and flashed the gloom apart
A peak was glimpsed, its hoarfrost head
etched pangs across her heart
God”s love”s a furnace and the sparks that fly aren”t all the pleasant kind
The dross that burns to make us whole, the lees drawn from the wine.

And then she saw the man again, the man who”d one day be
Glory shot through all about
transfigured by a tree
And love reborn her breast did quake as greater light did shine
and then a greater thought emerged, so sharp and clear and fine

I”ve fallen into love with Him – or rather His love”s won
As “I will make” knelt down to take
a side to form the one
Who”d take the man and help him be the one like no one other
a brother to her sister moon, a father to the mother.

(This poem was inspired by – and speaks to – a number of things. I”ve been thinking a lot about love and marriage ever since I started studying the various issues surrounding the normalization of homosexuality and the war on Biblical marriage and gender identity. I”ve also watched as the marriages of some long-time friends have either collapsed or gone through some very rough times. Then my second son, Jared, got married. I wanted to remind him and his young bride, Tulane, how fickle human emotions can be and how easy it is to drift – unless the love of God and the anchor of the Holy Spirit”s presence burns hot in our hearts. Finally, like all marriages, the one in this poem speaks to the ultimate marriage between Christ and His bride.  One reason I chose the woman to have the unfaithful heart is because each of us is that woman in our relationship with our Bridegroom and Kinsman Redeemer. May His love draw us unto Him that we can rise up with wings as as eagles and – as the moon to the Sun/Son – more faithfully reflect the light of His glory and love.  Eric)